In the past few weeks, Hollywood has been rocked by countless allegations of assault, rape, harassment, etc. and for once, they’re taking action. Harvey Weinstein has been effectively shunned from the community, Kevin Spacey has been taken off the majority of his projects (at least that I know of), Louis CK has lost network and movie deals, and most importantly people are actually taking these allegations seriously.

Victims are being listened to, and this is brand new for the industry.

Nothing is ever perfect, and of course, there are naysayers and people standing with the attackers, but this is a huge step in the right direction and I think Hollywood as a whole needs to be praised for it. A few years ago, this would never have been the case, and many of the victims would have been widely disparaged by the industry, and many important people would have turned a blind eye.

I don’t know if it’s simply the scale of the events this time around or if times are just changing, but either way, I am overjoyed to see this new culture on the rise within an industry that has been so toxic to victims of crimes such as these in the past.

The fact that some of these women and men have held these secrets inside for so long is a testament to that damaging toxicity, but the fact that they are feeling comfortable enough now to speak out also speaks to how far we have come as a society.

I may not normally be one to praise our society because I think we still have a long way to go in regards to treating victims of sexual crimes appropriately, but in this case, I want to make note of the fact that Hollywood is actually somewhat leading the charge.

This is truly quite significant because Hollywood appeals to all kinds of people around the country and the world; it doesn’t carry some of the limitations that plague activist organizations that only appeal to one group or another.

These actors and actresses have a voice that reaches the majority of the American people in a way that is almost impossible of politicians and activists these days due to the drastic polarization of our political system that has happened over the last year. The fact that they are using this voice to call out and condemn abusers and criminals is a huge step in the direction of awareness and, hopefully, widespread change. If Hollywood can do it, anyone can.