Like it or not there are varying degrees of harassment and then there are moments when it might look like one thing to one person and something entirely different to another. As an example, Ben Affleck is now being likened to Harvey Weinstein when it comes to being a little too handsy with one of the women that interviewed him back in 2004. So what’s the difference you ask? Well for one she’s come out and started defending Ben stating that they were just playing around and that the ‘interview’ was just a silly moment that they’d agreed to do together and it meant nothing. I kind of wonder if Jennifer Garner, who Affleck was dating at that time, thought it was nothing and saw it as completely innocent. That’s another story though so let’s stay on topic.
To all of you that might say that harassment is really no different no matter what it looks like, elevate your mind just a tad bit and realize that if a woman does in fact come out and state that she was never under duress, never felt in any way insecure or pressured into the action, it might be okay. So he got a little grabby, that’s true, but somehow it never seemed to get too far out of hand. She played along, and she was smiling the entire time. Whoa down now all those that think I’m minimizing the situation, hear me out for a minute before you get your pitchforks ready.
You’re right to think that just because a person is a movie star it doesn’t mean that they get to do whatever they want, contrary to popular belief in Hollywood. But look at the video first and foremost and then tell me whether or not this woman looks like she’s not enjoying herself. Forget for just a moment what MIGHT have been going on backstage after this and then ask yourself if something that bad was happening off screen why she’s coming out about it now and claiming that there was nothing untoward going on.
Watch the video, please.
Now tell me, do you see her arm draped over his shoulders? Do you see her grabbing him just as much as he’s grabbing on her? Do you see the constant smile on her face? Now why in the world would anyone bother to say that this is anything but consensual moment between two adults? It’s not something you’d want to see your spouse or your significant other doing with another man or woman, but it’s not violent and it’s certainly not against her will.
This is why you can’t lump Affleck in with Weinstein, at least not for this alone. If he’s done something equally nasty somewhere in his past then by all means jump on and ride out the accusations until it’s deemed whether he’s innocent or not. But until then, get off the poor guy’s back for this one moment, as it wasn’t much of anything to really get mad about, unless you happened to be named Jennifer Garner.
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