Grace of Her Heart: The bravery of Illeana Douglas…and all of the others
I can’t deny it; I love me some Illeana Douglas! As the host of Trailblazing Women on TCM, she regularly honors those pioneering luminaries who paved the way for gifted actresses, directors and writers such as herself. She has written 10 films and directed six, authored a brilliant tome about her love for the silver screen, and is a fierce advocate for the cause and rights of women in Hollywood.
Still, there should have been more.
Fresh from her success in the film Grace of My Heart, loosely based on the life of the legendary Carole King, Illeana Douglas was poised to become a major Hollywood star — and then, she wasn’t. I often wondered why — the exact same thing that I wondered about Ashley Judd, Rosanna Arquette, Mira Sorvino…etc.
Etc.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised me this week when Ronan Farrow released a detailed, well-researched and vetted report in The New Yorker regarding six accusations of assault and harassment against CBS chairman Leslie Moonves. Named as one of six accusers in the story, Douglas makes an allegation that amounts to attempted rape and career sabotage.
“In a millisecond, he’s got one arm over me, pinning me,” she said. Moonves, she alleges, was “violently kissing” her, holding her down on the couch with her arms above her head. “What it feels like to have someone hold you down — you can’t breathe, you can’t move,” she said. “The physicality of it was horrendous.” She recalled lying limp and unresponsive beneath him. “You sort of black out,” she told me. “You think, How long is this going to go on? I was just looking at this nice picture of his family and his kids. I couldn’t get him off me.”
Once slated to write and appear in a situation comedy for the network, Douglas was fired, and her career never was the same. Naturally, neither was she.
Neither was she.
Immediately in the wake of the report, Moonves denied the stated charges but admitted to making some advances in his day that might have made peeps uncomfortable. Ya think? And Moonves’ wife and employee, TV host Julie Chen, rushed to her hubby’s defense; proclaiming him such a gosh darn amazeballs person that he couldn’t possibly be even remotely guilty of the six detailed and documented accusations against him.
Now it’s understandable that, when someone accuses a woman’s loved one of such hideous crimes, the initial reaction would be one of shock and denial.
Yet it is at that exact moment that she has to stop and listen. To consider. To know what’s just and right in her heart. And, if needed, to walk away.
From the instant that she is made aware of repeated, detailed accusations against her partner, the clock starts ticking until she either stands up for her principles, standing with the survivor; or until she becomes complicit. A co-conspirator. An enabler.
Do you know what really makes me laugh, Mrs. Julie Moonves? In any other situation, you would be inviting ‘the wonderful Illeana Douglas’ on your show “The Talk” to discuss all of her lovely projects and extolling her virtues as a bad ass, inspirational woman. Don’t think you’re kidding anybody with your fake feminism.
As I was preparing this blog, I drew strength from the words of some genuine feminists. I listened to an interview with victorious professional fighter Joanna Jedrzejczyk, in which she declares herself a real warrior and a fighter. I saw a trailer for Bad Reputation, a documentary about the life and legend of rocker Joan Jett.
It seemed as though the energy and brute strength of these amazing women fed my own strength; reminding me more than ever that — above all else — we must always fight the good fight.
To Illeana Douglas and all the others: Thank you for your bravery and grace, I believe and support you.
To Julie Chen, Camille Cosby, and all the others: Tick tock.
Tick tock.
TICK. TOCK.
