Published July 12, 2022, Ken Auletta’s “Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence” is a new biography showcasing Harvey Weinstein’s two surprisingly different sides – a talented movie producer, and a violent serial rapist accused of harrassing more than 80 different women.
The book is based around the idea of the “Culture of Silence”, which refers to a group of people’s fear of talking about a certain topic. Many people involved in Hollywood knew what was going on between Weinstein and the women he worked with, but they kept silent out of fear that it would offend their colleagues.
The culture of silence is fuelled by the natural bias to look for short-term benefit and to help yourself – people follow harmful practices to keep their own status of belonging in society. However, staying silent about a problem will not fix it, and by staying silent, you are letting things happen to you when you could be making them happen.
After more than 80 women reported abuse from Weinstein, something known as the Weinstein effect began to happen: more and more people began to report sexual abuse from powerful men after this incident broke through the culture of silence surrounding the topic.
Weinstein appears to be more of a complex character than what meets the eye. In an interview with Auletta, Weinstein revealed that he doesn’t have control over his own actions, saying that he didn’t want to fight anymore. Unexpectedly, when Auletta mentioned some sensitive topics, Weinstein started crying.
This may be an example of cognitive dissonance, which is the feeling of discomfort caused by two conflicting beliefs or actions. Weinstein’s movie producer side seems to be conflicting with his aggressive innate tendencies.
Harvey Weinstein grew up with his brother Bob. Together, they founded the company Miramax, named after their father Max, a diamond cutter, along with their mother Miriam, who often yelled at Harvey, eventually influencing him to resort to spontaneous violence.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657493309733x420990379283661300/‘Hollywood%20Ending%2C’%20a%20Cradle-to-Jail%20Biography%20of%20Harvey%20Weinstein%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
The book is based around the idea of the “Culture of Silence”, which refers to a group of people’s fear of talking about a certain topic. Many people involved in Hollywood knew what was going on between Weinstein and the women he worked with, but they kept silent out of fear that it would offend their colleagues.
The culture of silence is fuelled by the natural bias to look for short-term benefit and to help yourself – people follow harmful practices to keep their own status of belonging in society. However, staying silent about a problem will not fix it, and by staying silent, you are letting things happen to you when you could be making them happen.
After more than 80 women reported abuse from Weinstein, something known as the Weinstein effect began to happen: more and more people began to report sexual abuse from powerful men after this incident broke through the culture of silence surrounding the topic.
Weinstein appears to be more of a complex character than what meets the eye. In an interview with Auletta, Weinstein revealed that he doesn’t have control over his own actions, saying that he didn’t want to fight anymore. Unexpectedly, when Auletta mentioned some sensitive topics, Weinstein started crying.
This may be an example of cognitive dissonance, which is the feeling of discomfort caused by two conflicting beliefs or actions. Weinstein’s movie producer side seems to be conflicting with his aggressive innate tendencies.
Harvey Weinstein grew up with his brother Bob. Together, they founded the company Miramax, named after their father Max, a diamond cutter, along with their mother Miriam, who often yelled at Harvey, eventually influencing him to resort to spontaneous violence.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657493309733x420990379283661300/‘Hollywood%20Ending%2C’%20a%20Cradle-to-Jail%20Biography%20of%20Harvey%20Weinstein%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
