It’s been a long week of imagining Jabba the Hutt with a penis in a bathrobe; Harvey Weinstein, it seems, is a self-propelling generator of sexual nightmares. But we’ll take a few closing words from Tig Notaro, in her wisdom. From Friday night on the Late Show With Steven Colbert:
Colbert: “Do you think we’re at a place right now where women might feel more comfortable coming forward...or see examples where coming forward has ramifications for the men who did this?...Do you see any hope in the terrible news?”
Notaro: “That is the keyword: I hope. And I feel like there is hope. I feel like it’s cracking the glass, but it’s also something that needs to be continued, to discuss it, and push it forward, and for people to understand that it’s happening! Your heroes, people you work with, family members–you have to believe people who have come forward. And even people who haven’t come forward yet. There are still sports figures, stand-up comedians, political figures–they’re everywhere.”
She echoes Gwyneth Paltrow’s statement to the New York Times that “this way of treating women ends now.”
It is noteworthy that Notaro specifically mentions stand-up comedians. Last month, Notaro told the Daily Beast that she’s had a year and a half-long falling-out with Louis C.K., who’s the executive producer of her show. She’d said he needs to “handle” his sexual assault rumors “because it’s serious to be assaulted.” To which he replied that he doesn’t think it’s “a good idea” to talk to the press about that.
The upshot of the Weinstein scandal in particular–on top of Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly–is this week’s outpouring of allegations about other Hollywood men, ranging from creepy to violent (Oliver Stone, Steven Seagal, Ben Affleck, Blake Lively’s makeup artist, Amazon Studios head Roy Price), spilling out into the realms of fashion, media, and even geology. Friends have been having conversations all week amongst ourselves about how and when we field unwanted sexual advances, politely.
So that’s not at all the end of that, but it’s a note to think on til the next harrowing account.