Bombshell: The lukewarm effort by Hollywood to tackle #MeToo

Bombshell has been described as the “first” #MeToo film, and the “definitive” film about the #MeToo movement – and there is much to admire about a group of women who take on a workplace riddled with sexual harassment, and win. Yet the film appears to view the women’s political ideologies and their fight against sexism as separate issues. The ideological individualism of Kelly and Carlson means they don’t see their struggle for freedom from sexual harassment as embedded in the fight for other rights.

There’s a degree of irony in the fact that Bombshell, the movie about the fall of Fox News boss and serial sexual harasser Roger Ailes, was awarded an Oscar for make-up and hairstyling. One of the themes that runs through the movie is the objectification of Fox’s female employees, so giving the movie an award for the way its female stars look on screen feels a little jarring.

Maria Flood, is a lecturer in Film Studies at Keele University

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