Welcome to GroupText. This monthly column for readers and book clubs describes a collection of novels, memoirs, and short stories that will make you want to talk, ask questions, and stay in another world a little longer.
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When I first read an article about Harvey Weinstein attacking a young actor in a luxury hotel, I couldn’t help but wonder. Who booked the suite? Who escorted the women to the door and cornered themselves? Or did you doubt it?
of Winnie M. Lee harrowing thriller, COMPLICIT (Emily Bestler Books, 405 pages, $27), I found painful memories of needing a village to support those who abuse power. Fair warning: Lee doesn’t sugarcoat her subjects, nor should she.
The former Hollywood Insider, 39, is a film teacher at Brooklyn Community College when he met Sarah Rai. It’s 2017. The #MeToo movement is gaining momentum. On the subway to work each morning, she cheers him up by reading about the latest studio his head and screen his icons. “I recognize names from her previous life,” she says, “some of which I can’t bury no matter how much I hide with gift bags, PR statements and smiling pictures.”
Sarah was approached by a New York Times writer to discuss her experiences with British film producer Hugo North, whom she met while working at Conquest Films in her twenties. A series of conversations with this reporter reveals what was at stake for Sara, who landed this coveted job without any connections (her parents “opened a crappy little dim sum shop in Queens. is running.”). As she steps onto the rickety, male-dominated ladder she’s desperate to climb, she discovers that all but a few powerful ones have their fingers stomped on. Not Hot Enough”), the actor setting aside “How a Boring Magician Handles a Deck of Cards”. Additionally, publicists, managers, and agents are all treated like necessary evils.
While working on her first big movie, Sarah befriended Holly Randolph at the height of her megawatt stardom (I imagined her as Julia Roberts in Mystic Pizza. ). The two are drawn into Hugo’s hard-partying orbit, where women are mostly adornments, no matter how talented they are. doesn’t get the credit it deserves for punching a script written by a male colleague.
“Complicity” is at its best when Lee focuses on the past. When she zooms out into the present, it can drag on, especially in the case of her bloody reporter Tom Gallagher. But I loved her Li’s cinematic supporting role. 4 years later”- And her timely foray into Sarah’s family life. Mr. and Mrs. Rice are confused about her daughter’s career path. Her wise brother chose accounting and dentistry. Not only do we see a realistic disconnect between generations, but there’s also a brusque kindness that outweighs the tinsel of Sarah’s new life. It’s no wonder Sarah becomes a regular at her family-owned Chinese restaurant in a strip mall while her crew is filming in L.A. The warmth and friendliness of this place has been a staple of her life. It balances the pain in other parts of the body.
discussion questions
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What would you have done if you were in Sarah’s shoes? You knew she was a talented storyteller, so instead of sharing her experiences with a reporter, she would write her own account. did you wish to
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From the subways of New York City to the halls of high schools, the saying, “If you see something, tell me something” is everywhere as a reminder to trust your intuition. Why is it easier said than done in the context of “complicity”?
recommended reading
“she saidby Jodie Cantor and Meghan Twohy. If you want a crash course in shoe leather journalism and a behind-the-scenes look at the reporting that sparked the #MeToo movement, this book by two New York Times investigative reporters is a great place to start. Bonus: Films starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan will appear in November.
“catch and killby Ronan Farrow. Five days after Kantor and Twohey published their first article on Weinstein’s history of retaliation against women accused of sexual harassment, Farrow’s article covering similar areas was published in The New Yorker. . In his book, he recalls the lengths he went to to tell the story. It was for NBC, which was hiring Farrow at the time. Our critic Jennifer Salai wrote:
