You can not have peanut butter without peanuts or a movie without a crew. In a much more real sense, you can not have Harvey Weinstein without sexual harassment and you can not have R. Kelly without pedophilia and rape.
Separating the art from the artist, or separating the crime from the person, enables people to continue predatory and deviant behaviors. When videos get likes and streaming platforms see consumers have listened to a specific artist, the platforms get money, and in turn, the artist. This is the same for any form of entertainment.
By listening to music, watching videos, movies, or TV shows, we endorse the content we consume. By endorsing the content we are supporting the livelihood of everyone involved in the project and, therefore, their behaviors.
Within the last year, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have gained a lot of support, as well as criticism, by celebrities, activists, news shows, and countless articles. One thing that is essential to support the growth of the movements is to believe the people speaking out against predators and abusers.
The presence of skepticism in regards to allegations about abuse can hurt victims more than they have already been. Valuing the truth of allegations is important for both men and women, as men are more likely to be victims themselves than falsely accused.
Both of these movements, and the extensions, such as ChurchToo, aim to raise awareness of the very high rate at which people experience sexual harassment and assault, in the entertainment business and music industry, but also in everyday life, jobs, and communities.
The growth of these movements has led to hundreds, and probably thousands, of people speaking out against bosses, celebrities, politicians, etc., which means that, ideally, these people no longer have the power to manipulate others.
There are a couple compilations of these people who have publicly been accused of sexual misconduct of some level. Vox has put together a list broken down by category.
On the website Rotten Apples, you can search TV shows or movies and it will show you if anybody associated with that movie has been accused of some sort of sexual misbehavior. This can assist consumers in making wise choices in order to limit the support of predators.
Collectively deciding to not patron people such as Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Chris Brown, R. Kelly, and many others, limits the success of their careers, thereby limiting their power and their ability to abuse it.
Voting with your dollar is important, because it lets producers of products and services know how you feel about specific issues. In industries like film or music, there is no easy way to give feedback or approval directly to artists. Since consumers do not have direct contact with the artists, the easiest way to let them know your approval of their art or their personhood is to buy their products.
Dismantling oppressive systems and people can happen one dollar at a time, but only if many people join in. Let’s commit to helping good people succeed and predators fail with the power of our consumerism.
Emma Farina
Opinion Columnist