#MeToo founder Tarana Burke is hoping to change some things regarding the way sexual assault and sexual abuse are portrayed onscreen.
In a long-ranging feature with The New York Times, Burke spoke on a plan, which is in the early stages, that hopes to address the issues.
“…It’s important to get in the writers’ rooms now and to connect with Hollywood now. Before it gets to be such a catchall phrase that they dilute its meaning, that we help people understand the gravity behind the words and that it’s not just used as, ‘Oh, look who got Me Too’d, ha-ha,’ like a punch line,'” she said.
She further explained that reading that Lee Daniels was producing a #MeToo workplace comedy also shows why this is needed. “The hair stood up on my arm,” she said. “To put Me Too and comedy in the same sentence is so deeply offensive and not because I’m uptight and I don’t see comedy in things. We’re not ready for a comedy, and it’s just so offensive that you think in this moment when we’re still unpacking the issue that you can write a comedy about it. And that’s the type of thing I’m talking about. We have to get out in front of that.”
