“Take a stand.”
The open letter Rose McGowan tweeted yesterday can be boiled down into that one sentiment. McGowan argues that it’s time for Hollywood to start recognizing criminals and assailants for what they are. Most importantly, it’s time to stop implicitly defending them by continuing to do business with them.
As The Hollywood Reporter points out, McGowan’s call to action “comes on the heels of a flurry of messages she posted on [Twitter] Oct. 13. In those posts, McGowan declared that she was raped by a studio head only to see ‘Hollywood/Media’ shame her ‘while adulating [her] rapist.’” In the wake of the leaked Trump/Billy Bush conversation and the recent allegations and controversies associated with Nate Parker, Woody Allen, and Bill Cosby, McGowan’s message is timely and needed.
McGowan’s letter is a definitive answer to a debate that keeps resurfacing in the entertainment business: Can you really separate the artist from the art? Are you allowed to enjoy “Rosemary’s Baby” while recognizing that Roman Polanski is a rapist? Is there a connection between the accusations against Allen and his movies where young, beautiful women are drawn to older, neurotic men? For many people, there’s no universal answer: It’s easier to compartmentalize some artists/art than others. And many of the actors and actresses who choose to work with Allen, for example, justify their decision by suggesting that no one knows the full story. But that kind of rationalization doesn’t fly with McGowan.
It’s rare — and inspiring — that someone with a public profile makes such a firm, unambiguous declaration. “Do not work with those you know to be offenders or you are no better than they,” McGowan argues. “Stop rewarding sociopaths. Every time you sanction abhorrent behavior, you are aiding and abetting a crime, that makes you no better than the criminal.”
Read McGowan’s entire “Dear Hollywood” tweet below or head over to her Twitter account.
Dear Hollywood,
