For everything that the proponents of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements manage to accomplish, it seems that prominent detractors aren’t too far behind to bemoan them with many of the same criticisms. Like Terry Gilliam, the acclaimed British film director and Monty Python member who recently spoke with AFP about the largely American-centric social movements. Arguing from a position not unlike fellow Europeans Ian McKellen and Liam Neeson, Gilliam equated #MeToo to “mob rule” and even went so far as to defend Harvey Weinstein from many of his accusers.
“It’s crazy how simplified things are becoming. There is no intelligence anymore and people seem to be frightened to say what they really think. Now I am told even by my wife to keep my head a bit low,” he told the press outlet in Paris. “It’s 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.” As for his comments about Weinstein, who he said “is an asshole and he made so many enemies,” Gilliam’s opinions took a far darker turn:
“It is a world of victims. 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.”
Aside from what essentially amounts to a defense of Weinstein, his being an “asshole” notwithstanding, Gilliam also took the time to say how sorry he felt “for someone like Matt Damon who is a decent human being.” The actor repeatedly put his foot in his mouth with controversial comments about the increasing number of sexual misconduct allegations, and vowed to “close my mouth for awhile” after getting called out. “He came out and said all men are not rapists, and he got beaten to death,” Gilliam said while downplaying what actually happened. “Come on, this is crazy!”
(Via AFP)