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Harassment in Hollywood
Harassment in Hollywood

Learn English meaning of ‘harassment in Hollywood’

Date: Jan 05 2018

Themes: Celebrity, Pop Culture

Grammar: Simple Past Tense

Intro

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Oh, Hollywood, the home of the movie industry. The movie industry has been an important part of the United States economy for a long time. Since the US pretty much stopped making things in factories, and we do little in agriculture, our economy is limited. But one of our largest products? Movies. Lots and lots of movies.

The movie industry has been very successful. People all over the world watch movies made in the United States. But it still has its flaws. People can be sexist, racist, and discriminate against people because of how they look. Recently, many people have been talking about their shocking experiences with harassment from actors, producers, and directors.

Dominique is talking about the rumors with Marni. Listen as they discuss this important topic in today’s English lesson.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Dominique

Dominique

Marni

Marni

Dominique:  Marni, have you heard about the rumors?

Marni:  Uh, what rumors?

Dominique:  The rumors in Hollywood with all the harassment?

Marni:  Yes, I have. Yes, it’s pretty… well, I want to say it’s shocking, but at the same time, it’s not really shocking. So, I’m just wondering what all this means. Right? You know, if it’s people in a position of power that are taking advantage of people that, you know, are willing to do whatever to become successful in this industry.

Dominique:  I mean, should we separate a person from their art? I mean, where is the line of harassment.

Marni:  You know, I think that’s a really good question because I… some of my favorite artists... you know, that I’ve always loved their work… then, I come to find out they’re actually a really terrible person. And I have a really hard time with that because I like their work, but the person who created it, they’re not a good person.

Dominique:  Well, isn’t it going to be weird watching them knowing that they harassed somebody?

 

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Discussion

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Dominique asks if Marni has heard about the harassment rumors in Hollywood. Marni says she has. She feels like it’s shocking but not that shocking. She’s wondering about what they mean, if they’re true, and how serious they are. Maybe, people in a position of power will always take advantage of other people.

Dominique asks if it’s important to separate a person from their art. Should we still be watching these awesome movies even if they’re made by terrible people? Marni says it’s difficult to say. Dominique thinks it would be weird to watch their movies, knowing they harassed someone.

What do you think of the harassment rumors in Hollywood? Would you watch someone’s movie even if they’re a terrible person?

 

Comments

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TrowaB

Portugal

This is a sensible topic. I believe a lot of the rumours surrounding Hollywood are true. It’s a complicated environment where many questionable deeds are done for the sake of fame and stardom. But you also have to consider that, nowadays, it’s easy to accuse someone rich, famous and influent just because you can. Maybe someone has a grudge on that person, or she rejected another person’s work because she didn’t think it was good enough, or it wasn’t what she was looking for. In this, and many other cases, people are just trying to tarnish someone’s reputation. Even if the presumed offender is found innocent, his reputation will always be stained by that episode.


In cases that the offender is guilty, should we continue to watch their movies and work? Well it kinda depends on the type of work he does. For instance, if a director is guilty of sexual harassment and then continues to make movies about “sexual equality” and other subjects like that, then he wasn’t just proven guilty but he was also proved to be a fraud. I wouldn’t follow his work anymore.


In other cases, the artist already had a record that showed that, to put it mildly, he wasn’t uncomfortable with doing movies, art or music that explored the harassment and overpowering of others.


Finally, there is still another situation where the artist may be proven guilty of such rumours but its work has nothing to do with these matters, nor he made any reputation about putting these topics in his work. In that case, it’s really up to people, who follow that artist’s work, to decide if they continue to follow it or not.

05:47 PM Jan 08 2018 |

ShiningSun

ShiningSun

United Kingdom

If there is any misconduct it should be reported immediately; otherwise gradually it will lose credibility. Nowadays, it’s quite rewarding to accuse someone rich and influential on the grounds of harassment to pocket tons of money or for calculated defamation. Such cases need to be critically and impartially examined and if the accusers proved dishonest they too should be treated like criminals. This too should be kept in mind that some of these transactions are silently consensual at the time of happening.

09:09 AM Jan 06 2018 |

ola3

ola3Super Member!

Ukraine

Depends how bad a person is. It can very bad, like a rapist, or it can be an “easy going” guy. There’re should be a difference between this. If you treat them the same, it’s wrong. Looks almost every man in Hollywood has got a bad past. But what about women. Are they so innocent as they potray themselves. I think, it’s a two way street.

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