Ella-June Henrard thought it was finally over. Ever since actor and screenwriter Bart de Pauw – then still an idol for many Flemish people – had cast her in his series It’s Showtime, she had received message after message from him: compliments, declarations of love, poems, songs, apologies, day and night. Until the actress informed her opponent, who confronted De Pauw about his behavior. And that helped. For a bit. A few months later, towards the end of the evening, her phone started vibrating again. De Pauw wrote: “I would love to fuck you.” And, when he concluded from her silence that she did not share that wish: “Maybe take it as a compliment?”
In 2017, Henrard filed a complaint about De Pauw with the Flemish broadcaster VRT, due to inappropriate behavior. She wasn’t the only one. Thirteen women eventually went to court with similar stories. Eight of them told their stories in the three-part documentary series The process that no one wantedthe first episode of which was broadcast on Wednesday evening by VRT Canvas.
It revealed in rare detail the patterns in which this type of abuse of power can proceed, and how large and complex its impact is on the victims. They were ashamed that they had not said ‘stop’ (even) earlier and more clearly when their employer had started his message bombardment. De Pauw had made them feel guilty that they found it difficult to shake off. It was he who had been wrong, they knew that – and yet the self-reproach always remained: what could I have done differently? Henrard no longer wore dresses or skirts to work these days, she said. Because she never wanted to feel like she had instigated something herself again.
It goes on and on
The media world now seems to be eagerly looking for ways to combat border crossing. The NPO published an action plan yesterday, and many media companies offer their employees a (mandatory) online course on respectful collaboration. Although it does not inspire much confidence when some of those employees openly reject such an initiative. “If the management is smart, they will forget to send me that thing,” Johan Derksen emphasized Today Inside (Talpa). “I have been engaging in transgressive behavior for forty years,” René van der Gijp added. “I have no intention of stopping that for the next five years.”
The theme of ‘controversial men’ started to dominate on Wednesday. The party continued on NPO2, because Tijl Beckand (not controversial) was still following in the footsteps of Richard Wagner (but controversial). In this fourth episode – ‘The Idol’ – Beckand had arrived at the part of Wagner’s life in which he found a great fan and donor in the Bavarian King Ludwig II. The composer visited Ludwig’s castles and then traveled to Munich, where he felt like a megalomaniac and made it a hobby to insult powerful figures. The king loved him, so what could happen to him?
For example, the controversial men featured on Wednesday evening often seemed to think they were untouchable. After all, they had worked their way to the top with their contributions to the field of art and culture: Wagner had his groundbreaking music, De Pauw had his acclaimed roles and screenplays, and the men of Today Inside, they have… um… well. They simply still have a course to complete.
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