Remember when Ben Affleck was absolutely grilled by Stephen Colbert? Well, I don’t know about grilled but he was doing the normal Colbert thing by asking questions, questions, and more questions. That’s what Colbert does after all, he asks questions. Sometimes though the questions get a little tough and you can see that Ben Affleck might not have wanted to talk about one particular subject but was at least willing to open up a bit in order to make his feelings known. Of course the subject was on Harvey Weinstein and the continuing topic of the witch hunt that’s been going on in Hollywood concerning sexual harassment. Affleck has been included in these numbers unfortunately and has since apologized profusely for whatever it was that he did even if he wasn’t fully aware of what he was doing.
Right from the start my stance is that the issue is very real, but the witch hunt is becoming increasingly damaging as more and more people begin to come forward with what might very well be attempts to simply ruin careers and earn an easy payout. While the latter part might not really be the motivation for this the former certainly seems to be. The idea that Hollywood is corrupt and that harassment goes on behind the scenes is, unfortunately, nothing new. But doing something about it seems to be becoming a trend that is meant to either counteract the growing suspicion and mistrust that is running rampant or perhaps make reparations for what was done years ago.
Affleck even goes into the matter by stating that he felt guilty taking any more paychecks that were from the Weinstein company thanks to the fact that Harvey Weinsten has been accused of several cases of harassment. The crowd actually cheers at this point, but in truth it’s more of a bandage to the problem rather than a solution. Colbert is well-known for getting to the questions that a lot of people want to ask but this subject seems so sensitive at times that even talking about it might make people uncomfortable. That’s the issue really. Talking about it something that could have alleviated a lot of stress a long time ago, but the stress of bringing it to light is what kept a lot of people quiet.
At that time Harvey Weinstein still had a lot of pull in Hollywood and could have easily ruined careers if he didn’t get his way or an actress didn’t do what he wanted. If a woman would have spoken up back then matter would have been so much easier to deal, but the consequence could have been losing out on a successful career or even just a life. Ironically those making the accusations claim that they haven’t had much of a life since then, though a few of them have been seen to be enjoying a rather comfortable existence. That’s what we see in the tabloids and onscreen however, we don’t get to see behind the facade thankfully.
Anyway, the issue is a mess, and Colbert, like many others, is definitely on top of the questions that a lot of people don’t want to answer. It’s a part of what makes him so great after all.
