The past several months have provided a close-up view of the Hollywood PR machine with the filing of a lawsuit by Blake Lively, who was the star of It Ends With Us, a film about domestic violence. Blake accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment, releasing various texts and conversations that support the claim. Considering this issue through the lens of Neo-Marxism, social media ran with this story, reinforcing themes of dominance that have shaped cultural norms and even the narrative about men as obvious perpetrators of violence. In this case, Blake Lively had been victimized on set by the sinister and dangerous Baldoni, the director and co-star of It Ends With Us.
Leaning into the narrative and assumptions that men perpetrate sexual violence, commentators, influencers, and news outlets reported on this feud for weeks. Baldoni was dropped from his management company and written off by the public as a B-list actor who attempted to dominate his female co-star through sexual harassment.
The narrative took a sharp turn recently when Justin Baldoni responded to Blake's accusations with a $400 million countersuit. Justin accused Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of hijacking his film, for which he held the rights, and seeking to destroy his livelihood and career. Justin's full transcripts of texts and other receipts paint a story of Blake Lively as a "mean girl" who used her position in Hollywood's elite circles to take credit for the film and center herself for future sequels.
Do you think the public is willing to accept the possibility of a woman as the aggressor, specifically when there are allegations of sexual harassment involved? Justin's evidence is alarming and at times, difficult to believe. I'm invested in how this dynamic could shift assumptions of power between men and women in Hollywood!
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