Loud, Abject Denial

A friend has written expressing exasperation with Louis C.K.  It seems that every morning I wake up these days another man has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.   Normally this group of friends is free with absurd commentary, puns on top of puns and irony smeared with abandon, but the mood among this group of mostly men is rather sullen in response to this female friend’s note. 

I’ve never been a big fan of Louis C.K.  Everyone I knew adored him.  He is certainly funny, and there have been a few things I’ve seen that were meritorious.  I enjoyed the bit with him in the car with his kids singing “Who Are You’ and nearly swiping someone and to be fair I haven't seen much of his work.  But the few bits of his T.V. show that I saw seemed forced, implausible, as when he confronts a lady heckler during what is supposed to be a live show. Unfairly, I hold all contemporary comics up against Bill Hicks whom I adored and find them mostly wanting.  My friend booked Louis C.K. when he came to Beijing, and the comic ended up making a mess of it, crossing a line he shouldn’t have and nearly getting my friend in trouble.  As I recall, it was the comic’s manger - the same fella who bullied the ladies Mssr. C.K. jerked-off in front of, to keep their mouth's shut - who insisted it was somehow, all my chum’s fault.  Enjoy.

Many of the people who have been confronted a have admitted that the accusations are true, have tried to explain themselves have suggested they have a problem to work on.  Others have been fired before they could issue a statement.  The sad lesson thus far seems to be that loud, abject denial is an effective strategy.  How could it be that so many other people have fallen from grace and yet Donald Trump, the despite a litany of public accusers and admission of predatory behavior on film can continue along in his role?   Well, you see, he denies it. 

Now Roy Moore informs us that he doesn’t “generally” date teenage girls.  How can these people be taken seriously?  One, two and then four or five women have come out to accuse Moore of inappropriate behavior with him when they were teens.  Trump of course, has been the only major Republican or Democrat outside the state of Alabama whose come out in support of Moore.  And it is draining, so perpetually draining to watch him escape the comeuppance that every other person in his position has faced, simply by denying any of it ever happened.  The lesson flashing like neon over and over to children, to the world, to women, to me.  One has to believe that the reckoning will come, eventually.  This, in order to stay sane. 

In the meantime there is a remarkable frankness about abuse and intolerance for the patriarchy’s heretofore business as usual . . . for all beside the Commander in Chief and the people he endorses.

Sunday, 11/12/17