It's hard to argue with the assertion that, in the USA at least, Casey Affleck's turn as Lee in Manchester By The Sea was quite possibly the most celebrated performance of the year. No doubt Affleck could fill a wing of his home with awards he's won, from the Oscars and Golden Globes to the Skandies and, as we announced yesterday, the Muriels. Yet there is a vocal minority that isn't happy about the praise for Affleck. Much of their grumbling stems from allegations that were made against him when he was making I'm Still Here, his somewhat forgotten mockumentary in which then-brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix went full Borat as a dissolute actor-turned-wannabe-rapper.
Affleck's recent accolades, and the vocal protests against them, have begged a question - what sort of ethical obligation, if any, do people have when honoring an artist's work to factor in his less-than-positive behavior outside of that work? To address that question, I've enlisted Muriel voters Andrew Bemis and Kevin Cecil, neither of whom voted for Affleck this year for some reason or other.
Take it away, gents!
Andrew: Though I didn't include Casey Affleck on my Best Actor ballot, I must admit that it wasn't because of the allegations of sexual assault against him by a crew member who worked on his film I'm Still Here. I remember hearing about the charges at the time, but I thought about them only fleetingly during Manchester by the Sea, and they weren't a distraction from his performance. It's a very good performance and film; honestly, I just preferred the five performances I chose - those would be Denzel, Adam Driver in Paterson, Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys, Michael Shannon in Midnight Special and Mark Rylance in The BFG - and knew that Affleck would get plenty of support from other Muriels voters.
So no, knowing that Casey Affleck is possibly a creep didn't factor into my decision; at the same time, I don't care to be in the position of defending him or playing devil's advocate for artists who harass or abuse women. There are other instances when I find it hard to separate the art from the artist - I still haven't seen Hacksaw Ridge, for instance - and I don't know if I can justify why I can get past some artists' bad behavior but not others without contradicting myself. I don't fault anyone for drawing the line differently than I do, and I'm less interested in defending Affleck than hopefully getting at the heart of how we make these judgments for ourselves. But first, I'd like to hear what you think.
Kevin: Thanks Andrew. I have to admit that had I not been paying attention to the controversy surrounding Casey Affleck, I probably would have voted for him. I've been interested in him as a performer since his small part in Good Will Hunting and especially in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. The intense internal conflict he provides every scene in Manchester by the Sea was technically impressive and deeply moving. However, I was also deeply moved by voices from people like Constance Wu, who argues that awards exist to honor art, and art exists to honor humanity. Wu suggests that awarding Affleck, no matter how good the performance, reinforces "the industry's gross and often hidden mistreatment of women." So, while I voted for Manchester in a number of other categories, I left Affleck off my ballot.
Another reason I chose not to consider Affleck for contention is how he seems to have deliberately avoided any effort to address and atone for his actions. I was vaguely aware of the charges before this year, but knew little of the details and even less of Affleck's dismissal of them. Nate Parker was driven by the media to make a number of apologies for his behavior; perhaps because he was more of a creative force behind Birth of a Nation, perhaps because the allegations against him led to his victim's suicide, perhaps because he doesn't have the protection of a beloved big brother, perhaps because he doesn't have white skin, but most likely the combination of these factors. Parker's apologies seemed alternately insincere, forced or self-centered, but at least he had to atone for his actions (even if it was too little, too late). Affleck seems to be skating by with no real push for contrition from the industry. I think forgiveness is hard but important; only it makes it even harder to forgive without an apology. Which kind of leaves me with a similar question to the one you ended with: what can we forgive, and what does someone have to do to earn that forgiveness?
Andrew: I'm glad you brought up the Constance Wu piece - I can't argue with her reasoning at all, and I don't fault you or anyone for feeling that awarding Affleck's performance would be a way of shrugging off Hollywood's mistreatment of women. And with that - and I think you'll agree - we've said about all that two men have to say of interest on this subject, at least from a moral/ethical perspective. As far as your question about forgiveness goes, I don't know if it's that I "forgive" Affleck or anyone who has been accused of abuse. For me, I think it comes down to a question of whether I can accept them in the role they're playing, or if the baggage they bring to the screen makes this impossible.
I decided to re-watch The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford the other night; it's one of my favorite movies, and I was moved, as always, by Affleck's performance. And it occurred to me that part of the reason the allegations against him haven't distracted me from his onscreen work is that he tends to play fundamentally broken people. Robert Ford is a very endearing and sympathetic creep, but a creep nonetheless. Lee, his character in Manchester by the Sea, is a loner who can't forgive himself for a terrible mistake and there's more than one scene in the film where his presence makes other characters uncomfortable. Even when he plays a hero, like in Gone Baby Gone, he's a hero with a shady background. Because I'm being asked to watch a guy who might have some serious character flaws play the same, it doesn't make me want to hang out with the guy, but I can accept him as the characters he plays. If he was cast as a charmingly eccentric lead in an indie romcom or something, I'd probably take a hard pass.
I wonder if this isn't also a factor in the different reactions to Affleck and Nate Parker. Not that race isn't a factor, of course, but Parker was also playing an iconic African-American figure in a hagiography that he also wrote and directed, and he was being positioned as a new major voice among black filmmakers. The charges against Parker and the news that the woman involved committed suicide completely sours that narrative. Whereas with Affleck, I'm being asked to respect a possibly deeply flawed person can inhabit the roles of deeply flawed characters; it's not better, but there's less cognitive dissonance for me. But like I said, on a moral/ethical level, I completely understand why a lot of people don't want Affleck to win an Oscar, and I prefer Denzel anyway.
Kevin: I'm writing this post Oscars, so Affleck has won. Though it seemed like he would have preferred Denzel as well. I'm sure at this point he's aware that the more attention he gets, the more attention this story gets (just google his name - it's almost all that comes up). Because of this pressure he spoke on the accusations to The Boston Globe for the first time, to my knowledge, since Award season began. He said abuse is bad, but that both parties are still legally bound from speaking about the incident. There was still no apology for Magdalena Gorka, Amanda White or other victims of sexual harassment and abuse.
I'm in total agreement with what you said about Casey's screen persona often reflecting conflicted and complicated creeps, and how that may set him to different standards than someone like Nate Parker, who we were asked to see as a hero. The problem with giving Affleck an Oscar, and closing the circle on why I didn't vote for him here, is that awards make him a hero. Someone to look up to. Which may also affect how we perceive his onscreen persona moving forward, creating a cognitive dissonance.
A few days after the ceremony, one of my friends asked if she should see Manchester by the Sea, I said "It's a stunning film, one of the most emotionally rich movies of the year. If you can put aside your feelings for Casey Affleck I think it's absolutely worth a watch." She thought for a moment, and said "As a victim of sexual assault, I don't think I can do that."
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