'Confirmation' on HBO is as powerful as Anita Hill's testimony was 25 years ago

[bemildred]

Covering an admirable amount of ground in a short amount of time, all roads in "Confirmation," HBO's new dramatization of the confirmation hearings for then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, lead to one indelible image:

A lone black woman, still and straight, facing a double-row gallery of powerful white men, none of whom want to hear what she has to say.

This is Anita Hill, played with masterful and illuminating restraint by Kerry Washington, as she sits before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Even before she speaks, quietly describing the ways in which Thomas (Wendell Pierce) allegedly sexually harassed her during the time she worked for him at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the sight is, as it was 25 years ago, a stunning revelation.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-confirmation-review-20160416-column.html

[MADem]

1. It is THE REASON that Joe Biden didn't leap through his own behind to run, at the end of the day.

It is the REASON why, even when he was teasing with the idea of a run, that I knew he'd NEVER run.


I heard, months ago, when this thing first went into post-production, that it was DEVASTATING.

I'm so happy Anita is getting her propers, so decisively, after all these years.

[bemildred]

2. Yep, they lost me for good there, the way they treated Ms. Hill.

I view everybody involved in that with contempt. And I'm an old white guy.

[MADem]

3. I was in Europe at the time, and it was not always easy to get coverage of the proceedings

I was fortunate enough to have a job that had satellite dishes on the roof!

I spent a lot of time at work.

[bemildred]

22. Yeah, I was working 60+ back then, spending weeks on the road.

In places like Lawton, OK and Leavenworth, KS and Orlando, FL. Got to watch plenty of TV ...

[MADem]

31. After seeing the film, I've got to say it floored me all over again.

Kinnear was incredible - if you turned your head, he sounded JUST like Biden.

That was a slow-mo stuffing of Anita under that bus.

I liked the last scene where she sees all the letters she got after going back to her job.

If she still has all those letters, I think someone should go through them, and curate them into a collection to be published--it would be a very good insight into how people felt at the time.

[bemildred]

32. Kinnear is a good and brave actor.

It took balls to do "As good as it gets". I always like to watch him, even when he doesn't get the best part. That Oscar wasn't a fluke. I like Ed Harris the same way, a good journeyman actor with serious credits who works all the time.

That was the last great attempt to intimidate women into submission, the Thomas hearings, they were trying really hard to look overbearing, and just looked like jerks instead. Since then I don't think anybody on the national stage has tried to do that.

[MADem]

33. That was the occasion when America woke up and said "Our legislature does not look like our nation."

It was after that event that women started "storming the Hill," and women who were in the House (Barbara Boxer, e.g.) transitioned to the Senate.

What I also enjoyed about that programme was that it refreshed in my mind a memory I had LONG forgotten. It had to do with a completely unexpected meeting with Congresswoman Pat Schroeder who, I must say, was one of the most remarkable public officials I ever had the pleasure of encountering. She was tough and gutsy and believed that anything was possible. I'd forgotten about her, but that scene where she busts into the Senate Dining room refreshed my memory!

[Surya Gayatri]

35. I watched it only last night. Kinnear's portrayal of Biden is uncannily good.

Like you, when I closed my eyes, I would've sworn it WAS Joe.

And, Kerry Washington is absolutely stunning as Anita Hill. You can practically feel her reluctant resolve throught the screen.

Great film. I hope it's getting good press in the US.

[Turn CO Blue]

6. I wish I had HBO to see this. I had read that it will be eye opening for an entire generation

of young people, especially young women, about the kind of behavior that was not just routine, but was epidemic in the workplace. We simply didn't have the term "harrassment" going around much in HR departments before this very public testimony and assault on Anita Hill brought sexual harrassment into the limelight.

I remember working at a car dealership in the mid-90s (and their culture was running a few years behind mainstream) and having something obscene and suggestive said to me every day, not in a whisper, but outloud. Ugh. I knew enough to set them straight at times, but I was young and a little timid and didn't want to rock the boat or seem "uncool".

Let me tell you, it would be entertaining for me to be able to go back in time -- with what I know now and who I am now -- and breathe fire on those salespeople and the management of that place. Julia Sugarbaker has nothing on the current iteration of me wrt setting boundaries and setting people straight.

[MADem]

8. Find a friend--or feed someone's cats on holiday who has it!!! LOL!

Good thing about HBO--they leave the good stuff in the ON DEMAND library.


That was a bad time, that era and before, certainly. I fired a couple of division officers, a department head AND A FUCKING CHAPLAIN (yes, really) for harassment of young enlisted women that went beyond any acceptable standards. Yes, the military did have some 'rough housing' and snark and shit that was, in essence, hazing (that's all gone by the wayside, these days) back in the day, but this went beyond the "Suck it up, it's part of the initiation" attitude that prevailed in the day. These young ladies were traumatized and, like Anita Hill, I knew they weren't lying.

I didn't feel the slightest bit bad about putting the brakes on those careers, either--what a bunch of assholes.

[Turn CO Blue]

14. Good for you. Truly.

And sorry about those young women and grateful they had someone in command (? not sure of terms) who understood that is bullshit.

It's one thing to have initiation into a culture, or to have physical discipline as a form of enforcement and character building (100 push-ups for being late to mess or whatever, having the whole team have to run the three miles because one team mate screwed up, etc) - that's expected, makes one stronger, part of the process, builds the team, etc. but it's altogether different, seedy, slimy, rapey, when that other stuff is going on or when someone is passed over for well-deserved promotion due to gender or sexual orientation.

Good idea on the cats or wrangling an invitation - will do.

[MADem]

26. This was slimy, rape-y, and "If you don't put out I'll withhold your promotion papers" - ish.

The young lady who finally got her PROMOTIONS (that's an S) got some nice back pay. It was nothing short of miraculous watching her go from someone who was surly, uncommunicative and beat-down to someone who was smart, capable, and took pride in her work. To ice the cake, I gave her the job of the guy who was giving her shit until a replacement turned up. She was way too junior for the job, but I helped her get up to speed, and put her in touch with a couple of people at other commands she could call for advice. She did a good job and it was The Thing that helped her stand out for her next promotion (never hurts to work well above paygrade). I got a Xmas card from her for quite a few years after that. The guy who did it to her was courts martialed. He managed to stay in service, but he was at his terminal rank and was "let go" in the next drawdown. Top of the list to be axed, too! The fucking Chaplain escaped to his next command, but I knew his new boss, so I picked up the phone and dropped a turd in his punchbowl. He retired after that tour.

There was a "culture of sexual harrassment and disparagement" as I termed it, at this command. I was tossed in there by a flag officer because I'd done this kind of thing before (go in and bat clean up after someone gets fired). It sort of became a side line with me towards the end of my career. If I hadn't ended up in DC, I'd probably have done it a few more times. It's not a lot of fun to go in there with a nametag that basically says BIGGEST ASSHOLE ON THE BLOCK/YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE but that's the job--you figure out pretty quick who the good people are and who the bullshitters are, and take it from there!

[bemildred]

23. +1. nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

37. PM --

I'll get you hooked up.

[certainot]

12. hill is a trophy on limbaugh's wall

there were a lot of bit players and intimidated politicians and idiot politicians who thought the screaming rw hoards on the phone were a legitimate constituency in favor of thomas.

but what few liberals don't know is that it was limbaugh who deserves by far the biggest credit for getting thomas on. the show will be a failure if it doesn't mention limbaugh and talk radio attacking hill all day long.

he did to anita hill what he did to sandra fluke, but he did it for months- and if the left had defended hill then as stoprush and co has fluke, we'd be living in a democracy 20 pts to the left because limbaugh wouldn't have been able to maintain his invisibility for 20 years.

at a cheap $1000/hr x 15hrs/day x 1200 stations, rw talk radio is worth 4.68 BIL$/ year or 390MIL$ /month FREE for pro republican wall st think tank propaganda and swiftboating

in those days there weren't hundreds of radio blowhards yelling the same shit but limbaugh was on 500 stations and and there were 100s of others repeating him, and he had no competition. and fox wasn't available to put the visual icing on the talk radio lie turd pie until 1996.

clarence thomas is on the supreme court because the left ignored rw radio. and it still is- why else would we allow 90 major universities support 270 limbaugh stations?

[montanacowboy]

4. I wonder if they will go into Biden's big role

in this, getting that scum Thomas confirmed. I remember the hearings and how graceful she was under such disgusting conditions. Glad to see she will get her day.

[Turn CO Blue]

5. Played by Greg Kinnear, I had read. Pretty big name star for role of Biden.

I do hope they get into Biden's misjudgment on that; but you and others have said better the role he played and how disappointing.

I don't have HBO; hoping there is some way I can see this.

[MADem]

9. Treat Williams as Ted Kennedy.

This will not be the Democrats' finest hour, I'm afraid.

One good thing about the Anita Hill excoriation? It did bring more women into the Senate and the House.

[certainot]

15. as i point out above, an ignored talk radio psyops

and especially limbaugh attacking hill and supporting thomas is the main reason he's on the court.

liberals had no clue she was being "sandra fluked" for months.

there's very little value blaming biden for this, but there is in recognizing that the talk radio psyops is why guys like trup and cruz are 'acceptable' and why a major party can't acknowledge global warming

[mnhtnbb]

7. Looking forward to seeing this tonight.

I was there--in the 70's and 80's--a woman in a man's field. I was hit on many, many times
by male colleagues, a mentor, a boss (during a performance evaluation no less) and other
males I encountered at work, which was a well known university affiliated hospital in Los Angeles.

[benld74]

10. Another charade the wife and I watched play out

with neither of us really believing Slappy would get in. BUT he did. Danforth lost ALL faith and credibility with me during that fiasco.

[ailsagirl]

11. Reprehensible

Outrageous!!!

[kwassa]

13. I have no desire to see it. Living through it the first time was bad enough.

(and I have a crush on Kerry Washington, too.)

I remember a Saturday hearing where I got so infuriated at Clarence Thomas lies that I shut off my tv, and went for a walk. In my neighborhood in LA on the warm and sunny day I could hear the testimony coming out of every apartment as I walked down the street. I couldn't get away from it anywhere.

I feel exactly the same way about the recent OJ Simpson trial movie. That was local to me: I used the same bank as OJ, and used to see him occasionally there. I don't need to do this again.

[MADem]

27. You'll be missing out on the part we did not see, though.

See, Anita wasn't alone. There were others who corroborated her story who were never called to testify.

Scooter Libby's wife was involved in shushing those voices.

[bluestateguy]

16. I opposed Clarence Thomas because he was a conservative. That was reason enough for me.

He has also proven to be a mental midget, and intellectual lightweight and unqualified for the job. He never asks questions during oral arguments, leaving the task to the other justices, suggesting that he maybe doesn't even read the briefs or prepare for the cases.

If he sexually harassed Anita Hill, that makes him even more despicable, but even if none of it ever happened, he should not be on the Court.

[DURHAM D]

21. "If" ? Really? nt

[Little_Wing]

17. It was one of those episodes of national insanity you can't believe is really happening

The ugliness of racism, sexism and political expediency all wrapped up in one disgusting display.

I'm glad a younger generation will have the opportunity to learn some important lessons.

[enough]

18. And on top of all that, the infuriating idea that Clarence Thomas was himself the best

and most qualified person available for the position. That in itself was demeaning to the Court and to the entire judicial system.

Then that outrageous hearing just hammered the point home.

[SoapBox]

19. Wasn't it during these hearings that Hatch waved around a

copy of Valley of the Dolls and then went into some kind of nut job rant?

Or does my brain fail me?

[bemildred]

24. Yes, Hatch embarassed himself too. nt

[dsc]

28. the exorcist

[DesertRat]

20. I can't wait to watch it. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

25. And 500 DU accounts that signed up in the last month go "...who?"

[Marrah_G]

29. What they did to her was unforgivable

I hope history eventually looks back on this with the shame it deserves.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

30. Kerry "Masterful and illuminating restraint" Huh? Thought her

acting was horrible. Just me, I guess.

That said, it always amazes me how some men (right wing) so readily believe that a woman would totally make up stories like this - under the guise that they want free publicity. I would guess this probably has happened maybe once in a million times. I have never met a single woman in my life who would do this - let alone a law professor.

It just defies all logic. The only rationale would be that it was some secret group of activists who cared so much that this right winger was going to be on the SC - that they got together and said - ok - let's make up a story - ya, that's the ticket - you say he said there was pubic hair on his coke can. And, a law professor said "Ya ! Ok, sure, I'll do it !! "

[MADem]

34. I thought she was wonderful--and channeled Anita to perfection.

Anita Hill was--and still is--a very reserved and restrained person. She's at Brandeis these days.

[Surya Gayatri]

36. Compelling television. Just the sort of dramatization HBO does so well.

The whole cast was outstanding. Absolutely riveting. And, that's saying something, when you realize that the bulk of the film is just talking heads.