I'm on a roll...for the second night in succession I've seen a film worth talking about, again, on the Women's Television Network.
This time, it's the same old same old - yet another story of sexual harassment - this time, in the workplace. It's very well done, and I'm sure it's basically true from the viewpoint of the female victim, the original Kerry Ellison herself.
What's changed this time, is the eye of the beholder. In the past, in my male prime and feisty if I've watched movies about sexual harrassment at all, I wondered what all the fuss was about. What the women would call "harassment",looked to me like acceptable male flirting. Surely the best compliment I could pay a woman, was to have a great guy like me let her know how attractive she was to me, by means of commenting on her looks, her love life, and her obvious affinity with me?
This movie puts down such "flirting" as scary, driving the woman in question, into nightmares, out of her job, and, ultimately, to a lawsuit. It's a story that's been told many times lately, as more and more women emerge from their fear of being labelled hysterical, over-imaginative, and above all concern that the MAN would suffer e.g. loss of his wife/job/reputation if HER truth be told...that is, truth distinct from his, which is, of course, that it was all good clean sexual interplay between equals, namely "flirting"
But, this movie avers, it is not between equals, if one participant is bigger,stronger, more influential, and has a louder voice(all of which means that it is, still, a man's world, after all) -then it becomes sexual bullying.
This movie, though entertaining and interesting in itself, does not bring much that is new to the discussion...it's that I, myself, have changed, at 70 have become vulnerable, like any woman - every other male is so much bigger, stronger, influential, and has a louder voice than I, and I find it...intimidating. I am far more sympathetic to complaints of sexual harassment than once I was. Finding myself wondering how the lead male in the movie, deeming himself so romantic, could come off looking so dumb and boorish. But for the grace of God...oops! Been there, done that!
Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story
1996
Action / Drama
Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story
1996
Action / Drama
Plot summary
Kerry Ellison has a good job at an office and she is happy. All goes well, until Jack Gilcrest starts having an interest in her. He starts following her, writing her sexually tense notes. Kerry makes it clear multiple times that she is not interested in him. Jack continues approaching her nonetheless. The problem seems solved when Jack gets transferred to another department. But he manages to return and threatens Kerry so much, she is getting anxiety attacks. There's no one who can help her, even a complaint at the labor union falls on deaf ears. Ellison's only option is to go to court and charge her office, a decision that will surely cost her job.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
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A well-worn path worth travelling again
Low rent and uninteresting TV production
HOSTILE ADVANCES is a simplistic TV movie from the 1990s that's content to plough the same furrow as many films which have come before it. It tells the true story of a woman who suffered sexual harassment from a work colleague. The problem is that nobody seems bothered enough to help her, so in the end she takes the guy to court. Can she put an end to this nuisance once and for all?
The narrative is kind of a cross between Crichton's DISCLOSURE and the excellent, also-based-on-a-true-story TV movie STALKING LAURA. However, it's nowhere near as interesting as those movies, as it suffers all of the usual problems associated with the TV Movie genre: the acting is understated and uninteresting, the dialogue is overly talky and doesn't really connect with the audience, and there's little interest for the viewer. The courtroom finale is probably the best part, but really there isn't very much going on here at all.
Stupid and wasteful
While sexual harrassment is more than just a grey area that should be scrutinised more, this movie chose purposefully to show what a crazy stupid woman Kerry Ellison was. She hyped up everything and this is why you can never solely rely on what is reasonable. This was not a reasonable woman. She was hysterical and an irritant. The laws should match both how the male acts (yes men can be disgusting and damn right gross) bit also match how women in this age act too.
The guy harrasing was plainly creepy, but never once threatened violence or anything. More like, bad damn judgement. Women have ruined the "romance" in life. No longer can men chase a woman like they used too. No longer can men write notes to women to show they are interested, no longer can men "eye up" a female for fear of criminalisation.
The dumb thing is, the only people who will suffer are women. Men can grow old and still get married, have kids and still be found attractive with age.
No one finds old women attractive, no one wants to have kids with a woman who is past 40 and NO ONE wants an old dog hanging off their arm when there are young and more youthful females around. A man can always retain the affections of women into his 60's and still father children. That is NOT the same for women.
So now, men can't chase the girl anymore. Well that's fine. We will sit back and let them come to us, because they always will. Yet the woman, as they say, her clock is ticking and yet no one will dare come a calling. We don't want our intentions misread by all those crazy women. Ha...joke is on you Kerry Ellison.