Scattering the Proud

Charlie Rose interviews Margaret Atwood

Last Monday I indulged my habit of watching the PBS television program eponymously named Charlie Rose when everything changed. I have enjoyed watching the show through the years, although the 5:00 PM timeslot didn't always fit with working life. When I became a paid bum (retired) I enjoyed the freedom to watch regularly. Charlie Rose has been interviewing interesting people on the spare set which was a round table and a dark background for most of 25 years. During the current chaos of the Trump debacle his informed guests helped me navigate through the issues of the day. And then there were the writers and musicians and film-makers who seem to thrive in the intimate and relaxed setting which made the interviews seem more like conversations under the direction of the skilled and informed Rose. I have bought books and watched films as a result of these conversations.

Monday's interview was with the president of Harvard, Drew Gilpin Faust. Faust will retire next year and Rose explored her illustrious academic career, including her role as the first woman president of this esteemed institution. In conversation Faust mentioned her mother's repeated advice that “It’s a man’s world, sweetie, and the sooner you learn that the better off you’ll be.” Faust could have known the import of those words in that moment.



Drew Gilpin Faust

As I watched I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and saw that Rose has been accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour with a number of women in his employ. The allegations were of a creepy abuse of power with female staff who had no real recourse to address his behaviour because he developed and owned the show. It occurred to me as I read that I might be watching the last Charlie Rose program, which proved to be the case. Within hours PBS and CBS first suspended, then fired Rose. A number of other women have come forward with similar stories and this once esteemed interviewer and media sage has been disgraced by his own actions. His career is effectively finished and it should be.

I have spent a week pondering these revelations and my response. We are living in an important moment as those who assumed this predatory behaviour was a right associated with their wealth and prestige can no longer shield themselves from scrutiny and condemnation. The shift began with entertainer Bill Cosby, it seems to me. It toppled nasty Fox News kingpin Bill O'Reilly. But it was the wave of accusations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein which turned the tide, with many more predators revealed in the days following his unmasking. I find that I am most disillusioned by the revelations about Charlie Rose because he represented a different perspective in a nation which seems to have lost its way.

In a few weeks one of the Advent scripture readings will be the Magnificat, Mary's song of hope that God has "scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." Is this happening now? We can pray that it is and will continue.

Thoughts?