Actress Jodie Foster says she knows who is to blame for a slew of sexual assault scandals in Hollywood since the fall of producer Harvey Weinstein: “Pretty much every man over 30.”
The Hollywood star who made Clarice Starling famous in 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs” told USA Today this week that almost every man above the age of 30 bears culpability for sexual misconduct in the world.
“It’s every industry,” the actress said Wednesday. “It’s not just one socioeconomic bracket or one complexion. Pretty much every man over 30 has to really look and start thinking about their part. And I guarantee, lots of it is unconscious. When you’ve been in a privileged position where you haven’t had to look at your part, you didn’t 100 percent understand you were in a bubble. It’s an interesting time for men.
Exceptions to Ms. Foster’s rule include her children.
“I have two sons (ages 16 and 19), and I know their perspective,” the 55-year-old told the newspaper. “They go to a great school that has put them through the wringer about what consent is, what is humanism, what’s integrity. I just wish my generation had the benefit of that, and that everybody had the benefit of that.”
The entertainer’s message echoes that of documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who recently confessed on social media to years of sexual misconduct.
“We should all find the courage to admit we’re at fault,” Mr. Spurlock of “Super Size Me” fame said Dec. 13. “I will do better. I will be better. I believe we all can. The only individual I have control over is me. So starting today, I’m going to be more honest with you and myself.”
Ms. Foster concluded by saying she looks forward to seeing the cultural arrival of a “new millennial woman that knows that she can say no.”
“I think what most women want is just for it to stop,” she said. “They don’t really want to have a lawsuit, they don’t want to have to go on CBS ’This Morning’ 400 times. They’d actually just like it to stop, and that’ll be the good part.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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