Since the 80s, the company Miramax has been behind some of the most iconic and celebrated films. The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction, Clerks, Shakespeare in Love, and even a few Pokemon movies! One of the top people at Miramax was producer Harvey Weinstein, who left the company in 2005 to found the Weinstein Company. Since then, the Weinstein Company has been behind such films as Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Lion, The King’s Speech, and plenty more. Between these companies and the other work that he’s done, Harvey Weinstein has made or been involved with movies that have won Academy and Tony Awards, been selected for preservation by the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry, and grossed altogether billions of dollars.
Hollywood is filled with “limousine liberals” who love to sing their own progressive praises, and in the past couple years have taken every chance they get to bash Trump. Since he produced liberal propaganda schlock “Fahrenheit 9/11”, Harvey Weinstein has been chief among them, donating over $600,000 to Democratic groups and politicians over the years, including former President Barack Obama and wishes-she-were-President Hillary Clinton. He did also withhold some of t
Harvey Weinstein
he profits for “Fahrenheit 9/11” from Michael Moore, so I can’t hold that against him. But he also has a darker side, with a reputation as a nightmare to work with. Interns speak about how he forbids them from looking him in the eye, and is fond of throwing hot coffee at people who upset him. In the TV show “Entourage”, the short-fused, aggressive, and intimidating producer Harvey Weingard is strongly based off of him. And it’s now been revealed that he has a long history of sexual harassment.
Suddenly, all of the liberal celebrities who have jumped down Trump’s throat after the “Access Hollywood” tape was leaked last year are in an awkward place. Suddenly, numerous women who have worked with Harvey at Miramax or the Weinstein Co have come forward with sexual harassment lawsuits. Apparently, while on trips, he would summon young women to his hotel room and make them massage him or watch him shower. In response, plenty of prominent Hollywood liberals have dismissed what happened as an “open secret”, in an industry where getting ahead can get seedy. But that makes it a lot worse. Why would they cry for Trump’s blood after what he simply talked about while kind of shrugging their shoulders over what Weinstein actually did? At the same time, several Democratic Senators have pledged to donate the money given to them by Weinstein to various charities.
While this is all happening, Weinstein’s recent film endeavors have proven to be major duds, and his track record of producing high-quality films and big profits seems to be running out. It’s possible that this isn’t a coincidence; now that Weinstein isn’t the Midas of Hollywood, the same people who sang his praises when he was making them money have no problem throwing him out to dry when he isn’t, which says a lot about the shallowness of Hollywood.
I will admit that Harvey Weinstein, much as I don’t like his politics, has made some pretty good movies. But now, much like Bill Cosby or Jimmy Savile, it seems unlikely that people are going to remember him for that any more. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the art from the artist.