#spurlock

TRAPS!

Here is one of the promotional art videos made for the show! This is number 3/7! The others are posted on this same Tumblr page.

Last week, John Oliver offered a riveting, uncomfortable example of how to confront other men about their past behavior toward women. Now, Morgan Spurlock has confronted himself about his past behavior toward women–and it’s making me uncomfortable for different reasons.

The documentarian most famous for Super Size Me has just released a long, purportedly unprompted statement in which he admits that he is part of the #MeToo problem. It’s an oddly emotionless account of past infidelities, the settling of a sexual harassment lawsuit, and an encounter from his college days that was, according to the (unnamed) woman involved, rape. Spurlock claims that all of the survivors coming forward in recent weeks moved him to reflect on his own behavior and to blow the whistle on himself so that he may lead by example.

That’s an admirable goal. Self-reflection is indeed something every man should be participating in right now. But Spurlock’s statement reads much more like someone looking to cover his own ass.

#MeToo is meant to refer to the victims of sexual misconduct, but it could also refer to the perpetrators. If most men did an inventory of all of their past behaviors–exploring whether they’ve ever turned a “no” into a “yes” through manipulative persuasion, for instance–they would likely discover that #TheyToo have been part of the problem. It is a wrenching thing to realize, and it’s probably buried beneath several dingy layers of denial. What this kind of introspection dredges to the surface should inspire men to make changes and amends. In Spurlock’s case, it seems to have inspired him to go public. But why?

These are the questions I’m asking about Morgan Spurlock right now. Why is he telling this story at this moment? Why isn’t somebody else? Spurlock’s mea culpa seems designed to make himself feel better about what he’s done, not the people he’s done them to. He’s test-driving potential excuses for his behavior, all while congratulating himself for having the “courage” to do so. By offering his confession and attempted absolution in this particular way, Spurlock seems to be classifying his past actions as “definitely not that bad.” If they were that bad, after all, would he dare broadcast them to the entire world? But for the people he hurt, his actions likely did, in fact, feel that bad. (We don’t know; we haven’t heard from them.)

The woman involved in the college incident–which Spurlock describes as a one-night stand and she described as a rape–clearly experienced something altogether different than what he did. He tries to paint an innocuous picture of that night, all while including the crucial information that she said—twice—that she did not want to have sex with him. His description of the encounter makes it clear that there’s more to the story. Telling it at all feels like more of a pre-emptive strike than a regretful survey of the damage he’s done.

“I am part of the problem. We all are,” he writes. “But I am also part of the solution. By recognizing and openly admitting what I’ve done to further this terrible situation, I hope to empower the change within myself. We should all find the courage to admit we’re at fault.”