The Angry Otaku: There's No Business Like Show Business, Unfortunately; #MeToo

Monday, October 16, 2017

There's No Business Like Show Business, Unfortunately; #MeToo

Well this is something.

First let me say that I was never sexually harassed while working at any entertainment or licensing company. Where I was sexually harassed was when I worked at a beverage company (juices and soft-drinks) when I was the only male worker in the entire accounting department, and was walking down the hall when one of the other workers (she was Jamaican and the rest were all from DR) was twerking right there and as I walked by the other girls stopped me and asked "isn't that a nice ass? Here get some!" and grabbed my hand and put it right on there with the bouncy bounce not skipping a beat. Keep in mind I am at least 10 years older than anyone else there and was clearly wearing a wedding ring, but noooooooooo they did not give a shit and slammed my hand on that ass. And I am not talking about the outer round part, they shoved my hand right in that lil jon to-the-window-to-the-wall, kill zone. ...her vajayjay if you couldn't tell. I was told by the head of the department to "lighten up" ...Imagine the opposite, some dudes are in a hall and grab the hand of the only woman in the department and put it on some guy's dick? That's a lawsuit if you're lucky, but for me... it was "lighten up." I quit a little bit later over their illegal accounting practices. All I can say is ...don't buy any Tropical Fantasy drinks.

It's a thing

But I am not here to talk about my own experiences like that today. What I am here to talk about is Harvey Weinstein. It is shameful and disgusting that it took so long to have this slime-mold in a human shaped condom held accountable for what he has done. The Weinstein once had a company called Dragon Dynasty, which was in the same business as Crash Cinema; martial arts movies for home media and other streaming outlets. I was once in the same room as that guy at a reception and then again at a somehow different reception later in the year but it was pretty much exactly the same. I did not rank high enough in the scheme of things to be allowed to talk to him (it was made explicitly clear by his handlers) but I was very close in proximity and I can tell you that the creep-factor was at about 1000% with this guy. The only reason I stayed was because there was an open bar with some top-shelf booze.

I was already depressed to the point of suicide so... might as well right?

The only problem is, this reminds me of my old boss. Scott C Mauriello, former Managing Director of Crash Media Group, Crash Cinema, or Anime Crash, whatever you want to call that mess. And no, he was not actually co-owner, he didn't own even 1% of Crash Media Group despite what he would say in some sort of Trump-ish grandiose bellowing. First and foremost, he seemed to be illiterate. You would give him a memo and then 2 hours later he would act as if he never saw the thing but tell you to your face he read it in detail. Secondly, he is an audacious liar. He kept telling everyone that his "Japanese Girlfriend" killed herself back in Osaka or something, but she is in fact very much alive and well and part of a jazz band that plays regularly at the Chelsea Piers. And finally, he is a walking boner with no self-control. He once actually started having sex with the 16 year old who worked at Copy Center 2 doors down from Anime Crash, and just taking money out of the register randomly to pay for their dates. ...uuuugg.

Not a photo of Scott C Mauriello, but... you get the idea

He would relentlessly hit on any woman who had less than a 34" waist and visible tits regardless to if it was reciprocated or not. We had so many potential licensing deals and other projects ruined because he would just not stop coming on to women involved. He would use tarot cards as some sort of intro to his shtick, and say ridiculous nonsense like "you have an old soul" or something similar. The biggest disaster was the almost-happened project that Crash had with DJ Honda. His North American Manager was really ready to make a deal to do background music for martial arts montages (we had 300 titles it only makes sense to make cool music videos out of all the best parts of guys getting kicked in the face) but all that Scott Mauriello tried to do was get her in the sack. Spoiler alert, the deal fell through and I spent hours on the phone with this poor woman telling me everything that the slimy jerk did to her. On the plus side we traded recipes, I gave her my marinara one, and she taught me some cool Korean cooking tricks. And I did get to meet DJ Honda. There were plenty of other things he screwed up too, from the new mascot, to totally fucking up the casting for Geisters because he put girls he wanted to fuck in important roles. (Hey baby, come back to my place and then I'll make you a star... of voice acting).

And everything was going just fine...

So anyway, I watched Scott C Mauriello act like Donald Trump without the money for 12 years and I didn't do shit about it. I am thinking "hey ladies, you know when a skeeve is skeeving on you, so just tell them to shove off" but it often doesn't work that way does it? I remember feeling trapped and helpless as the youngest person in the room, while all the other guys were busy making jokes about how some female employee's tits were awesome or some other female employee (who had the highest sales record for that year) was an ugly dog and how they should get rid of her because the office needs more "eye candy" or some shit. Sipping their Grey Goose pear flavored martinis and all hyuckle bucking about things that belong in the stone age and hardee har har. I sat there, silently. I couldn't have changed their minds but I could have at least thrown a wrench in the gears. I didn't. I knew what was happening. And I did nothing but let it happen for fear of losing my job. Unemployed in New York City is a terrifying prospect. I currently only have 4 clients but if I lose even one I am going to start to worry. And that is how it continues to happen. The oppressed are oppressed, and the good people do nothing for fear of becoming the former. ...12 years.

Speak out. Even if it is anonymously, speak out so that the strength of others may be your shield.