More women are coming out accusing Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment. Should victims of sexual harassment always come forward? Then, a new survey predicts that there will be more religious progressives than religious conservatives in the future, are times really changing? Next a survey revealed more people work on vacation, do you? Then, it's Filmweek with our critics talking about the latest movies including The Wolverine. Last, we're talking with director Joshua Oppenheimer about his disturbing documentary, "The Act of Killing."
Do victims of sexual harassment have an obligation to come forward?
More women have come forward accusing San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment, bringing the total to seven women, with more expected. Among the recent victims to come forward are retired Navy rear-admiral Veronica Froman, who claims Filner once blocked the door in front of her after a meeting and stroked her face while asking if she was in a relationship. Also Joyce Gattas, a dean at San Diego State University, has come out with accusations that Filner has held her tightly, kissed her cheek and touched her knee.
The amount of women to come forward is now only expected to increase -- in fact the city of San Diego has established a hotline specifically for allegations regarding the mayor -- and it begs the question: why did it take so long for the first accuser to come forward?
Is there a certain level of sexual harassment that many women just feel resigned to stomach? Could it be that some of these women just didn’t want to deal with the fallout of making an accusation, which would include a blitz of legal work and media attention and potentially distracting from their careers? Is there a degree of fearing retribution for making such claims?
Guest:
Louise Fitzgerald, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Psychology, and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Survey says relationship between religious beliefs and politics is shifting fast among young people
A new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute highlights an interesting trend that predicts religious progressives will far outpace religious conservatives in the future. The research tracked four generations of Americans and surveyed them on their religious and political affiliations. While people who consider themselves non-religious have more than doubled over four generations, 78% of millennials (18- to 33-year-olds) still consider themselves religious. And within that group, religious conservativism has dropped nearly 300% across the four generations, while religious progressivism has doubled.
Considering the real and symbolic power of the religious right in America, these trends might cast some doubts upon just how much longer that political paradigm will hold, and whether religious groups might align themselves with more progressive causes going forward. It doesn’t seem that far fetched, considering that the tenants of Christianity seem to support progressive causes, like providing healthcare and social welfare.
But does the evidence actually point to a larger trend toward progressivism among Christians, or does the generational gap also suggest that millennials might bend more conservative in the future? Or are times really changing, and will we see a real shift in religious politics in the future?
Guests:
Robert Jones, Founder and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute
Morley Winograd, Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. Co-author of Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America
Filmweek: The Wolverine, Blue Jasmine, The Time Being and more
Larry and KPCC critics Tim Cogshell and Wade Major review this week’s releases, including The Wolverine, Blue Jasmine, The Time Being and more. TGI-Filmweek!
The Wolverine
Blue Jasmine
The Time Being
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic, KPCC, Alt Film Guide
Wade Major, film critic, KPCC, boxoffice.com
Restaging violence: A Q&A with 'The Act of Killing' director Joshua Oppenheimer
The documentary “The Act of Killing” looks at a bloody chapter of Indonesian history that is seldom discussed outside of the country. Starting in 1965, paramilitary groups that would eventually put General Suharto in power systematically murdered an estimated half-a-million people who were considered communists--which a lot of times meant ethnic Chinese and anyone the coup deemed an enemy. These death squads also enlisted common thugs and local gangsters to carry out their dirty work.
In “The Act of Killing,” first-time director Joshua Oppenheimer follows a few of these so-called “theater gangsters” who participated in the mass murder and who talked shamelessly about what they did and how they did what they did.
Their recollection went beyond verbal descriptions; Oppenheimer had the men re-enact and restage the killings in any movie genre--Western, noir, musical--of their choosing. The resulting scenes are as disturbing as they are absurd.
Warning: This trailer shows reenactments of violence:
Guest:
Joshua Oppenheimer, director of “The Act of Killing.”