On Monday 10 December 2018, a strong crowd consisting of academics, students and members of the public attended a talk organised by the department under the auspices of the Liverpool Film Seminar with the title "Weinstein and the (cultural) Value of Abuse" by Professor Karen Boyle, Strathclyde University.
Professor Boyle, one of the world leading scholars in feminist media studies examined the ways in which a culture of abuse is internalised by film, media and art industries, both in the name of trying to achieve a higher degree of realism and as a practice that the industries then use to frame the ways they talk about themselves and the work they do. This allows the perpetuation of this culture, with the Weinstein case, Professor Boyle argued, being very much part of this phenomenon.
The talk was part of a bigger project on cultures of abuse in media industries, the results of which will be published in Professor Boyle's new book. The Liverpool Film Seminar continues next semester, on 29 January 2019, with a talk by Professor Birgit Beumers, Aberystwyth University.