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Rita Panahi: Asia Argento’s bravery showed in Cannes speech

ASIA Argento achieved more in a single minute for victims of sexual assault than all the empty black dress protests and grandstanding from Hollywood’s elite, writes Rita Panahi.

#Me2017 - the year of a movement

ONE woman’s brave stand has sparked renewed debate about the way Hollywood is addressing its significant women’s problems.

It took courage for Asia Argento to stand in front of the industry’s heavy hitters at the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival last weekend and call out their lily-livered connivance in covering up predatory behaviour.

In a single minute Argento achieved more for victims of sexual assault and harassment than all the empty virtue signalling from the Hollywood elite we’ve seen in the past eight months.

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The Italian actor pointed to the crowd and shamed those who enabled her alleged attacker’s reign of abuse.

“In 1997, I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21 years old,” Argento said. “This festival was his hunting ground.

“I want to make a prediction: Harvey Weinstein will never be welcomed here again, he will live in disgrace, shunned by a film community that once embraced him and covered up for his crimes.”

Italian actor Asia Argento, left, speaks at the Cannes Film Festival. Picture: AFP/Alberto Pizzoli
Italian actor Asia Argento, left, speaks at the Cannes Film Festival. Picture: AFP/Alberto Pizzoli

The hypocrites in the industry who have paid lip service to the #MeToo movement would have been squirming in their seats as Argento called out their cowardice and complicity.

“And even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women, for behaviour that does not belong in this industry, does not belong in any industry or workplace. You know who you are, but most importantly we know who you are and we’re not going to allow you to get away with it any longer.”

Argento was among the first women to come forward and detail her treatment at the hands of Weinstein in a report by Ronan Farrow published in the New Yorker, which set in motion the #MeToo movement.

How much more poignant would it have been to have her and the other victims addressing the Academy Awards or the Golden Globes instead of the shallow black dress protests or #TimesUp grandstanding from those who had turned a blind eye to the industry’s ugly underbelly until it was no longer convenient to do so.

It’s worth noting that Argento, with other Weinstein victims including Rose McGowan, Rosanna Arquette, Daryl Hannah and Mira Sorvino, were not invited to the last Golden Globes.

At the time Argento explained her exclusion in these terms: “It would have been too much of a downer … an embarrassment. Victims aren’t glamorous enough.”

McGowan was also not buying powerful players suddenly being concerned by behaviour that was well known in the industry for decades: “Not one of those fancy people wearing black to honour our rapes would have lifted a finger had it not been so. I have no time for Hollywood fakery, but you I love, @AsiaArgento” she tweeted.

This week, Arquette, Sorvino and McGowan were among those applauding Argento’s grace.

“People must understand the bravery involved in what she did,” McGowan posted.

“Speaking the raw truth of rape is incredibly hard.”

Oscar-winning actor Sorvino added: “So proud of and grateful to you @AsiaArgento You have not backed down in any way as you remind the world of the hideousness of Harvey Weinstein’s (& others like him) crimes and the complicit support he still receives.”

British actor Alice Evans, who believes her rejection of Weinstein’s overtures saw her black-listed, also criticised the grandstanding: “Pins and ‘black dress protests’ not only do nothing, they use symbols as a way of avoiding actually speaking about what happened.”

Not only has the moral posturing of those who for years ignored appalling behaviour achieved nothing meaningful, it has been counter-productive in stripping attention from genuine victims who deserve to have their voices heard.

The victims of Hollywood’s misogyny are the ones we should be hearing from — not those who supported the likes of Woody Allen and Roman Polanski and enabled the conduct of Weinstein, James Toback, Kevin Spacey and co but are suddenly crusaders against sexual assault and harassment.

No one with a modicum of sense fell for those same stars who lauded convicted child rapist Roman Polanski suddenly lecturing the masses on standards of behaviour.

Indeed, the treatment of Polanski by the Hollywood elite says everything about that industry’s warped moral compass.

This month the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences belatedly expelled Bill Cosby and Polanski.

One could argue they were waiting for a verdict in Cosby’s sexual assault trial before kicking out the TV star.

But the fact that it took them more than 40 years to expel child rapist Polanski tells you plenty about its twisted priorities.

This is a man who anally raped a 13-year-old he had plied with alcohol and drugs and then fled to Europe to escape a jail term.

Weinstein wasn’t an aberration but a symptom of an industry with a rotten culture that believes it is morally and intellectually superior to its audience.

@RitaPanahi

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/rita-panahi/rita-panahi-asia-argentos-bravery-showed-in-cannes-speech/news-story/be10288319b2eab1e7272c7e288f3d68