A recent article on Lifezette gives voice to some critical warnings about The Incredible Dangers of the #MeToo Mob Mentality.
The article reports about actors like Sharon Stone and Matt Damon who have recently come forth with some “intelligent distinctions about where this movement has gone and how she’s seen colleagues receive merciless treatment as a result.”
“Speaking with comedian and podcaster Marc Maron on his “WTF” podcast, Stone (shown above left) defended James Franco, her recent “The Disaster Artist” co-star, against accusations of sexual misconduct.
‘I’m appalled by this thing about him that is happening,’ she said, referencing how a Franco girlfriend is now calling him the bad guy. ‘I worked with him, I know him — he’s the loveliest, kindest, sweetest, elegant, nicest man. He’s a kind friend, lovely professional. I’m absolutely appalled by this.’
… Stone criticized what’s happened to Franco and said she sees it as a conviction ‘without due process.’
… Stone agreed with sentiments previously — and controversially — expressed by actor Matt Damon, believing there is “a spectrum” of bad behavior that is sometimes incredibly awkward and dumb, but not malicious.
“It can’t be that every man who doesn’t know what he’s doing in life is a criminal,” she said.
‘A lot of people are just stupid,’ she told Moran. ‘I can say because I’ve been single a lot of my life that a lot of men are just incredibly stupid. You go out with them and they bring you home and you go in for a goodnight kiss and they take your hand and put it on their penis,’ said Stone bluntly. ‘I don’t think they are trying to sexually harass me. They are just incredibly stupid and awkward. Like, really?’ she went on. ‘That’s your move? Please don’t ever call me again — you’re just too stupid to date. I don’t think I should ruin your whole life over that, but I just think you’re incredibly stupid.'”
The article then describes how “A Twitter mob of accusers and #MeToo victims ripped into Stone with ferocity” and how “Actor Matt Damon saw a similar mob go after his comments about the #MeToo movement.”
“In an interview last December, he applauded the ‘totally necessary’ #MeToo movement for its ‘watershed moment.’ But when he warned against painting men with a broad brush in general — that’s when he kicked the beehive.
‘I do believe that there’s a spectrum of behavior, right? And we’re going to have to figure — you know, there’s a difference between … patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation,’ he told ABC.”
While we at Who Is Marc Gafni and the Center for Integral Wisdom stand with both the victims of (sexual) harassment and the victims of an organized as well as spontaneous mob mentality, we applaude these important distinctions made here. And yet, we maintain that these distinctions are not enough: Without a coherent new sexual narrative, we cannot address the #MeToo Crisis.