23 November 2017
Keeping Our Balance
Sexual predators.
By John Watson
Mirrors are the harbingers of self-doubt. To shave effectively in the morning you need to concentrate very carefully on the image which confronts you. How easy it is to fall, by way perhaps of a short narcissistic reverie, into a critical examination of the person behind the image. And this morning I am not sure how I stand up to that inspection. For behind the smoothly shaven surface lies a fact which can no longer be mentioned in polite society. Kevin Spacey has given me an enormous amount of pleasure.
No, I don’t mean anything odd by that. In fact I have never met the great actor at all. My contact has been confined to that of a mere member of his audience but from the day when he came to the Almeida as Hickey in The Iceman Cometh through his sojourn at the Old Vic with highlights such as his Richard II and Richard III, it has been a privilege to watch him. Indeed from the stalls it has been impossible to do anything else, so luminous is his stage presence. Who can forget his performance as Dexter in The Philadelphia Story when a quiet entrance at the back of the stage riveted the attention of every eye in the house?
So what now? The idol lies in the sand like the statue of Ozymandias, brought down by allegations of sexual misconduct of a type which have become commonplace in so many walks of life. Are they true? Are they false? I have no idea and certainly I am not going to waste time in trying to decide. A talent like Spacey’s is a gift from the Gods and if the channels through which the Gods communicate had to be perfect men or women, why we would never have a glimpse of the heavens at all. What Spacey may or may not have done is for the courts. If he has broken the law he must pay the penalty. I certainly buy into that but, whatever the outcome, I shall still regard it as the height of good fortune to have been in the audience for some of his most magisterial performances and I will continue to watch his films.
But better people than me think differently. House of Cards is finished. His new film All The Money In The World is being remade with a different actor. The entertainment industry is busy non-personing him before it is established whether there is any truth at all in the allegations. Is it right to do so? Do we now take the view that those accused of crimes should lose their livelihoods even before anything has come to court? Or is there something about this particular area which has made people lose their balance a bit?
I know little about Americans but certainly the British public is a very emotional animal. It can show great affection. Do you remember the outpouring after the death of Princess Diana? Have you read of the national mourning which followed the death of Nelson almost 200 years before? The cranes of Docklands dipped as the body of Churchill went past. Yes, it is all rather lovable in a way but there are other sides to it as well and one is an ability to become obsessed by a particular form of illegal or immoral behaviour.
What was it Macauley said? “We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality.” Now there is nothing ridiculous at all about safeguarding the public against sexual predators. Of course we need to be protected against them in the same way that we need to be protected against gangs, murderers, acid throwers, tricksters and fraudsters. But does that involve denying the contribution of those against whom allegations are made? Does it involve sacking them on the basis of unproved allegations?
It is worth comparing our attitude to sexual allegation to our attitude to criminal conduct generally. Suppose someone in the media is alleged to have committed another serious crime – murder perhaps or some unpleasant form of gangsterism. Would they be fired and ostracised or would people wait to see how things develop before casting them out? Is there something special in the way in which we look at sexual misconduct?
The answer to that is “yes” and the key to that answer is fear. Sexual misconduct has always been with us but what was thought to be an isolated problem now appears to be nothing of the sort and we don’t quite know what to do about it. How do you deal with a vice which runs through large parts of society? How do you deal with the knowledge that those who you love and respect may be hiding a dark secret? Public repugnance, even if dangerously indiscriminate, is one answer to this. Strength of public feeling can change behaviour. We have seen it improve tolerance for minorities. Why should it not reform sexual behaviour too? Keep pushing and accusing, runs the argument. It is the only way in which things will get changed.
Perhaps there is truth in that. Perhaps relentless public pressure will ultimately push us towards social improvement. Still, even if that is the case we need to tread carefully. We should not lose a traditional reluctance to assume guilt before anything is established or proved. That is a matter of justice. Nor should we regard suspicion of wrong, whether established or not, as a reason to deny or hide the subject’s contribution to society. That is a matter of honesty.
If you enjoyed this post please share it using the buttons above.
Please click here if you would like a weekly email on publication of the ShawSheet
