MovieChat Forums > Bull (2016) Discussion > CBS' toxic culture can be seen in the "b...

CBS' toxic culture can be seen in the "boys-will-be-boys" stories it tells


https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/cbs-eliza-dushku-bull-toxic-culture.html

Michael Weatherly, whom Eliza Dushku accused of sexual harassment on Bull that led to a $9.5 million settlement, plays the "the kind of seemingly innocuous, boys-will-be-boys male protagonist who has filled CBS’s airwaves for years," says Kathryn VanArendonk, pointing to other male protagonists on procedurals as CSI and NCIS and their spinoffs. She adds: "There have been exceptions on CBS’s schedule — shows like The Good Wife and Madam Secretary are about prominent women in positions of power — but the common feature of so many of CBS’s most successful dramas, the ones that have spun off multi-city franchises and run for dozens of years and are watched by millions of people each week, is pretty basic: A man has power, and he wields it for his own ends." As VanArendonk points out, it's not hard to make a connection "between this rule of thumb for so many of CBS’s dramas, and who decides what shows get on the air every TV season ... The stories CBS puts out into the world are the ones that reflect the interests of the people who make them, and what results is a self-perpetuating cycle. When we as CBS viewers watch stories that valorize male ego and male judgment, we’re bathed in a TV landscape that teaches us that men who have power are the default. So when men like Les Moonves, Brad Kern, and Michael Weatherly harass and abuse the women around them, their entitlement to hold positions of power appears normal in the context of the shows they make. They are entitled to that power, and that entitlement is confirmed and echoed by what we watch on TV, night after night. Occasionally, as often happens on Bull, what we’re seeing is borderline harassment that’s excused as romance, as (Jason) Bull’s professional relationships with women regularly trip over into sexual conquest. But more pervasively, what we watch on long-running CBS franchises is the repeated reiteration of who matters: Men in power are protagonists, and women are disposable."

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I could be wrong but if i read the incident correctly he made a few sexual jokes about the scene they were in and the characters they were playing.He didn't make any direct offensive remarks to the actors themselves.So the guy has a dirty sense of humor.Last time i checked that's not a crime and unless the jokes were about the actress herself and not her character then it doesn't constitute sexual harassment.If Dushku doesn't like his sense of humor that's her problem not his.I do think they could have handled better.Firing her made the situation bigger than it needed to be.

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[deleted]

http://www.agcwebpages.com/BLINDITEMS/2019/MAY.html

209. ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER 05/17 **#3**
https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2019/05/blind-item-3_17.html
This network has long shown it only cares about making money and doesn't really care about #MeToo. Even though a star was given a ton of money in a wrongful termination complaint they still will do everything to defend the serial cheating married star of this show because advertisers love it. CBS/Michael Weatherly/"Bull"/Eliza Dushku (CBS defends 'Bull' renewal after Michael Weatherly harassment controversy) (Eliza Dushku Slams CBS, Michael Weatherly for Alleged Harassment and Retaliation on ‘Bull’) https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/cbs-bull-renewal-michael-weatherly-harassment-controversy[/url] [url]https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/eliza-dushku-bull-sexual-harassment-settlement-cbs-1203093433/

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CBS by and large caters to older viewers, including now myself. People who like the world the way it was. That's a man first world. I've no doubt this mindset is behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera. Lot of folks like it that way, both men and women. Millennials and their commie agenda will ruin the world eventually, but for now, CBS is keeping it old school.

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I'm as respectful a guy as you'll ever find, but whoever this VanArendonk person is, this is some of the most senseless screed I've seen since the last time Trump opened his yap. Totally disagree with her premise, and it seems she tries to be as long-winded as possible in order to disguise how silly this whole argument is. I won't bother to be specific, it's so incredibly dumb.

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😴

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