# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/41 "2017-10-17T17:08:45Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > This is, of course, an old story; I doubt there is anything Harvey Weinstein has done that can’t easily be topped by stories of Jack Warner or Louis B. Mayer, and the entertainment industry in general is rife with all manner of predatory sleezeballs from Fatty Arbuckle and Errol Flynn to Roman Polanski and Bill Cosby. Shirley Jones told the following story on an episode of _Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me_: > [@](#): > > SAGAL: I love the fact that you also tell in the book that Richard Rodgers became first in a long line of show businessmen to hit on you. > > JONES: Oh, yes. Well, you know, I - he asked me up to his office, and I was sitting there, and I - sitting there, and he put his arm around me. Then I suddenly saw him go and lock the door, you know, in the office. And he came over, put his arm around me again, and he said, do you have a boyfriend? And I said, oh yes, I’m engaged. > > Of course, that was not true. I said, I’m engaged; he’s waiting for me. And he said, oh, really? Well, too bad; you won’t be there for a long time. I said, I know - and I said well, you know, I’m so thrilled to be here. And I said, the fact that I have a wonderful grandpa right next to me… > > SAGAL: Oh, harsh. What did he do? > > JONES: He said oh, OK. > > (LAUGHTER) Ha. Ha. Ha. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/42 "2017-10-18T05:33:13Z")
I knew the ‘Weinstein brothers’ were movie producers, otherwise I wouldn’t have recognized Harvey if he held me at gunpoint. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/43 "2017-10-18T07:20:28Z")
I’d heard of the Weinsteins and Miramax but probably couldn’t have given the first name of either brother. Of course, I’m almost as ignorant as OP about movies: Reese Witherspoon: only _Walk the Line_ comes to mind. Renee Zellweger (sp?): I agree her name is probably misspelled but couldn’t name a single movie. > [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > … don;t … can;t … haven;t, … can;t … wouldn;t … I don’t like to nitpick abut typos, but this was so extreme I decided I just had to count the occurrences! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/44 "2017-10-18T08:16:42Z")
On a completely irrelevant tangent, Harvey played a private detective in the film _Burn, Hollywood, Burn_. I thought he did rather well in his few brief appearances, but then I appear to be the only person in the Western hemisphere who actually liked the film so make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/45 "2017-10-19T21:40:21Z")
Thanks for the replies, all (or almost all). Sounds like there really isn’t any reason that I would’ve heard of him. I don’t suppose it would’ve bothered me especially if it turned out I should’ve known exactly who he was, but it’s nice to feel off the hook. As for typos: yes, I make that particular mistake a lot! (Semicolons instead of apostrophes) I am a two finger typist; i’m very fast, and I don’t make all that many mistakes when you come right down to it, but my finger just doesn’t seem to reach the ’ key as often as it should… I blame keyboard layout. (this is not a mistake I make when I post by phone. I thought once about writing a detective story in which it would be apparent by the typos whether a person was emailing/posting by phone or by computer keyboard. Never have done 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 20, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/46 "2017-10-20T01:20:40Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > As for typos: yes, I make that particular mistake a lot! (Semicolons instead of apostrophes) I am a two finger typist; i’m very fast, and I don’t make all that many mistakes when you come right down to it, but my finger just doesn’t seem to reach the ’ key as often as it should… I blame keyboard layout. (this is not a mistake I make when I post by phone. I thought once about writing a detective story in which it would be apparent by the typos whether a person was emailing/posting by phone or by computer keyboard. Never have done it.) Sometimes if you just type the contraction without the apostrophe, autocorrect will put it in for you. The program here does that. ;)😉 Try it! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/47 "2017-10-20T09:46:14Z")
It seems really reasonable to _not_ know who Harvey Weinstein is. I knew about him as a reader of magazines like Entertainment Weekly. He came across as a master manipulator and, somehow, kinda skeevy. I don’t want to just point to his looks cuz then I feel pretty judgmental myself, but his look shapes his persona perfectly, like Martin Shkreli’s does his. ---
**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 20, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/48 "2017-10-20T12:42:47Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > It seems really reasonable to _not_ know who Harvey Weinstein is. > > I knew about him as a reader of magazines like Entertainment Weekly. He came across as a master manipulator and, somehow, kinda skeevy. I don’t want to just point to his looks cuz then I feel pretty judgmental myself, but his look shapes his persona perfectly, like Martin Shkreli’s does his. I said upthread he looked like a toad. He’d look a whole lot less like a toad if he was a genuinely nice person. For some people the ick inside seeps out. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/49 "2017-10-20T17:47:37Z")
I’ve suspected since all this started coming out that Weinstein’s looks, and the way they likely impacted on him while growing up, are a large part of the reason he became the person he is and why he behaved the way he did toward women who obviously weren’t interested in him. He didn’t seem to care a whit what women (or anyone else in a business sense either) thought of him, and he performed all sorts of odd, perverted acts in which they were essentially witnesses, not participants. Other’s he seems to have flat out raped. It’s like he decided at some point that if he was going to be rejected by attractive, popular girls while growing up then he would become successful and powerful and force them to do his bidding, which in the meantime had morphed into borderline sadistic and perverted overtones. People, both men and women, seem to have become little more than objects to be manipulated for his benefit, and again without the slightest care what they thought of him as a result. Being ill thought of and rejected due to your looks can strike a person growing up in the same way as bullying and can have a profound effect. Some people develop personality problems and withdraw into a shell, some go nuts and start shooting up the place, and some become ruthless and sociopathic manipulators. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/50 "2017-10-22T02:09:37Z")
> [@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…” me too! I was like is this the raspy voice producer I always hear? I read about the sleaziness of Old Hollywood, but to hear it has always been this way sad. Also another question: why so many business meetings at a hotel bedroom? I figured, meeting to discuss a script. at his office in production company or if hotel, a conference room. \*Thought apparently this Weinstein was a horndog, everywhere inviting actresses home with the kids in next room (Lupita) and ushering actresses away from public (Venice Film Festival/ Lena Headey) ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/51 "2017-10-22T02:13:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve suspected since all this started coming out that Weinstein’s looks, and the way they likely impacted on him while growing up, are a large part of the reason he became the person he is and why he behaved the way he did toward women who obviously weren’t interested in him. He didn’t seem to care a whit what women (or anyone else in a business sense either) thought of him, and he performed all sorts of odd, perverted acts in which they were essentially witnesses, not participants. Other’s he seems to have flat out raped. I hate to sound cruel, but reading some accounts of the actresses, saying that this fat, sloppy, icky man was coming at them, implied that if the guy was a hunk they would have felt less threatened and turned on and not revolted. Reminds me of the infamous Saturday Night Live skit with Tom Brady. You know what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771/52 "2017-10-22T07:54:15Z")
> [@smokey78](#): > > I hate to sound cruel, but reading some accounts of the actresses, saying that this fat, sloppy, icky man was coming at them, implied that if the guy was a hunk they would have felt less threatened and turned on and not revolted. Reminds me of the infamous Saturday Night Live skit with Tom Brady. You know what I’m talking about. I didn’t, but I do now. Pretty funny! For the uninitiated, here it is: [http://offthemonstersports.com/2016/02/tbt-tom-brady-on-snl-sexual-harassment-and-you-was-hysterical/](http://offthemonstersports.com/2016/02/tbt-tom-brady-on-snl-sexual-harassment-and-you-was-hysterical/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harvey-weinstein-question-sort-of/798771.md?page=2)