ITP V.017 WORLD APOCALYPSE: BJORK and MICHAEL MOORE SPEAK OUT AGAINST SEXUAL HARRASMENT

In the wake of  various rape and sexual assault  allegations against Hollywood director and MIRIMAX co founder HARVEY WEINSTEIN, rock legend BJORK and indie documentary film maker MICHAEL MOORE have spoken out against misogyny and sexual harassment in the music and film industries.

 




Actress Lysette Anthony and Rose Mcgowan have both accused HARVEY WEINSTEIN of rape, allegations that WEINSTEIN vigorously denies.

Actress Lysette Anthony started off her career in a series of Canadian rocker Bryan Adams videos ("Run to You", "Summer Of 69").

Rose Mcgowan was briefly engaged to U.S. hard rocker MARILYN MANSON. 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/15/europe/weinstein-lysette-anthony-rape-allegation/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysette_Anthony

http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/media/rose-mcgowan-harvey-weinstein/index.html

http://exclaim.ca/film/article/sarah_polley_opens_up_about_harvey_weinstein_and_hollywoods_sexism_in_new_op-ed

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/woman-who-accused-rapper-nelly-rape-won-t-testify-says-n810661

 http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/15/entertainment/me-too-twitter-alyssa-milano/index.html

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Weinstein-in-Treatment-Amid-Sexual-Harassment-Scandal-452128663.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand

FROM BJORK:
i am inspired by the women everywhere who are speaking up online to tell about my experience with a danish director . because i come from a country that is one of the worlds place closest to equality between the sexes and at the time i came from position of strength in the music world with hard earned independence , it was extremely clear to me when i walked into the actresses profession that my humiliation and role as a lesser sexually harassed being was the norm and set in stone with the director and a staff of dozens who enabled it and encouraged it . i became aware of that it is a universal thing that a director can touch and harass his actresses at will and the institution of film allows it . when i turned the director down repeatedly he sulked and punished me and created for his team an impressive net of illusion where i was framed as the difficult one . because of my strength , my great team and because i had nothing to loose having no ambitions in the acting world , i walked away from it and recovered in a years time . i am worried though that other actresses working with the same man did not . the director was fully aware of this game and i am sure of that the film he made after was based on his experiences with me . because i was the first one that stood up to him and didn't let him get away with it

and in my opinion he had a more fair and meaningful relationship with his actresses after my confrontation so there is hope
let's hope this statement supports the actresses and actors all over
let's stop this
there is a wave of change in the world
kindness
björk

in the spirit of #metoo i would like to lend women around the world a hand with a more detailed description of my experience with a danish director . it feels extremely difficult to come out with something of this nature into the public , especially when immediately ridiculed by offenders . i fully sympathise with everyone who hesitates , even for years . but i feel it is the right time especially now when it could make a change . here comes a list of the encounters that i think count as sexual harassment :

1 after each take the director ran up to me and wrapped his arms around me for a long time in front of all crew or alone and stroked me sometimes for minutes against my wishes
2 when after 2 months of this i said he had to stop the touching , he exploded and broke a chair in front of everyone on set . like someone who has always been allowed to fondle his actresses . then we all got sent home .
3 during the whole filming process there were constant awkward paralysing unwanted whispered sexual offers from him with graphic descriptions , sometimes with his wife standing next to us .
4 while filming in sweden , he threatened to climb from his room´s balcony over to mine in the middle of the night with a clear sexual intention , while his wife was in the room next door . i escaped to my friends room . this was what finally woke me up to the severity of all this and made me stand my ground
5 fabricated stories in the press about me being difficult by his producer . this matches beautifully the weinstein methods and bullying . i have never eaten a shirt . not sure that is even possible .
6 i didnt comply or agree on being sexually harassed . that was then portrayed as me being difficult . if being difficult is standing up to being treated like that , i´ll own it .
hope
let´s break this curse
warmth
björk

FROM MICHAEL MOORE:
USE THIS MOMENT TO CREATE A WORLD WITHOUT HARVEYS
by Michael Moore
Anyone with a flicker of a conscience or a modicum of decency stands, as I do, with the women who've summoned the courage to tell the truth about Harvey Weinstein.
But well-meaning platitudes of support for the abused are simply not enough.
Why do we live in a society where men do not intervene when they witness the mistreatment of women? I have intervened on more than one occasion and I have fired men who sexually harass women. Harvey Weinstein knew better than to behave inappropriately toward women in my presence. I'm guessing successful sociopaths like him who get away with it for years are very, very careful not to let the kind of men who would stop them dead cold ever get a glimpse of who they really are. I don't live in Weinstein's Hollywood world and I make documentaries, so I can't speak to the culture he created and seemed to thrive in. I AM the only director that I know of who's actually taken Weinstein to court (for being a thief, which requires a different set of sociopathic skills, but, like sexual harassment, you can probably find them at a few Hollywood studios).
All of us (men) must share the responsibility for allowing a society to exist where women do not feel safe. A society where, when they are abused, they are not able to tell their stories without fear of retribution and shame. A society that badgers, blames or scoffs at women when they tell their stories. Or how they tell their stories. Or "how long" it took them. They carry a burden that most of us (men) never have to experience. If you can't empathize with that or understand what they are dealing with, then maybe you're part of the problem.
The New York Times investigation into the repugnant and abhorrent behavior of Harvey Weinstein (and the Weinstein Company) is a profound cultural/social/political moment that I believe could actually ignite a historic change in our society. What if we seized this moment and bring down, once and for all, the white male hierarchy which has ruled our way of life in America since the first boatload of religious zealots arrived on Plymouth Rock?
And what if Hollywood commits, right now, to dismantling its rampant sexism and inequality, starting with appointing more female executives and letting more than 4% -- yes, it's actually only 4% -- of all its films be directed by women?
Let's use this moment to end the abuse of women in our industry. Let's make this a call for men to take a stand against the men who perpetrate this corrosive, criminal behavior, to call them out and shut them down. We can do this. All it takes is the will and the decision to say "enough is enough!"
I have four suggestions that Hollywood (and our greater society) should act on immediately:
1. Put all abusers on notice NOW: You know who you are, and scores of your employees, past and present, know who you are. You need to step down before they bring you down. There is nowhere left to hide. Your years of attacking and intimidating women are over. You have only two options: 1) Resign now, or 2) face an army of women and men who are going to take you out of power. You have seen this week what has happened to the most powerful, most well-known executive in Hollywood. You're next. Turn yourself in, or go far, far away to a place where you can no longer harm more women.
2. To those abusers who ignore the above warning and choose to stay in power because you think that this is all going to die down and blow over -- and that you are going to get to continue to get away with your behavior -- let me explain to you in clearer language how this is all going to end for you:
Every one of your employees is now a documentary filmmaker. Thanks to the invention of the smartphone that has a built-in camera and voice recorder, every single one of your workers now carries in their pocket the ability to secretly record or film you and your harassment. And they will. They will post your crimes. You will be exposed, publicly shamed and hopefully removed. Avoid this cruel end by resigning now.
3. To the men who do treat women as equals and behave toward them with respect and dignity: This is your moment! Confront the abusive men at work. When you see something, you must say something. No more ignoring and turning away when you see women being harassed and intimidated in the workplace. This is on us. MEN, step forward, NOW!
4. The boards of directors of the Hollywood studios -- and all across corporate America -- must declare gender parity the new priority. Fifty-percent of all boards must be female. Hiring multiple female executives is the mandate. Of the top 100 grossing films each year, an average of only TWO are directed by women! All studios must commit to greenlighting more films by women (and, needless to say, by African Americans and other neglected groups).
These are short term actions that can happen now. But I want to point out that there is also a fundamental fix that MUST occur in the long run if there is ever to be any real change. We must reform our broken economic system and transform it into one that is equitable and democratic, one where the gap between rich and poor is ELIMINATED so that no longer do a few wealthy men hold the power.
We need to create a new economy where women and men have the same opportunities and are paid the same, an economy that no longer condemns generations to poverty and where their only option is to serve at the pleasure and the whim of the rich. We need businesses and workplaces that are owned and operated by their employees in a country where democracy is not just a word we mouth but an actual way of living -- at work, at school, in our neighborhoods and in our daily lives. A democratic economy is a must if we are ever going to be able to deny white men their major weapon of abuse -- the fear of financial insecurity -- that they have used against women for eons. This is our mission for the long haul, the big picture that must be addressed and changed. We must ALL commit to doing this. I believe our collective conscience will ultimately settle for nothing less, and the result will be a better world.


FROM NATIVE LIVES MATTER:

For all of our missing, murdered, and sexually assaulted Native women.
You are not alone, and are not forgotten. #MeToo

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/15/entertainment/me-too-twitter-alyssa-milano/index.html

#metoo
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-