There just always something about Kevin Spacey early on that made him seem odd. He seemed to be perfect at playing characters you didn’t like no matter what. His role as a corporate stooge in Glengarry Glen Ross could’ve easily been dismissed. It was because he wasn’t as well known as the rest of the cast (Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris) at the time that it could’ve been a throwaway role. Even in bad movies like Consenting Adults, he seemed to marvel as playing slimeballs.
But they were slimeballs you really didn’t want to be around. You can bet if you were at a party or bar and he was there, you’d want to keep to yourself and your circle of friends. He would go through the place thinking he owns it even if it’s not his party. Later in movies like Swimming With Sharks and Se7en, he turned being an awful person in an art. Watching him get tortured by the burnt-out character played by Frank Whaley in Sharks seemed like a fantasy for many exploited workers. When Brad Pitt’s detective aims the pistol at him and blows him away with a shot to the head in Se7en, you really know he had it coming. And you would’ve probably done the same thing, regardless of the consequences.
Spacey seemed to have some fun with it in the public. He kept his private life mostly private, but he would joke on talk shows and Saturday Night Live with his persona. A lot of actors who play bad guys, heavies and villains are usually decent, likeable and friendly. Most actors love to play the bad guy but outside their roles wouldn’t hurt a fly. Kane Hodder famously refused to kick a dog in Friday the 13th Part VIII because he though it was out of character. I also think it’s because Hodder is an animal lover.
One of my friends took her young daughter to a convention where they met the late Sid Haig. She said he came off as such a nice guy and just love her little girl. Following a career boom in the 1990s most actors would have sold their souls to the devil to achieve with two Oscar wins within four years, Spacey’s career seemed to fade in the 2000s as he appeared in a lot of forgettable movies that were poorly received both at the box office and with critics. Do you remember Fred Claus, The United States of Leland and whatever Nine Lives was supposed to be?
It seemed his career stayed afloat returning to the slimeball roles in the Horrible Bosses movies as House of Cards, the TV series that would forever change streaming services. It was probably because his career had hit a rough patch he went to House of Cards. By this time, there had been rumbles in the industry about his behavior. The question is where do you draw the line?
The film and TV industry, despite the constant image of stars being progressive politically, is still one of the last employment fields where discrimination based on age, gender and skin color is common and practiced. There’s also the question of if an actor has to be nude, does it cross a line? On Pam & Tommy, men stared at monitors as someone adjusted Pamela Anderson’s bikini bottom where they could get it past sensors. How humiliating for an actress as well as a body double who has to have someone hands all over them for a sex scene.
Many people who had worked with Spacey from his days in high school drama say it started then with the sexual harassment. His older brother, Randy Fowler, says they grew up in a household where their father was very abusive. Fowler even says that his father would rape and sexually assault him. Since Spacey himself isn’t interviewed, you have to take what everyone including Fowler says with a grain of salt. But of all the men who came forward saying Spacey had gotten too close to them, it’s not a cry for attention. Most of the victims seem to be embarrassed and upset that it was allowed to happen.
The problem is we still don’t view male-on-male sexual assault as a serious subject. A man can be accused of sexual harassment just for commenting on someone’s social media post or telling a woman co-worker they look pretty. But it’s considered “horse play” or “locker room talk” if another man assaults another man or harasses them sexually. It’s mostly because predators know they have the biases and stigmata as their advantage. I remember about a decade ago, GQ did a cover story on Adam Driver before Star Wars made him big. There was blurb on the cover about rape and sexual assault of men by other men in the military where a supervisor is quoted as saying, “Son, men don’t get raped.”
Spacey is portrayed as a groomer and an A-lister who felt he was above the law. He more or less used the concept that he is the star and a background actor or crew member is expendable. He is accused of sexual misconduct on the set of The Big Kahuna and House of Cards, where he touched an actor who plays one of the Secret Service Agents. He’s also accused of inappropriate conduct while he was the artistic director of the Old Vic Theater from 2004 to 2015.
It would’ve actually been better the producers gotten something from Spacey except a generic denial statement in a title card at the end. Yes, he was acquitted by the courts in England. But that doesn’t mean it was an isolated incident. Sadly without any evidence, most sexual assault cases are based on who the jury believes in the end – the accused or the accuser. I felt while it was eye-opening, there was a lot more that could’ve been done. My guess is the documentary was rushed into completion following the verdict last year.
Spacey has attempted to restart his career but so far his movies haven’t been the caliber they once were. For may in the LGBTQIA community, his admission of him being gay as the accusations first came out seem like an attempt to change the subject. Also, some people accused Spacey of reinforcing the stereotype of gay men as nothing more than sexual predators. Several A-listers have spoken out in support of Spacey but as he nears his 65th birthday in July, the question is will younger audiences accept him. Just because he was a famous actor 30 years ago doesn’t mean will get the same treatment especially now.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 