The Case Against Harvey Weinstein — and for “Tar”
Let me say right up front that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein got what was coming to him -- justice, after many years of raping and sexually abusing women with grotesque impunity. Weinstein was a notorious predator and a thug and nobody (except his defense lawyers) publicly supports or "explains" his criminal behavior. Then there was the latest witness against him -- Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Yes, I applaud her courage in going on the witness stand against Weinstein, in the latest trial of the fallen mogul. She tearfully and strongly withstood the assault of Weinstein's aggressive attorney, after recounting how the powerful producer raped her in a hotel room when she was an aspiring actor. But the other story was bound to come out -- and her explanation for it was weak.
Why did Siebel solicit Weinstein's advice after he raped her? Advice about how her then boyfriend and now husband, California Gov. Gavin Newsom -- should extricate himself from a SEX scandal that threatened to derail his political career?
Jennifer Siebel Newsom was raised in a wealthy Marin County family. She married into privilege and power. She has been blessed with many options. But after being brutally attacked by Weinstein, she reached out to him and asked for his confidential advice -- advice aimed at helping her politically wounded but ambitious future husband.
Is it wrong to suggest that Jennifer Siebel Newsom undermined her later case against Weinstein by asking for his help in a sex scandal?
All this came up for me after I watched Todd Field's provocative new film Tar, starring Cate Blanchett. (Sort of spoiler alert) Blanchett plays a world-renowned female symphony conductor (there are still very few of them) who reached her exalted position by being brilliant, driven and, yes, arrogantly certain of herself. Lydia Tar also happens to be a lesbian who feels that adoring, vulnerable younger women are her right.
Yes, she too deserved the fate that befalls her. But filmmaker Field also sees something tragic in her fall. She is a great artist -- greater than the women who adore her and ultimately bring her down. The world of symphonic music loses something rare when she disappears from the stage.
It's true, artists are often capable of monstrous deeds. (Weinstein was no artist, but he produced some great film art while preying on women.) I wish that beauty came in less ambiguous packages. But it's complicated...
The courtroom can resolve some of the complexity about sex and power, but not everything. Maybe we're finding other forums, like art.
The Newsoms