December 22, 2017
Matt Damon Is Hollywoods Large Adult Son
It takes a special breed of idiot to take one look at the nuanced, multilayered, sky-high souffl of sexual-misconduct allegations in the entertainment industry right now and say, hey, thats a story Id like be a part of. Unfortunately, for many men the siren call of sharing an uninformed opinion is just too seductivehence the growing trend of A-list male actors grabbing a mic, firing up a tweet, digging a hole and then catapulting their bodies into it.
The best example of this right now is Matt Damon, whos had the misfortune of having a major press tour line up with a hot-button issue that he clearly knows nothing about. Instead of educating himself more thoroughly, passing the mic to a female colleague, or just changing the subject, Damon has persisted with the confidence of a man who has never once doubted the validity of his opinions, aka the confidence of a man. In the words of The A.V. Clubs Katie Rife, Damon is Busting through the wall of the current cultural moment like a Kool-Aid man of male entitlement.
Just how reckless are Matt Damons hot takes? Im glad you asked.
Last week, an interview that Damon did with ABC News went viral after it was correctly identified as a pile of steaming trash. Theres nothing quite like watching two men weigh in on a sexual-misconduct epidemic; one day, in the very near future, women will exclusively rage-exercise to workout playlists of Matt Damon holding forth on which Bad Men are actually worthy of rehabilitation. In addition to emphasizing the difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, the actor offered up individualized takes. While Louis I dont imagine hes going to do those things again C.K. and Al I personally would have preferred if they had an Ethics Committee investigation Franken were both put forth as candidates for forgiveness, Damon was less charitable toward Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein. Specifically, he reiterated that, Nobody who made movies for [Weinstein] knew Any human being would have put a stop to that, no matter who he was. They wouldve said absolutely no.
Of course, the question of how much Good Will Hunting star Matt Damon knew about Weinstein, who shepherded the film, isnt as clear-cut as hed have you believe.
After the Weinstein story broke, former New York Times reporter Sharon Waxman claimed that she was working on a story in 2004 regarding sexual-misconduct allegations against the producer. According to Waxman, Weinstein enlisted Damon to call her in an attempt to change the narrative. Per Vulture, Waxman alleges in The Wrap that Matt Damon and Russell Crowe called her directly to dispel the reports she was following about Miramaxs Italian head Fabrizio Lombardo, who was allegedly hired to take care of Weinsteins women needs. She says that because of their influence, and interference from Weinstein, whose company was a big advertiser in theTimes, the article was edited to remove the more salacious details.
Damon, who had been conspicuously silent following the outing of his powerful pal, responded to Waxmans recollections with a passionate self-defense. For the record, I would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldnt do that. Its not something I would do, for anybody, Damoninsisted, adding, I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this. I think a lot of actors have come out and said, everybodys saying we all knew. Thats not true. This type of predation happens behind closed doors, and out of public view. If there was ever an event that I was at and Harvey was doing this kind of thing and I didnt see it, then I am so deeply sorry, because I would have stopped it. However, in a Good Morning America interview, Damon did cop to the fact that he knew about Weinsteins harassing behavior.
I knew the story about Gwyneth from Ben [Affleck] because he was with her after Brad [Pitt], Damon toldMichael Strahan in a joint interview with George Clooney. I never talked to Gwyneth about it. Ben told me, but I knew that they had come to whatever, you know, agreement or understanding that they had come to, she had handled it. She was, you know, the first lady of Miramax. And he treated her incredibly respectfully always. He added that, This level of criminal sexual predation is not something that I ever thought was going on, absolutely not.
Despite what Matt Damon has told himself, it seems that raising four daughters does not an ally make. Luckily for Damon, some of the women in his life are taking the time to try and educate him. Minnie Driver, who co-starred in Good Will Hunting and dated Damon for a short time afterward (before he famously dumped her on Oprah), had some words for the ignorant actor. After reacting passionately to Damons comments on Twitter, Driver told The Guardian that, I felt I desperately needed to say something. Ive realized that most men, good men, the men that I love, there is a cut-off in their ability to understand. They simply cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level. I honestly think that until we get on the same page, you cant tell a woman about their abuse. A man cannot do that. No one can. It is so individual and so personal, its galling when a powerful man steps up and starts dictating the terms, whether he intends it or not.
Driver insisted that, There is no hierarchy of abusebut that, even if there was, It certainly cant be prescribed by a man. She continued, How about: Its all fucking wrong and its all bad, and until you start seeing it under one umbrella its not your job to compartmentalize or judge what is worse and what is not. Let women do the speaking up right now. The time right now is for men just to listen and not have an opinion about it for once.
Most people would be left reeling after Minnie Driver verbally bitch-slapped them in The Guardian. But Matt Damon is not most people. Unfazed by a public trashing from his ex, Damon rose from the ashes of his decimated public image armed with even worse opinions. This week, Business Insider published an interview in which the actor proved himself to be the ultimate male allyas in, an ally to other men. Were in this watershed moment, and its great, but I think one thing thats not being talked about is there are a whole shitload of guysthe preponderance of men Ive worked withwho dont do this kind of thing and whose lives arent going to be affected? the actor put forth, adding, Idont do that, and most of the people I know dont do that.
Damon didnt attend the premiere for his new film Downsizing in the wake of his viral comments. But the Massachusetts native is no stranger to backlash. In fact, theres an entire category of #Damonsplainingthe act of Matt Damon lecturing others with ignorant, ill-informed opinions.
In 2015, Damon took to his passion project, HBOs Project Greenlight, to talk down to a black producer. During the fourth season premiere of the show, Effie Brown, the only person of color in the group of deliberating producers, pointed out a potential issue with a black character in a film. Jezebels Kara Brown explained, All shes saying is thatperhapsthis roomful of white people should be cognizant of who they hire to direct a character like thatAKA hire some people of color so they can treat the role with some dignity and prevent it from descending into a racist trope. She continued, Luckily, Matt Damon is there to swoop in with this Smart White Man cape and interrupts Brown in order to explain diversity to her and this room full of white people. He argues thatactually, the less-diverse directing teams brought up the same issue about the prostitute character that Effie is raising.
Later on in the episode, Damon insisted, Im glad Effie flagged the issue of diversity for all of us, because filmmaking should throw a broader net and its high time for that to change. But ultimately, if you suddenly change the rules of this competition at the eleventh hour, it just seems like you would undermine what the competition was supposed to be about, which is about giving somebody this job based entirely on merit, and leaving all other factors out of it. He continued, Its just strictly a filmmaking competition. I think the whole point of this thing is that you go for the best director, period. This is what we have and this is what we have to choose, and the only thing I can go by is the work that theyve done.
Damon ultimately apologized in part for the episode, saying in a statement, My comments were part of a much broader conversation about diversity in Hollywood and the fundamental nature of Project Greenlight which did not make the show. I am sorry that they offended some people, but, at the very least, I am happy that they started a conversation about diversity in Hollywood. That is an ongoing conversation that we all should be having.
Of course, as the producer of Project Greenlight, Damon ostensibly had control over what footage made it into the final cut. Clearly, he had no idea just how silly his argument wasand how painful it is to watch an overpaid white guy expound on the importance of giving somebody this job based entirely on merit. Its almost as if Matt Damon has absolutely no cognizance of the racist, sexist systems that have allowed him to maintain a career that many female actors and actors of color can only dream of.
In addition to his race and gender blind spots, Damon has implied in the past that gay actors ought to stay in the closet. Also in 2015, he told The Guardian, I think youre a better actor the less people know about you period, continuing, And sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality because thats one of the mysteries that you should be able to play.
Addressing old rumors that he and BFF Ben Affleck were an item, he elaborated, It put us in a weird position of having to answer, you know what I mean? Which was then really deeply offensive. I dont want to, like [imply] its some sort of diseasethen its like Im throwing my friends under the bus. But at the time, I remember thinking and saying, Rupert Everett was openly gay and this guymore handsome than anybody, a classically trained actorits tough to make the argument that he didnt take a hit for being out.
At the time, The Daily Beasts Kevin Fallon pointed out that, Damon is preaching about actors sexuality being none of the publics business in the same interview in which he casually talks about his wife, kids, and fatherhood on several occasions, in an article entitled Shut Up, Matt Damon.
Another subject that Matt Damon has struggled to shut up about is Casey Affleck.
Affleck, who has been accused of sexual harassment by two former colleagues, won an Academy Award last year thanks in good part to a campaign that was spearheaded by older bro Ben Affleck and family friend Matt Damon. In his capacity as aManchester by the Sea producer, Damon praised its male lead in multiple interviews,calling Casey one of the best actors Ive ever met. At The Cut, Allie Jones reasoned out why Affleck was able to continue on an upward career trajectory in spite of the 2010 harassment allegations. She wrote, Luckiest for Affleck, he is the brother of a major movie star and the childhood friend of another This brotherly posing makes prestige outlets hesitant to ask the younger Affleck tough questions, for fear of losing access to all three stars. His cruise to the Oscars continues undeterred because of his privileged position in Hollywood.
While Damon has Damonsplained (and promoted an alleged abuser) in the past, his recent comments feel particularly offensive. Perhaps this is due not just to the opinions hes sharing, but who Matt Damon is, and what he represents. Even without speaking out of turn, Damon is a walking, talking embodiment of male white privilege, and an example of the very status quo that so many of us are working to upend. He is Hollywoods large adult son, and while it might be too soon to imagine a world in which men like Matt Damon arent the highest-grossing actors, we can, at the very least, shame the Matt Damons of the world out of opining on subjects their privilege has allowed them to remain largely ignorant of.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-matt-damon-is-hollywoods-large-adult-son
December 24, 2017
Matt Damon, stop #damonsplaining. You don’t understand sexual harassment | Hannah Jane Parkinson
by MeDaryl • Cars • Tags: culture, Feminism, Film, Inequality, Life and style, Matt Damon, Sexual harassment, US news, women, World news
If youre from a group that has never been oppressed for reasons of identity you dont know what it feels like. The actor should know when to shut up, writes Guardian contributor Hannah Jane Parkinson
Oh, Matt Damon. Where did it all go wrong? Well, almost everywhere.
Damon is currently the focus of a mixture of derision, anger and disbelief after he made, in the space of three days, multiple boneheaded comments on sexual harassment. At some point between these tone-deaf interventions his Good Will Hunting co-star (and a former girlfriend), Minnie Driver, helpfully pointed out where he was going wrong. And yet, instead of taking a seat to reflect on her critique, Damon came splashing back into a lake of ignorance like a dog which repeatedly forgets it is not good at swimming.
First, Damon waded in to say that sexual harassment exists on a spectrum, and that theres a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape. On the face of it, this is clearly true (and something that women have also said), but Damon is too ignorant (HOW? STILL?) to realise that being patted on the butt a thousand times by bosses, male friends, colleagues, and strangers, is an insidious invasion of personal space and an exhausting erasure of individuality. Death by a thousand cuts. As Driver put it, [men] cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level.
He also doesnt seem to realise that literally nobody is crying out for Matt Damons Opinion On This. As Driver also said, its galling when a powerful man steps up and starts dictating the terms. In total, he has spoken about this topic no fewer than three times. Forgive me, Matt, but I think not being harassed should be a baseline expectation, and not something to be deified for. I dont offer a round of applause to the man at the bus stop who doesnt comment on my ass. And I am not about to start.
Damon is also guilty of the trope of men declaring themselves feminists after having daughters, as if the wellbeing of human women otherwise didnt matter. Good one, guys. Super grateful. Its good to know that someone being called a whore doesnt raise hackles if it isnt your mother, daughter, aunt or sister who is the target.
When Damon came on to the scene in the late 90s, he was part of a gang of up-and-comers, including the Affleck brothers. If he doubts the widespread issue of male toxicity, then he could do well to remember that Ben Affleck has since had to apologise for groping a presenter, and his brother Casey Affleck has been accused of multiple sexual assaults (which he denies). Meanwhile, Damon has been the epitome of East Coast Liberal. He made much of his background and upbringing (his mother was a college professor and his father a stockbroker); he attended Harvard, and has sold himself as A Good Egg, even establishing a non-profit to provide clean drinking water. His outspoken liberalness even had Michael Moore suggesting a presidential run.
Since then, Damon has become the perfect example of a phrase I coined last month, when right-on men were being unearthed as rats at the rate of one tail a minute: no woke without fire. Its the kind of un-wokeness in plain sight that was illuminated in Jordan Peeles Get Out. Damons past indiscretions include: suggesting that the Bush twins be forced to enlist in the military; downplaying the importance of diversity behind the camera, and carefully explaining this to a black producer, Effie T Brown; the time in response to a question about sexuality, he implied that actors should remain closeted; and when he declared I didnt take a role away from a Chinese actor when the subject of whitewashing was raised, rather than engaging.
This leads me to a simple truth: if one is from a group that has never been oppressed for reasons of identity, it is almost impossible to understand what that feels like. This often isnt their individual fault, which is where defensiveness comes in, but it is true. Women know, people of colour know, LGBT+ people know, people with disabilities know, those persecuted for their religion know. To an extent, perhaps straight white men know, if, say, they come from a state school, have a thick northern accent, and attempt to enter the media. Or Oxbridge. But if youve never been on the receiving end of a punching down, then of course it is possible to sympathise but you aint ever gonna feel the blow.
Its not that the effort of others to understand is not appreciated. That needs to happen for things to change and improve, and Damon seems to have good intentions. But he is never going to know what it is like to walk home with keys between knuckles. I am never, for instance, going to know what it is like to have a job application sidelined because apparently some people think, as a friend was told recently, African names have too many vowels. I dont know what it is like to have someone talk to me like a child because I use a wheelchair. I do know what it is like to have a male colleague take credit for my ideas, and to be vigilant when kissing a partner in case of abuse.
As someone who holds freedom of speech close to my heart, and who can sometimes be found eye-rolling at some of the more eccentric demands for safe spaces or some of the no-platforming decisions, I dont think though others do that certain people should automatically be banned for speaking on certain subjects. However, I do think certain people should recognise when their voice carries less authority, should know when to shut up, and realise that their voice is not needed, wanted, or helpful at a particular time. As a motormouth, I am sure I have screwed up here before. Damon doesnt seem to care, and continues, relentlessly, to #damonsplain.
Whats particularly ironic in all of this is it was Damons character in Good Will Hunting who was chastised by Robin Williams therapist for precisely assuming that secondhand knowledge, and reading from books, could replace empirical, lived experience. Did Damon learn nothing?
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/19/matt-damon-sexual-harassment