Actor/Director Sean Penn has been one of the most outspoken leftists in Hollywood for decades. This is why his recent comments came as a shock to many of his fans. He hasn’t blindly embraced the #MeToo movement and rightly acknowledges there are nuances being missed.
Sean Penn: #MeToo Divides Men and Women and Is ‘Too Black and White’
“We don’t know what’s a fact in many of the cases,” Penn said when asked to elaborate. “Salacious is as soon as you call something a movement that is really a series of many individual accusers, victims, accusations, some of which are unfounded…The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women.”
“I don’t want it to be a trend, and I’m very suspicious of a movement that gets glommed onto in great stridency and rage and without nuance,” he continued. “And even when people try to discuss it in a nuanced way, the nuance itself is attacked. I think it’s too black and white. In most things that are very important, it’s really good to just slow down.”
My Take
His quotes are clunky and don’t quite explain what he intended, but the sentiment is clear. The #MeToo movement has made everything too clear cut, eliminating nuances in a way that make people ignore the details. Should accusers be believed? Absolutely. But it’s possible to believe what an accuser says and still allow the accused to defend themselves.
There truly is a divide being created between men and women. It’s not a healthy one. I may not agree with, well, anything Penn says normally, but this time he’s spot on.
