THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 3, 1994 TAG: 9412030020
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, D.C. LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
THE BATTLE of the sexes is heating up again.
Just when it looked as though it was safe for couples to go back to the movies, after all the arguments raised by ``Fatal Attraction'' and ``Indecent Proposal'' had been settled, along comes ``Disclosure.''
Only the stakes are upped. The movie, opening Friday, takes the hanky-panky of sexual politics into the workplace. It's about power and wielding power. The penalties are loss of work and social reputation; the weapons are intimidation and manipulation. The consequences couldn't be more threatening.
``The women I know begged me not to write the book,'' Michael Crichton said this week at the Four Season's Hotel in Washington, D.C. ``As a result, possibly, of ``Rising Sun,' they thought I was going to make a political statement. They thought it would be a statement against women.
``I went out of my way, I think, to keep it balanced. I know many women, and I have been married to several. I know that women have faults.''
``Disclosure'' is a best-selling novel from the author of such best-sellers as ``Jurassic Park,'' ``The Andromeda Strain'' and ``Congo.'' A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Crichton gave up big money for bigger money.
In the new movie, Tom Sanders (Michael Douglas), an executive at a Seattle high-tech company, is passed over for a promotion he expected to get. Instead, his boss (Donald Sutherland) wants a woman for the job, to break ``the glass ceiling.'' It goes to highly efficient Meredith Johnson (Demi Moore).
As it turns out, the two had a torrid affair 10 years ago, back when both were single. Now, she is still single, but he is happily married. She orders a bottle of his favorite wine, invites him to her office after hours and, to put it frankly, orders him to service her or she'll have him fired.
When Sanders walks out, Johnson puts out a report that he sexually harassed her. She plans to put him in a worthless job, then dismiss him. The company wants to keep it all quiet because a major deal could be jeopardized. Sanders, though, surprises them by fighting back: He files sexual harassment charges against her.
Whom would you believe? Some men in the premiere audience hissed at Douglas for walking out on the sexy Moore. ``Disclosure'' raises a controversial and unique ``What if?'' Here, the man is the victim.
Notably, ``Disclosure'' is not the only new movie in which sexual manipulation by women is questioned. The other is David Mamet's ``Oleanna,'' in which a college student accuses her professor of sexual harassment. His job and life are ruined. The script, based on a play, asks the audience to decide who is right. Were his flirtations really harassment?
Both works were written by men which raises more questions: Are men fighting back or just squirming? Are they reflecting the times or just making trouble?
A Boston case in which eight men are suing the weight-loss firm Jenny Craig over alleged sexual harrassment adds a fortuitous reality check to the scene. ``The Jenny Craig case was a gift from heaven,'' Crichton said when asked if the case had any influence on the movie.
"We all know that the world is more complicated than recent political posturing has allowed,'' Crichton said. ``When I started researching the book over 10 years ago, 5 percent of men in this country worked for women. Now about 9 percent do. But even that figure is misleading. It covers only the top Fortune 500 companies. When you take into consideration those vast `middle' companies, women are holding a majority of these positions.
``My idea for the novel came from a true incident I heard about in 1988. The result of that was that both persons were fired.''
Director Barry Levinson, an Oscar-winner for ``Rain Man,'' said ``Disclosure'' is taking a risk at the box office.
``Controversy is a dangerous tool to use in modern moviemaking,'' he said. ``It's better to be as neutral as you can be. It's safer to make a movie like `Speed,' which offers just entertainment with nothing to debate. If you suggest anything - but anything - that could be a negative, it can turn off audiences.''
To the contrary, industry forecasters are predicting that ``Disclosure'' is the only sure bet among this year's holiday releases.
Levinson added that he has known two persons who were involved in sexual harassment cases, both men accused by women. ``Often these cases turn out to be reinterpreted as `inappropriate behavior,' '' he said.
Crichton believes that there is much more trouble boiling beneath the surface of corporate America.
``Sexual harassment cases have become the nightmare of a corporation,'' he said. ``It used to be that a supervisor would just call in the two people and have it talked out. No more. Now paperwork and accusations must be filed. The two people no longer speak. They won't get on the same elevator. The other workers choose sides.
``In the end, more often than not, the ruling is, `This was a foolish thing for that person to say, but it is not illegal.' The company is in turmoil. Production is hurt and nothing has really been solved.''
Just then, a woman approached Crichton and told him that Moore's character is treated unfairly and that ``Disclosure'' is no more than woman-bashing. ``We never see anything about her private life or how she lives,'' the woman said. ``We see a great deal about him. All the sympathy is with him.''
Crichton didn't flinch.
``The story is told from his point of view,'' Crichton said. ``It is not a story about experiences outside the workplace. She is the villain but, at the same time, I did work to keep her from being some kind of caricature. I think I achieved that. Meredith didn't want a relationship with him. She just wanted power - and pleasure.''
Michael Douglas won an Academy Award for playing a very different kind of corporate player in ``Wall Street.'' He agrees, though, that his role in ``Disclosure'' is similar to the one he had in ``Fatal Attraction,'' but he adds that playing the part changed his outlook.
``I'm a good friend of Renee, my secretary. She's worked with me for 14 years,'' Douglas said. ``I'd often hug and kiss her when I met her. Now, I think I'd better just shake her hand.
``Can you imagine being single in the workplace today? How does anyone get together anymore? Thank God I'm married.''
Douglas said he has never been sexually harassed. ``At least, not that I'm aware of. Women can control situations by their relationships. But I think, in the acting profession, we're more open to discussion. My mother was an actress when I was young, and men and woman shared a dressing room backstage at her theater.''
It was Sutherland, who plays the company boss, who perhaps put the modern gender wars in best perspective.
``The present situation is all related to the economy and power,'' he said. ``It began with the breakup of the farms, when the industrial revolution became evident during the last century. In America, men have used the gender difference to compensate for their own inadequacy.
``When they are boys, men are always told that they can become president, that they can accomplish wonders. In reality, they find the world often doesn't work that way. When they can't get anywhere, they blame women.''
Sutherland smiled, realizing he may have oversimplified his argument, before continuing: ``I mean, men, in America more so than Europe, are dealing with unrealized hope. Through history, they have been able to look to the woman for security and consolation. The person who was supposed to make us real was the wife or the mother. But in the nuclear age, the family has fallen apart. Women are often not there now.''
Sutherland doesn't feel Moore's character is unfairly developed. ``She is a strong character, but have you met a woman who isn't?'' he said. ``And besides, she is not the only woman in the film. There is the wife. There is Michael's lawyer. There is his secretary. There are at least six well-developed women characters. Other facets of women are shown. The fact that the strongest role is an aggressive person doesn't mean all women are like that.
``I read about a region in which drunkenness and wife-beating went wild after men were prevented from hunting. It's a fact. When the hunting permits were suspended, the aggressive action took form in other ways. Of course, this type thing pours over into the workplace, and into the courts. Why do you think America has more lawyers than any other country?''
The cast and crew of ``Disclosure,'' however, hope moviegoers won't take it to court. They merely hope they'll show up at theaters.
What happens afterward is not their responsibility. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
BRIAN HAMILL
Warner Bros.
Charges and countercharges of sexual harassment lead to a
confrontation between business executives played by Michael Douglas,
standing, and Demi Moore in ``Disclosure.''
by CNB