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The Cultural Value of Abuse

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#MeToo, Weinstein and Feminism

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Abstract

It has become something of a cliché to suggest that celebrity perpetrators can hide “in plain sight”. This chapter argues that the cultural values associated with men’s abuse of women provide an explanation for this contradictory in/visibility. It explores how the production cultures of film and television, as well as popular representations of the industries and their stars, can condone male violence against women and blame victims. The chapter analyses how the “in plain sight” narrative functioned in relation to Weinstein, before moving on to compare this with Kevin Spacey’s attempts to incorporate the abuse reports into his existing star persona. In this context, the challenge of a victim/survivor-centred, feminist analysis is that it can disrupt cherished notions of artistic and culture value, as well as viewers’ pleasures.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rotten Apples: https://therottenappl.es/ Accessed 9 May 2019.

  2. 2.

    The 2013 Oscar nominations can be viewed on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzNoT3Zcw2A&feature=youtu.be&t=3m9s Accessed 6 May 2019.

  3. 3.

    See http://therepresentationproject.org/the-movement/askhermore/

  4. 4.

    This is based on a Nexis search for Harvey Weinstein and Seth MacFarlane, focusing on October 2017, which returned 166 results (excluding duplicates).

  5. 5.

    Let Me Be Frank, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZveA-NAIDI Accessed 30 April 2019.

  6. 6.

    Maja Brandt Andreasen is a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde. At the time of writing, this work is unpublished.

  7. 7.

    Louis Theroux: Savile, BBC2, 2 October 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Humanities, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Karen Boyle

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  1. Karen Boyle
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Correspondence to Karen Boyle .

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Boyle, K. (2019). The Cultural Value of Abuse. In: #MeToo, Weinstein and Feminism. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28243-1_4

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