It all started in October 2017. One of the biggest and most untouchable names in Hollywood has been wobbly as a result of a newspaper article. New York Times, targeting film producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of being a sexual predator for decades, using his power to obtain sexual favors and even raping several women. Famous actresses, but not the most influential in the sector. There were 8 women who decided to stand before the authorities and shout to all four winds what they had kept secret for years.

five days later magazine New Yorker confirmed the accusations. This time, three actresses claimed that Weinstein raped them. As the days went on, more and more women started talking and telling the producer about their traumatic experiences of sexual harassment and rape. More than 80 women became them, including such great figures of the industry as Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie or Uma Thurman. Even Salma Hayek called him a monster and claimed that he threatened to break her legs if she did not comply with his request.

For several days, public opinion was divided between those who believed the actresses and those who defended Weinstein’s innocence. But what no one doubted was that October changed the history of feminism: the #MeToo movement was born. Its origin falls on October 15, when the actress Alyssa Milano shared a tweet on Twitter that said, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted, tweet ‘me too’ (me too) in response to this tweet.” The butterfly effect was not long in coming, causing a huge impact and changes in society.

Analysis New York Times found that since the publication that exposed the Hollywood producer (followed by an investigation New Yorker), at least two hundred prominent men in the United States have lost their jobs after being publicly accused of sexual harassment or assault. A total of 920 people reported being victims of an item on this list of 200, and almost half of the jobs held by men were reserved for women. In the year before the Weinstein reports surfaced, fewer than 30 high-profile individuals made the news after resigning or being fired due to public allegations of sexual harassment. In 2020, Weinstein was finally sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual harassment and rape. On December 19 this year, he was again found guilty of rape and two sexual assaults.

In Discover, Maria Schroeder’s new film explores the investigation of Jody Kantor and Megan Twoey, two reporters New York Times that 5 years ago they released an article exposing a sexual assault that the audiovisual industry has been silent about for years.

“Why is sexual harassment so ingrained and so hard to fight?” – this is one of the questions that can be heard in the trailer and asked by a journalist during a thematic meeting in the newspaper. To which she herself answers: “let’s interrogate the system.” And that’s what Kantor and Tui are playing zoe cauldron D Carey Mulliganask, investigate and bring to light one of the investigative journalism that will go down in history along with the Watergate scandal.

The film, which can already be seen in cinemas, reveals the difficulties that journalists have faced. Reporters try to convince these frightened women, some of whom are threatened and sexually demanded, to meet one of Hollywood’s most powerful men after so many years. They also had to face many people who interfered and questioned the testimony of the victims: “Are you sure these girls didn’t want to sleep with the producer in order to grow up?” asks the man in the trailer. . . .

During the film, you can see the investigation they did over several months in the newspaper, interviewing various women to find testimonies that would shed light on these abuses. “He tried to touch me all the time, I asked him to leave me alone”, “I was young, I was afraid”, “I was silenced, I want to regain my voice” – some of the testimonies of women who endured it.

“How many Harveys can be in there?” they wonder during the movie. Since October 5, 2017 New York Times published under the headline “Harvey Weinstein spent decades silencing accusers of sexual harassment with bribes”, showed that the power of this article and the power of the phenomenon that went viral inspired other famous women in Hollywood to speak out and made Weinstein one of the most prominent symbols of the movement me too.