Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/16/harvey-weinstein-miraculously.html
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The continuity editor on this shoot is going to get canned by The Weinstein Companies.
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Of all of the steep falls from grace one can encounter in their life, a Mt Kisco Target has got to be rock bottom.
Oh, never mind. They’ve got Ticket to Ride at 30% off.
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I’d love to know if he’s just artless and arrogant; or if whoever is advising this scheme is working on the theory(quite possibly correct) that displays of vulnerable characteristics tend to sway the judgement of psychologically normal observers even if they don’t, if asked outright to think about it, believe them; in a way analogous to the fact that humans are atrocious at probability, even the ones who can run the numbers if they stop and think about it first.
If this is an attempt to actually succeed at overt deception it is starting off from the “oh, what a surprisingly rapid decline from previous rude good health; how very convenient…” back foot; and isn’t being adhered to nearly rigorously enough(whether out of incompetence, arrogance, or sheer force of habit); and overall doesn’t seem terribly likely to fly.
However, if the sort of people who don’t smile and go for the throat when faced with apparent vulnerability respond to it with some degree of pity regardless of the success of the deception at a fairly abstract level, because you are aiming for an affect hit, there may be no reason to bother maintaining the charade except in the immediate term.
Unless, of course, you are also concerned about people responding negatively to suspected deceptive signals, which seem like the sort of thing that might also have emotional salience, even if subconscious, so it’s potentially further considerations all the way down.
All that said, I hope that moral clarity prevails regardless of his little display. Even if it were 100% true; we know how he treats those vulnerable to him, why should his apparent frailty stay our hand?
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Kayser Soze
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FTA:
After the Wednesday hearing, his attorney Donna Rotunno said Weinstein was using the medical equipment at the insistence of his legal team. “We wanted him to use a walker last week, and Mr. Weinstein didn’t want the press to think he was seeking sympathy,” she said.
It sure kind of sounds like his attorney just admitted that it was Harvey’s lawyers pushing for him to use the walker rather than his doctors.
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That’s an insult to ALL the Usual Suspects, including Soze himself.
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Christ, what an asshole.
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This sort of trick was routine in 1980’s Australia; Christopher Skase, Alan Bond, etc. Scam some finance, buy a bunch of companies and property, loot the crap out of it, then suddenly develop severe health problems when faced with legal consequences.
Followed, of course, by a miraculous recovery as soon as the court proceedings were finalised.
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Look, just because someone needs a walker sometimes doesn’t mean they need them all the time. Could he be faking it? Sure. Is he faking it? I don’t know. Does it matter? No: he’s a raping piece of shit. Let’s focus on the important things here. I hope he’s in a lot of pain.
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A really bad walker too. Tiny wheels on the front and none on the back.
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And the writers, too.
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Aye, Soze was a skilled mastermind. Not only is Weinstein faking disability for sympathy disgusting, he’s offensively bad at it.
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Based on the Australian experience, it isn’t about eliciting sympathy. It’s about giving the judge a minimally-plausible excuse to maintain the leniency typically available to rich white men.
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Interesting. The comment section is accessible, while the link to the actual Boing Boing story is a “404 Not Found” screen.
Who could have seen that coming?
Besides everybody, that is…
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