Like a Duck
You Won't Believe What The 2010s Improv Comedy Scene Has To Do With Graham Platner
I came of age in the New York City comedy scene at the time of a reckoning. There was always another all-female improv teamed formed, another all-female show announced, sketches with feminist leanings staged. Broad City was on TV, GIRLS was on TV, and it was the first time in history women were allowed to talk publicly about being on their period.1
I know, because I was on these shows and improv teams and staged these sketches. And, of course, I am speaking entirely from my own experience, as that’s the only place a person can speak, and also this as a long time ago, and within any sort of community like this, the number of vantage points somehow outstrips the people involved.
Given the sheer volume of stories I remember, and the men banned from the comedy theaters, it feels as though every week back then someone was Found Out — even in the days leading up to Me Too. There were at least certain things that could not fly anymore in the 2010s. The Culture Had To Change.
When I look back now, there was this dichotomy where women could express themselves more freely than ever before, and make female-driven work — and maybe the men we knew would hit like or even share — but it’s hard not to feel now there was almost a Cuteness to it. Because at the end of the day, the scene was still overwhelmingly male, and overwhelmingly white, and those who were a combination thereof were the ones who held the cultural currency. Yeah, maybe you couldn’t rape without impunity anymore, but it’s hard to say where the line was drawn otherwise, if at all. Perhaps the best snapshot I could provide of this time is when someone who helped run prominent comedy theater wrote a post encouraging women to submit more shows, because the scripts they received were predominantly written by men. Not long after, he was fired for sexual misconduct. A female friend of mine said, “But if it isn’t true, his career is ruined.” When Me Too did happen later, it rooted out many of the worst offenders, but there were still plenty left.
Rumors flew around all the time, everywhere. Reports of: “He was awful to her.” “He’s abusive.” “He was manipulative.” “He was a creep.” was met with “She’s crazy.” “He’s a good guy.” “She should’ve known better.” “He never did anything to me.” “He’s just a bad boyfriend.” “Who really knows.”
A person could go all around town sharing what had happened to them, some sort of assault or abuse, physical or emotional. They’d be heard out, given heavy nods and assurances of “fuck that guy.” I can’t tell you exactly what happened in these situations, but I can tell you it’s hard to remember many of these guys suffering sort of meaningful consequences.2 If there were, the scores of men who never felt them far outweigh those who did.
I put on my Feminist Hat. There were men I cut ties with and would no longer ask to do my shows. There were shows I dropped out of because I said I couldn’t be a part of something if That Guy was. I stopped writing for a website at one point because a misogynistic culture was fostered by the owner. Ultimately though I found this to be a fairly lonely experience. On the whole, lineups didn’t change. Invitations to parties were not revoked. I told a man I was dating that someone we knew had a reputation for being creepy; he said “I have to be nice to him in case he can help me book something.” Another time, I told a sketch teammate that a guy we knew assaulted my friend; he told him what I said so he could get his side of the story. That teammate and I have not spoken since.
This is not to say that I was the only person who made choices like these, but not as many people as I would’ve hoped. I’d see a guy booked for a show and think, I thought we all hated him? But if you were a woman, there wasn’t much benefit to be derived from drawing lines like this, so I cannot really blame anyone for not doing so. I know I was written off by some as uptight, annoying, shrill. I suffered professionally. I was holding myself to a standard no one else was, and watching men I knew thrive because it would never occur to them to have these hangups.
No one knew how to deal with what were perceived to be “gray areas” and therefore they didn’t get dealt with. And if this behavior is not dealt with, then what is there to signal that it’s wrong, and to prevent this behavior from escalation? I believe there is a path to rehabilitation and forgiveness is a powerful tool. However, for change to happen there needs to be a recognition that there was a transgression in the first place.
It was around this same time that I got really, really into Law & Order: SVU. The latter years I’m describing coincided with the true crime boom, and I was early to the party. Because when you watch Law & Order: SVU — and this is a huge reason why people watch Law & Order: SVU — it is told time and time again that sexual assault of any form is not a woman’s fault. Consent can be revoked at any time. If you are sexual assaulted, it does not define you as a person. More often than not, sexual assault goes unreported. There are no perfect victims.3
As the years went on, I thought we, as a society, had come to accept the above as true. No, not MAGA Republicans, but I mean people with actual working brains. Seeing the way people on the left, from random accounts on Twitter up to some of its most prominent figures, have defended Graham Platner through scandal after scandal has made me feel both sick and insane. The Blackwater thing. The Nazi tattoo. The comments downplaying sexual assault on Reddit. The sexting outside of his marriage.4 Any of these things taken alone, not great, but taken together, a clear pattern emerges. Which means more behavior within this pattern is both in the past and likely down the line. What’s more is that if someone acts this way when they don’t have power, imagine what they will do when we give it to them? When they become a United States Senator? Cue Jenny Holzer: Abuse of power comes as no surprise.
Or, as some other scholar once said: If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck. Some things are as they seem.
Then came the initial New York Times report, wherein a woman was immediately discredited for her accusations of assault against Platner because she’s a Republican. I know all of her shady background; I know the work she did to get Kavanaugh appointed. I’m sorry, but we do have to believe her, too. Or at least take the claims seriously. We cannot do what Republicans would do if a leftist accused them of assault. And we cannot say, well, Trump is a rapist, so why can’t we elect one? We have to be better, because otherwise, what is the point? Even now, once the Politico report dropped, men were rushing to Platner’s defense in a way that makes fairly clear how much men hate women.
I am not trying to say, with all of this, that Graham Platner is my Bad Comedy Ex-Boyfriend or whatever. What I am saying is that I know what it’s like to see certain behavior overlooked or minimized in favor of a guy people like5. Don’t forget, it’s everywhere. Dolores Huerta kept her assault by Cesar Chavez secret for sixty years because she was scared it would hurt the movement. This was bombshell news only a few months ago.
None of this happens in a vacuum. The rise of tradwives. Women being cut out of the workforce. The left downplaying assault accusations. Women are not sacrificial lambs through which men can build power and wealth. The left cannot cede feminism.
You probably think I sound old. Well, I feel old writing this because I’ve been around now long enough to say it turns out we have not learned anything. I know history repeats. I just didn’t expect it to this soon.
I am being facetious.
There are a few guys who did sort of disappear of the face of the Earth.
The irony that a show that regularly depicts sex crimes is also a balm of sorts is not lost on anyone.
This is perhaps less disqualifying than the other offenses listed, but you have to admit, it’s not great.
Or in some cases, don’t even like that much.