Early last week while promoting his upcoming Hulu series, two-time Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn bluntly spoke about #MeToo and its ostensible agenda. As with many evaluative statements made in the wake of the sexual harrassment movement, fallout was swift.
When asked if his new show, “The First,” which features several strong female protagonists, was inspired by #MeToo, Penn disagreed. “I’d like to think that none of [“The First”] was influenced by what they call the movement of #MeToo,” he said. “The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women.”
Social media were ablaze with dissent. After all, this is a man that has been embroiled in past controversy over alleged domestic abuse speaking about a topic not too unsimilar. But Penn spoke candidly, albeit clumsily, about the fallout of a movement in which the sole premise was, and remains to be, equality for all, man or woman. Despite its good intentions, #MeToo was always going to have a maelstrom aftereffect.
A December 2017 survey conducted by MTV found that 40 percent of male respondents ages 18 to 25 say that the #MeToo movement has changed the way they act in relationships, adding another layer of complication to the minefield that is modern dating. This is not without reason, though.
In a world where we are asked to believe the accuser in spite of circumstantial evidence and due process or risky demonization, we should all understand why men are treading lightly. After all, Emily Lindin of Teen Vogue, is apparently “not at all concerned about innocent men losing their jobs over false sexual assault/harassment allegations.”
Contrarily, Bari Weiss of The New York Times wrote, “It’s condescending to think women and their claims can’t stand up to interrogation and can’t handle skepticism. I believe that facts serve feminists far better than faith.”
False allegations are statistically rare, but the “believe all women” specter not only undermines feminism, but threatens to torpedo the #MeToo movement as a whole.
Just last month, Italian actress and #MeToo leader Asia Argento was accused of sexually assaulting then 17-year-old actor Jimmy Bennett in 2013 when she was 37.
“None of us know the truth of the situation and I’m sure more will be revealed. Be gentle,” said Rose McGowan, another leader of the movement. A far cry from her November 2017 tweet, where she told us to, “Believe survivors,” and, “Grab a spine and denounce.” Hypocrisy of this level cannot be tolerated, especially when considering the reaction if the shoe was on the other foot and a 37-year-old man had slept with a 17-year-old girl.
Penn’s assertion that the movement threatens to divide men and women is not unfounded, but rather misguided. He has likely seen some acquaintances felled in the wake of the movement’s inception, so his statements should be taken with a grain of salt, but with the general sentiment to consider. Instead of chastising Penn or anyone else for stating his or her opinions, perhaps we should be asking why they feel that way and offer them the same attentive ears that McGowan and others have asked that we lend to survivors.
If we could all get on the same page, maybe this movement thing could really work.
