When the film She Said was announced, it felt like it was all happening too soon after the Harvey Weinstein downfall and the rise of Me Too. It felt too fresh, too ripped-from-the-headlines. But now that the film is coming out, it actually feels timely. We’re in the middle of a full-throttle Me Too backlash. Predators are still harming women. Women’s economic and legal power has been kneecapped significantly. American women are told that we no longer have the right to privacy, the right to bodily autonomy or the right to make our own reproductive decisions. Maybe this film will be important. She Said is based on New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s work to uncover and report on Harvey Weinstein’s serial rape, harassment and abuse of dozens of women over a period of four decades. Here’s the trailer.
Zoe Kazan plays Jodi Kantor, Carey Mulligan plays Megan Twohey. The supporting cast looks incredible – Samantha Morton, Jennifer Ehle, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher… the cast alone makes me want to watch it. It also appears that they’re aiming for a Spotlight vibe, meaning… Spotlight shows a group of journalists who originally thought they were doing a story about pedophile priests in Boston, then they found out that it was so much bigger and so much more pervasive. Only She Said makes it seem like they started with the idea that sexual harassment and sexual abuse was pervasive in Hollywood and that yeah, they focused on Harvey Weinstein but it was a lot bigger than him. I don’t know… I feel like it should be emphasized that Weinstein is a monster who ruined countless women’s lives. As a stand-alone story, that’s important and his victims’ stories are important. We don’t have to soft-pedal and say “well, the whole system sucks” (even if that’s true too).
Another problem I see for this film is that Brad Pitt produced it and his production company, Plan B, got the rights to Kantor and Twohey’s book in the first place. Even if you want to conveniently forget that Angelina Jolie has said very clearly that she feared for her safety and her children’s safety with Brad, you cannot ignore Pitt’s particular Weinstein issue. Gwyneth Paltrow told Pitt that Weinstein harassed and abused her, and Pitt had words with Weinstein soon after. Then Jolie told Pitt about what Weinstein did to her… and Pitt kept on working with Weinstein. Go back and read what Jolie said about Pitt and Weinstein and how hard that was for her. There’s also a big issue with this film: the connection of Brad Pitt, Harvey Weinstein and CAA. But I’m not going to get into that right now.
Screencaps from the trailer.
Do white women really think they are the #metoo saviours? Frankly Ronan Farrow’s book was much better and grounded. And yes to all of the criticisms in this post.
Loved Ronan Farrow’s book!!! And Spotlight too.
Given the unsavoury Pitt connection, I’d rather wait until someone options Tarana Burke’s memoir to watch a Me Too film.
I read Ronan Farrow’s book in 2 days last summer. It was one of my top 3 reads last year. The implications of who was involved in protecting Weinstein, according to Farrow, were so disturbing. Even Hillary Clinton tried to tell Farrow to stop investigating Weinstein.
I have She Said on Kindle, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Might have to move it up my to-read list before November.
“Do white women really think they are the #metoo saviours?”
As opposed to the white man you mentioned? Lmao
There’s a point there somewhere but you’ve expressed it in a really really awful way.
Nah, you’re just super defensive and incurious.
Tell me where I said that Ronan Farrow was the #metoo saviour?
I have other questions for you.
Have you read his book?
Have you read the book in question?
Do you know how women of colour were instrumental to this movement?
Do you know the name of the non famous women who were fundamental to Weinstein’s arrest including women of colour?
Do you know the name of the young woc – non famous – who wore a wire and Weinstein still couldn’t go down?
Can you tell me why so many white women are starring and costarring in this movie which is the subject of this post?
Don’t google.
Come at me because I assure you I know more about this than you ever will and I will rhetorically throw down for all women affected by sexual assault and harassment but will always want woc to be highlighted.
Agreed. We are talking about two women who did important work that helped take down sexual predators. Why denigrate them because they’re white? I think women need to support each other in all of this and that comment…..wasn’t supportive.
I believe you Fed up when you say you know a lot more about this than I do, and I’d like to know all of it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn something from this film or these two reporters.
There are many important stories to be told. This is one of them.
Annel, there is no denigrating but it is annoying that the #MeToo movement was found by a Black woman and the voices originally highlighted were Black or other WOC, yet the bright glare of media shines the brightest on the white women in the movement, some even giving the credit to the white women focused in this film as opposed to the true originator. A foul thing to do as it leads to erasure. Black women and other WOC have every right to question that perception.
The cast is fantastic. If the film achieves its intention, it will be profoundly important, perhaps life-changing for some. I’m for that.
There are no perfect victims, and there are no perfect heroes.
Zoe Kazan is an amazing actress. She’s a completely different person in each role. Also she apparently doesn’t age. But talk about problematic. Her grandfather ruined careers with his testimony during the McCarthy witch hunt. That’s not on her of course. But it’s hard not to think about how the name Kazan has a similarity sinister connotation to the name Weinstein.
Way too soon. Hollywood making a movie about a scandal that they still haven’t full reckoned with is weird imo. Who asked for this? Also, people are finally starting to go to the movies again and idk who would want to see this depressing stuff.
I agree that this feels like way way too soon. The victims who came forward or were outed as victims are still processing what has happened. It’s an important story, but it also seems like it could cause more damage. Rose McGowan, for example, is a character in the film. She is not in a good place (she has also said and done some very problematic things, I’m not defending her as a great person, but as an imperfect victim) and this could make it *worse* for her.
The producer that knew WEINSTEIN criminal behavior and still working with him is in a position of taking credit for this movie. It’s insane. Only in HW. Kudos to Brad Pitt. Metoo is dead.
Well, I love journalism movies, so I’m excited to see this. That said, this feels like Hollywood patting itself on the back for addressing an issue they’ve only really scratched the surface of.
At first I thought – mAybe putting out a movie telling this story was like atonement from Brad pitts perspective??? However it would only really make sense if he took any/all profits from this and put it back this movement in some meaningful and constructive way that wasn’t all for show.
In any event, all the last 5-6 years has shown for me is people generally are only motivated by a few things – power, money, and sex. And that goes for everyday people and all of the people in political positions, corporations, media, Hollywood etc etc. Since I started looking at everyone through that lens, a lot of their actions, what they say and do etc makes total sense.
It has also given me a negative point of view about a lot of things in the world but I guess I have my therapist to help me work thru that.