# Harvey Weinstein question, sort of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771 "2017-10-14T02:07:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/21 "2017-10-14T17:01:53Z")
I had heard the name. I am intimately familiar with the issues of sexual harassment, assault/rape and definitely abuse of authority. I can still say that I enjoy several movies that Miramax came out with - someone can be a rapist and have everyone believe they are a “good guy”, except if you are alone, or if he is drunk or…sadly, being a sex offender doesn’t mean you may not have really good skills or aptitude’s in other areas. The fact is, if every offender looked like Chester the Molester, it would be easy. But they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/22 "2017-10-15T04:40:00Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > … > I can understand the role of a director, and a screenwriter, and an actor, but WTH is a producer anyway? (I’m not actually asking, I don’t really care.) > … The producer is the guy with the money that decides whether those other people work on movies or wait tables. It only matters here because in his case “sleep with me or you’ll never work in this town” wasn’t a totally empty threat. > [@](#): > > … > Other people have told me they knew who he was from seeing him on awards shows. I never watch those things, I think they’re boring as ass. “Who are you wearing, hurr durrrr?” Please. Speaking of which, Weinstein used his power and influence to get Hollywood people to wear clothes from the small fashion company his girlfriend (later wife) started. I.e., “wear her gown to the opening or I won’t promote the movie.” Small fashion company became big. > [@Poysyn](#): > > … > The fact is, if every offender looked like Chester the Molester, it would be easy. But they don’t. Have you not seen pictures of this guy? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/23 "2017-10-15T15:05:30Z")
Yeah, him and Jimmy Saville look the headshots of a pedophile or abuser from a lifetime movie. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/24 "2017-10-15T15:32:26Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > There is no particular reason why anyone should know who Harvey Weinstein is if they don’t follow the movie industry. He’s not a household name like James Cameron. He is (or was) a production company honcho. There’s also the political donations connection but that may be primarily a trumped up alt-right thing. I’m guessing that more of those on the left know of the Koch Bros than do those on the right. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/25 "2017-10-15T16:12:50Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Have you not seen pictures of this guy? My reply to that exactly! He looks like a toad. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/26 "2017-10-15T20:35:08Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > My reply to that exactly! He looks like a toad. No, that’s fair. He does look like a creep. Definitely misspoke (mistyped?)… ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/27 "2017-10-15T22:04:26Z")
For more on the Fatty Arbuckle scandal, here is a clip from a documentary that covers the scandal in some detail. It is a fascinating story, worthy of a movie itself. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv3jC0L0wGk) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/28 "2017-10-15T23:11:09Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Other people have told me they knew who he was from seeing him on awards shows. I never watch those things, I think they’re boring as ass. “Who are you wearing, hurr durrrr?” Please. You are absolutely within your rights to be bored by awards shows and never watch them; however I feel compelled to point out that “who are you wearing?” is not a part of the actual awards shows, it is a part of the media coverage of the awards shows that includes red carpet arrivals and afterparties. I enjoy watching certain awards shows, but watch just the shows themselves, and none of the additional coverage, and therefore am never subjected to any questions or information regarding the fashions (and usually can’t remember what anyone was wearing anyway.) Also still fine not to know who Harvey Weinstein is. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/29 "2017-10-15T23:29:48Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I will never be able to understand why some powerful men feel the need to force others to have sex. God knows they have legions of people throwing themselves at them willingly, I have actually read some men mention this with annoyance. It is both a blessing and a curse. > [@pool](#): > > Hey **Stranger** from everything I’ve ever read about Fatty Arbuckle he wasn’t the predatory sleaze that he was made out to be and was ultimately acquitted and given an apology after three trials and apparently he was pretty shy around the fairer sex, have you read something specific about it the guy, or do you just vaguely recall that he was accused of a rape? The facts of the case suggest he was falsely accused and his career and life ruined as a result. > > [Roscoe Arbuckle - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Arbuckle) Yeah, well: I loved [**The Wild Party**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073903/) as a kid, to the disdain of everybody else; and felt rather sorry for Mr. Arbuckle. Never seen one of his films, unlike say, Chaplin or Buster Keaton, but at that, I knew more about him than of the egregious Mr. Weinstein, who was just a floating name. ( In The Floating World. ) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/30 "2017-10-15T23:50:43Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > (Look up the term, “being Stromed” re Strom Thrumond.) I tried but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’m aware of Thurmond, of course, and his first daughter but I am not sure what you mean here. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/31 "2017-10-16T00:23:29Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > When the headline first broke, I thought they were talking about Harvey _Firestein_. The pictures in the story did nothing to steer me from thinking that. It wasn’t until I read about his wife, and I thought, “Waaaaait…” I’m kind of laughing because I have an actual true story about being groped by Harvey Fierstein. He was a friend of mine, it was playful, I didn’t mind. Plus it was in the 1980’s. Plus of course, he’s totally gay. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/32 "2017-10-16T00:23:37Z")
And I see from that Wiki link, some of the American public called for Arbuckle to be sentenced to death; and that his estranged wife was shot at entering the courthouse since she supported his innocence. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/33 "2017-10-16T02:41:36Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > When the headline first broke, I thought they were talking about Harvey _Firestein_. The pictures in the story did nothing to steer me from thinking that. It wasn’t until I read about his wife, and I thought, “Waaaaait…” That’s it! I don’t follow the movie industry, but it seemed to me that “Harvey Weinstein” was a name I’d heard before. But no, it was Firestein whose name I vaguely remembered. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/34 "2017-10-16T08:23:03Z")
I knew I’d heard the name before, and if you’d asked me three weeks ago who he was, I’d have probably said, some sort of big-deal guy. But I couldn’t have told you if he was a hedge-fund guy or a rock impresario. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/35 "2017-10-16T13:27:35Z")
I only knew who he is because I watch Project Runway. He is one of the producers and his wife Georgina Chapman, has been a judge on the All-Stars version. She is a famous fashion designer in her own right. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/36 "2017-10-16T14:00:33Z")
I would say that if you were “into” movies, you would know who he was. You would likely know some of the details of his history, as **Stranger** (whose name is the title of a Hitchcock movie) laid out. But if you are not, then I wouldn’t expect you to know him. By comparison, I enjoy NFL, I watch many games every week, but I am not “into” NFL the way some people are. I don’t know the names of many coaches, and certainly don’t know the names of hardly any team owners. If an NFL owner popped up in the news for in the same way as Harvey Weinstein, I might be like **Ulf** and say “Who? Am I supposed to know this person?” ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/37 "2017-10-16T15:19:58Z")
I used to see a lot of movies and knew of the Weinstein brothers. I also knew that Harvey had a reputation for being a dirtbag. I’ve read some of the recent stories and they say things like “it was an open secret”. It was more than that. Everyone knew what he was doing. People in the industry knew it. People, like me, with no connection to the industry knew it. There was no secret. There were just people letting him get away with it because they wanted to be in the movie business. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/38 "2017-10-17T16:05:26Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I only knew who he is because I watch Project Runway. He is one of the producers and his wife Georgina Chapman, has been a judge on the All-Stars version. She is a famous fashion designer in her own right. “In her own right” may not be an entirely accurate way to put it. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/39 "2017-10-17T16:44:46Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > “In her own right” may not be an entirely accurate way to put it. I am thinking the same thing about Georgina Chapman and her design house Marchesa. Along with the sexual harassment & outright rape charges coming out are also accounts of Harvey pressuring actresses to wear his wife’s designs on the red carpet. I used to care enough about Hollywood fashion a few years ago that I read a few of those “who wore what” websites and looking back on it now, I understand why so many fashion critics had a little extra disdain for Marchesa and hinted that someone had been “forced” to wear it. Georgina’s gowns are usually way over-designed and can border on the edge of tacky. Understated they ain’t. She probably would not have gotten the exposure she did were she not Weinstein’s wife. And c’mon…Georgina knew that when she married him. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/40 "2017-10-17T17:06:32Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Have you not seen pictures of this guy? The only reason he stands out to you is that he’s not beautiful, like the Hollywood people he’s standing next to. He’s just an ordinary shmoe and kinda ugly. If you saw him on the street you would not think twice about him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771.md?page=3)