I recently read about the Dushku settlement with CBS. I gotta admit, after reading the story I vow to never watch anything with her in it, even if it is free to watch. I mean come on! Suing for $9.5 million because someone made a joke about a 3-some when you held up 3 fingers?
This reminds me of the story where a woman spilled McDonald’s coffee on herself at a drive up and sued McDonald’s for millions. There was a follow up story a short time later about this woman then suing her son and his insurance company because he is the one who drove her to McDonald’s. Presumably she pissed away all of the previous money and wanted more.
While I understand the #MeToo movement wanting to get rid of the infamous Hollywood casting couch and some seriously predatory behaviors existing in society, this reeks of “A Bridge Too Far.” There were stories and realistic fears the #MeToo movement would be hijacked by vindictive women which hated all men and some of those tales are coming true, but this particular situation really sounds like bad parenting decisions.
Generally the first bad parenting decision is having only one child. Yes, I know. I did not marry or have children. It was a conscious choice. I didn’t want to change icky nasty diapers at 4am and I certainly didn’t want a passel of kids, which is the only way kids learn how to deal with society. Kids who are an only child tend to expect and demand the world conform to them instead of the other way around. They tend to be spoiled because parents and grand parents only have one to dote over.
Sadly Ms. Dushku has brothers according to Google. So, I have to ask, how is it a woman who grew up with brothers has no idea how guys behave and more importantly seemingly no idea how to deal with them?
Characters get dropped from television shows all of the time. Sometimes the writers don’t like the actor. Other times the writers simply run out of mojo when it comes to coming up with ideas for said character. Well, at least how to make said ideas work. As a writer, I’ve trashed lots of stuff over the years. It starts out brilliant in your head then self destructs when you try to get it written down, especially when you attempt to avoid formulas and cliche’s.
When it comes to team building, you can’t have someone who isn’t happy. It infects the team like a virus. Soon you end up with factions and what seems like open warfare. A big part of team building is keeping a happy family feel to the workplace. I was really happy to read Pauley Perrette defending Micheal Weatherly. When you are adding someone new to the team and they complain about the culture, you have no real recourse other than to let them go. “Bull” is a hit because that team makes magic. It wouldn’t survive 3 seasons if it didn’t, out of all the chaos and things people may find wrong with the workplace, ultimately produce the kind of magic people want to watch. Sorry, but it’s true. You can’t bring poison into such a team and expect it to survive.
The one thing I haven’t read in all of this is what the ratings did when Ms. Dushku’s episode(s) aired. Did the fan base not respond? Characters get rotated on and off to please the audience. It’s all about the eyeballs and advertising dollars kids. You can produce what you believe to be the world’s greatest cinematic triumph, but, if it doesn’t sell commercials, it doesn’t stay on the air. We’ve all had favorite characters and shows disappear. “Fairly Legal” is certainly one I miss. Every “Doctor Who” fan has a favorite companion or doctor which isn’t on the show anymore. This is the way of television. You get paid some money, then you get screwed.
This settlement may well be the death of #MeToo.
