There are reactions to the Rudin reporting about how it won't change anything, that he's one of many in Hollywood like that, that there are so many abusive bosses on a smaller scale that never get attention, etc. Those frustrations are understandable, but one thought:
When we started working on our story, my feeling was, absolute worst-case scenario, it'd make people in positions of power become paranoid about being assholes to their assistants/interns. One thing that struck me after talking to sources who worked for Rudin, though...
...and this has played out in how the story's been shared: Stories like that, which can be incredibly triggering, can help people recontextualize their own trauma. It can help you realize that things you endured at your own job/etc were not normal or okay. It was abuse.
That's why I think it's so important to center the voices of those who were abused in stories like this. Yes, I want to see every single abusive person stripped of their power. But what I want even more is for those who were abused to be given a voice and actively empowered.
Anyway, be cynical if you want! I have that impulse too. But don't discount that, beyond the people involved in a story, there are total strangers reading/seeing themselves in it, and it might be helping them in ways we'll never know about. It happens more than you might think.
You can follow @megh_wright.
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