‘Bombshell,’ #MeToo, and Hollywood’s inability to portray its own villains.

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As promised I will share your questions and comments and update mine now that I’ve seen Bombshell and thought about the #MeToo tie-in.
First, I was dazzled by Theron’s spot on depiction of Megyn Kelly. And the movie kept my interest and my companion’s.
Mostly, though, my concern in my prior blog – that Bombshell might gloss over institutional #MeToo issues – was unfortunately borne out. Additionally, I kept thinking,  is Hollywood the best industry to lecture us about #MeToo behaviors,  given how many in Hollywood stayed mum about Weinstein and other serial predators?

Fox’s Roger Ailes’ notoriety is well earned. He created a news channel that forever changed the TV landscape, and so any scandal tied to him is worth examination.  Over 25 women came forward with claims, including on-air talents Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, who was the first one who made   allegations.

 

#MeToo Pics of 3 actresses
#MeToo

Weinstein and #MeToo.

Interestingly, Harvey Weinstein’s long-awaited trail starts tomorrow in New York City. Compared to Ailes, the rumors about Weinstein were endless. Dozens and dozens of stars, both big and small, had personal stories to share about Weinstein’s predatory ways. Why no movie about Weinstein?

The Golden Globes.

And even more interesting, the first of many seasonal awards shows is on tonight. Hollywood is looking at other industries (e.g., television) rather than it’s own industry for complicity in sexual harassment.

However, as  Brielle Diskin writes, “It’s been more than two years since the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements sent shockwaves through Hollywood. And in true headline-pulling Hollywood fashion, stories centering around the movements were adapted for both the big and small screens.

Both the movie Bombshell and the mini-series The Loudest Voice are about the real-life [of Ailes, the] ex-Fox News executive

Apple TV+’s first original series, The Morning Show, is about a fictional morning show resembling The Today Show and its Matt Lauer scandal. It too snagged some major Golden Globe nominations for both of its lead actresses, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.

#MeToo previously left its mark on the [Golden Globes]via impassioned acceptance speeches and dress code protests . It looks like this year [the Globes] will reach a whole new, slightly meta level, with celebrities applauding and awarding projects focused on the very movements that have taken hold in their industries.

However, there is irony in the fact that the nominations were far from a major win for women: not one woman was nominated in the best director category.”

Answering a few of my readers’ questions:

Be aware some of the below fun facts aren’t that fun.

Isn’t the movie mostly about White Feminism?

Yes, Bombshell only sometimes understands that it’s about a rarefied strata of youngish, attractive white women.

What’s that fluid sexuality scene doing in a sex-harassment movie?

Fictional characters played by Margot Robbie and Kate McKinnon end up in bed together early on in Bombshell. It’s a genuine surprise. (Sorry if I’ve spoiled this scene.)

Mostly, it’s startling because you’d think a movie about old sexual mores wouldn’t confuse things with new mores.

Megyn Kelly in 2015.  Megyn Kelly in 2015. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

Where are they now? 

Who’s the real Margot Robbie?

Good question since she doesn’t play a real person in Bombshell.    Robbie was born and raised on a farm in Dalby, Queensland . She studied drama at Somerset College. She began her career in Australian independent films in the late 2000s, before working in the soap opera Neighbours (2008–2011).

After moving to the U.S., she   won a supporting role in the romantic comedy About Time and made her breakthrough later by co-starring in the black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street.

Robbie’s fame continued to grow with leading roles as the superhero in the  film Suicide Squad (2016) ,  the disgraced figure skater  in the biographical film I, Tonya,  and as Sharon Tate in  the comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

 

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My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.

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