Court judgment against Weinstein: Symbol of the #Metoo movement!

Court judgment against Weinstein: Symbol of the #Metoo movement!

A New York jury has decided that ex-Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is a sex criminal. The trial against Weinstein, which has been going on since January 2020, is now being reopened. This happens after a court has lifted the previous judgment about rape and sexual coercion. The allegations that are raised against him include sexual attacks on several women, including Jessica Mann, Miriam Haley and Kaja Sokola. These are said to have been abused between 2002 and 2013, with the Weinstein public prosecutor presenting as a man who misused his power in Hollywood. The court was fully occupied and the atmosphere in the hall was tense, a sign of the high importance of this procedure in public.

Weinstein was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, which underlined the severity of his situation. During the trial, he did not go to the witness stand, and his lawyer, Arthur Aidala, argued that women had had mutually acceptable relationships with him and had abused him as a career jumping board. He described the descriptions of the acts as unbelievable. On the other hand, the prosecutor, Nicole Blumberg, pointed out that it was about rape and sexual abuse and not about Weinstein's celebrities. She explained that Weinstein used his power to isolate and abuse women.

a symbol for #metoo

This process also has a symbolic meaning for the #Metoo movement. A conviction could encourage other victims to talk about sexual violence. If Weinstein is spoken guilty, he threatens up to 29 years of additional imprisonment. The producer has already been in a 16-year prison sentence in California and could spend the rest of his life in prison. This is a further step on the path of change in Hollywood, where the power weight between men and women has long been under discussion.

The Weinstein case had profound effects on the film industry. Women in Hollywood already solidarized in the Golden Globes in 2018 and wore black robes to protest against sexual harassment. The Time’s-up movement came about in response to abuses and aims to strengthen and network women in the industry. Studies show that the proportion of directors in the top 100 most successful films in the United States has increased from around 4% to 12-14%, which is nevertheless criticized as inadequate.

challenges and changes

The Academy Awards are under pressure to diversify their composition, since the criticism of excessive dominance of white men does not fail to fail to do. Despite the invitation of new members, the changes are slow and still have challenges for women and people of color. Eva Longoria pointed out that Studios praise herself to increase the number of directors, while the actual figures still remain low. The inclusion Rider was developed to promote diversity in film productions, but there is little evidence of its actual use.