The Harvey Weinstein scandal is a small part of a much larger epidemic of sexual harassment in the entertainment world, as many people in the movie and TV industries have illustrated, but rather than actually facing that issue directly, one Republican politician has determined that all movies should be punished for their association with Weinstein. As announced in a Facebook post, Texas State Representative Matt Shaheen has decided to file legislation that will end the Texas Film Commission, a taxpayer-funded program that offers incentives to productions that film in Texas. Shaheen says in his post that this is because the “Hollywood elites” filming in the state are the same ones that have “demonstrated a total disregard for the safety and wellbeing of women.”
In a larger written statement that accompanies Shaheen’s Facebook post, he notes that this isn’t the first time he has tried to end the Texas Film Commission, which he believes is an “inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars.” That means his suggestion that this is about the “wellbeing of women” doesn’t really hold up, but nothing in this country would ever get done if politicians couldn’t get away with blatantly thin justifications for their legislative actions.