62 pages • 2-hour read
Catch and Kill
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Themes
The Guilt and Shame of Individuals Affected by Sexual Abuse
A key theme in Catch and Kill is the way in which guilt and shame weigh heavily on those most affected by sexual abuse while not affecting those who perpetrate the abuse. The survivors speak to Farrow and describe their feeling that they should have done more to avert the abuse, that they should have fought back harder, or that they should have spoken up sooner. These people have often been bullied, intimidated, abused, and harassed to the point where they are made to feel at fault for having suffered abuse. Even the survivors who are aware of the absurd nature of this predicament cannot completely get rid of the guilt and the shame they feel for their actions. They confess to Farrow that they feel they should have done more, even though they know how powerful and intimidating men like Weinstein can be. Farrow’s role is to illustrate the complicated institutional nature of the abuse and to show the survivors that the guilt and shame they feel is constructed and used to silence them.
Farrow also has to deal with his own guilt and shame. His sister is a character in the book. and she has accused their father of sexually abusing her when she was a young girl. Farrow has supported his sister in the years since, but he knows that his support has wavered. Even when his sister attempted to commit suicide or was brought to tears by her experiences, he did not offer her his complete support. Farrow feels guilty that he did not support Dylan through some of the most difficult times in her life. Thus, part of his motivation for pursuing the story so doggedly is to atone for the shame he feels. Farrow hopes that helping other survivors will allow him to atone for his past failures.
While the survivors and the people investigating the abuse all feel varying degrees of guilt and shame these emotions are not shared by the abusers. Men like Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer offer no contrition or apology for their behavior. Weinstein frequently claims that his behavior is normal or a relic of the past. The notion of feeling guilt or shame about the damage he has done never crosses his mind. The exception is the private detective Igor Ostrovskiy. The Prologue and the Epilogue tell the story of Ostrovskiy’s redemption. He refuses to be part of a corrupt operation and feels too ashamed and guilty to continue working for men like Harvey Weinstein. Ostrovskiy’s redemption provides a glimmer of hope that even powerful men might one day try to make amends for past misdeeds.
The Patterns of Sexual Abuse
Catch and Kill portrays how sexual predators exploit the system to ensure that they continue to get away with their abusive behavior. The way in which these abusers operate becomes a key theme as their patterns of behavior are often so predictable and routine. Harvey Weinstein has a favorite method to harass women. He arranges for a meeting, switches the location to his hotel room at the last moment, and then waits for the woman to be alone with him. Then he demands a massage or demands that they shower with him. His pattern of behavior after the abuse is also familiar. He threatens people’s careers, intimidates their families, and sets legal and bureaucratic traps which make it impossible for survivors to tell the press what is happening. Weinstein’s behavior as a sexual predator emerges as a theme because he follows the same routine for so long and therefore believes he is unstoppable. Farrow uncovers story after story which follow this pattern. The repetition of abusive behavior reveals the extent to which Weinstein knew how to commit crimes and knew how to get away with committing crimes. The theme of sexual predators reveals just how common and routine this kind of behavior was for these men.
Matt Lauer’s behavior also touches on the patterns of sexual predation. While Lauer spends most of the first part of the book as a distant but respected figure at NBC, Farrow drops hints about what is to come. Lauer is said to have a button on his desk which shuts the door from the inside and locks people in his office. He dismisses claims of sexual abuse and seems disinterested in bringing such claims to light. Lauer’s abusive behavior is hidden in plain sight as sexual predators operate inside the same buildings where people are trying to expose them. Lauer works at NBC at the same time that Farrow endeavors to uncover similar behavior by other men. Sexual predators operate in many workplaces, and their efforts to silence the people they abuse often ensures that they are able to prey on women in plain sight.
Lauer’s behavior and the information Farrow receives from countless sources makes him realize that there are sexual predators in many different organizations. Farrow includes references to contemporary sexual abuse scandals in the world of politics or at other networks like Fox News and ABC. These stories constantly unfold in the background, and the Weinstein investigation is part of a much larger expose.
Institutional Failures to Address Sexual Abuse
Part of the reason why men like Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer are able to avoid retribution for their abuse for so long is due to the institutional failures portrayed in Catch and Kill. Numerous institutions repeatedly fail the survivors of abuse and successfully collude with abusers to maintain good public relations and avoid scandal.
One of the worst and most hypocritical perpetrators of this institutional failure is NBC. The news network at first encourages Farrow’s investigations, but as the matter becomes more serious he is told to pause all reporting. As the network senses the storm brewing behind the scenes, Farrow points out that many of the people with the authority to suppress the story have themselves been accused of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. The story develops to the point where Farrow has credible evidence of Weinstein’s abuse, but NBC refuses to publish the story because it will reveal their own hypocrisy. They try to suppress the story as gently as possible but create a second scandal which erupts once the story breaks. Their failure to address sexual harassment and to report on sexual abuse are two distinct scandals which become a joint public relations nightmare for the institution and which expose their key failings. NBC fails to protect survivors, fails in its duty to report important stories, and fails in its attempt to address the matter internally. Farrow eventually abandons the network when he realizes that he cannot continue to work there in good faith. The institution fails so spectacularly that he sees them as beyond redemption.
NBC is only the most obvious example of an institutional failure to protect survivors of sexual abuse. Farrow also uncovers a pattern of failure at government institutions. The police and the district attorney’s office both work with men like Weinstein to suppress certain stories. Often this takes the form of failing to acknowledge the abusers’ attempts to discredit survivors. Weinstein smears Ambra Gutierrez’s name to such an extent that the authorities cannot continue with an investigation, even though they have recordings of Weinstein admitting to abuse. They dismiss the case and therefore fail as an institution. The authorities fail to protect the people who have suffered at the hands of men like Weinstein, and they fail to punish the abusers even when there is plenty of evidence. The institutional failure of these bodies is important because it permits the abusers to continue their behavior.
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