Terry Gilliam has a lot to say about the #MeToo movement and Harvey Weinstein. A lot to say. Unfortunately for Gilliam, it looks like there might be an apology in his future.
Gilliam was recently interviewed and was asked about the Harvey Weinstein controversy. Mincing no words, it seems like Gilliam thinks there’s plenty of blame to throw at Harvey, but also, a lot of “ambitious” women.
“It is a world of victims,” Gilliam says. “I think some people did very well out of meeting with Harvey and others didn’t. The ones who did knew what they were doing. These are adults, we are talking about adults with a lot of ambition. Harvey opened the door for a few people, a night with Harvey — that’s the price you pay. Some people paid the price, other people suffered from it.”
The reason Gilliam is downplaying the crimes of Mr. Weinstein is simple, at least to him. The filmmaker clarifies why he feels Harvey’s crimes maybe don’t feel as bad as others. He said, “There’s a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?”
But Gilliam didn’t stop there. No, sir. The “Brazil” director decided to go after the #MeToo movement, as well. When asked about #MeToo, Gilliam pulled no punches, saying, “…like when mob rule takes over, the mob is out there, they are carrying their torches and they are going to burn down Frankenstein’s castle.”
Oh, boy.
Moving on from the sexual misconduct stories and #MeToo, the director turned his anger on an easy target, Donald Trump. “Look at America under Trump,” Gilliam says, “look at England under the Conservatives — it is just a joke and it is costing fortunes. Britain is part of Europe and to think it can be Great Britain again is utterly foolish. It makes me feel like I’ve gotten very old and I am living through a nightmare world at the moment.”
Look, we all can respect Gilliam’s work. He’s one of the true visionaries working in film today. However, he now joins the ranks of many prominent men in the industry that just don’t get it. Unfortunately, it does seem like Gilliam has “gotten very old” and perhaps, he needs to be a little more careful choosing his words next time.
