Empower

I wasn't able to blog last week, and this week I'm feeling overwhelmed.  As you are already aware, I have an opinion.  This week it pertains to the litany of allegations against men in power by women who were placed in uncomfortable and compromising positions.  In the most recent examples, it's people who I've held in fairly high regard. 

To start, I was a huge fan of Louis C.K.  While people on the inside have been dealing with the rumors that he more-than-exposed himself to women, I wasn't aware.  Women who looked up to him and his success.  Me too.  I watched his FX show and sympathized with his real-world characters.  I watched his comedy specials and recommended the one where it's a conversation between him, Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Ricky Gervais and thought it was one of the best looks inside comedy I've ever seen.  And, Sara and I went to see him perform at the Newark PAC and thought he was hilarious.

Today, at least in my news feed, a picture of Senator Al Franken groping a female reporter during a USO trip to Afghanistan reared its ugly head.  As the now-Senator looks into the camera, grinning, his hands are outstretched towards her breasts in a suggestive act of inappropriate behaviour.  Why did he do this?  Clearly he knew it was wrong and thought it would be funny.  Did he actually touch her?  A closer examination of the photo suggests no as the shadows of his fingers are clearly visible on the one hand and the other is too far away to have made contact.  Honestly, I believe that, while this picture is not in good taste, it's not terribly incriminating for a man who made his living saying borderline inappropriate things for a laugh.  However, and this is huge, the victim in this photograph suggests that this act was far from the only questionable one Franken initiated.  By her count, he forcibly and inappropriately took advantage of a sketch they were performing where a kiss was written into the script. 

So, what to do now?  How does a consumer move forward knowing that the product is severely tainted?  Until recently, we didn't know how bad it was.

For those of us fans, it's a tough break.  I can't go back in time and question Franken's actions back-stage or actively campaign against him.  I can't get my money back or make the choice to turn off the TV when they were being interviewed on the Daily Show.  I can make the choice to avoid them in the future.  Why would I read Franken's book now that I know what I do about his motivations years ago?  I'm certainly not interested in a "fictional" Louis C.K. movie where a character exposes and then masturbates in front of other people.  How long did we shun Paul Reubens for masturbating in an adult theater?  That seems fairly pedestrian by comparison these days.

I suppose it's a reminder that our societal heroes are still people, people with deep faults.   And, when those faults are exposed for what they are, it's up to us to determine whether they're forgivable or not.  Certainly, as they admit the wrongdoing, we need to also focus on the blameless victims.  Make sure, though, to empower them rather than pity and label lest they fall victim to our collective societal apathy a second time.  As these things come to light, we also need to understand that the wrongdoing isn't legally punishable due to expired statutes of limitations.  Another reason to support these victims of sexual misconduct, physical and emotional abuse.  I believe you and I'm listening.