In the mid 1950s, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev initiated the process of “De-Stalinization.” Much of this was political: Khrushchev liberalized the Stalinist political system (without, alas, dismantling it) and freed many gulag prisoners. But a big part of De-Stalinization was purely aesthetic. Stalin had constructed a massive cult of personality, and a big part of this was iconic. His image leered over the country through statues, paintings, and mosaics. Khrushchev removed many of these. The Moscow metro system—an absolute marvel, with a stunning array of beautiful stations—is a case in point. Its stations were once dominated by images of Old Joe. Khrushchev removed them.
Hollywood is now taking a tack from Khrushchev’s playbook. It’s begun a process of, shall we say, De-Spacifization. In the wake of allegations that Kevin Spacey is a sexual predator, the heretofore celebrated actor is being banished from the screen. First, he was fired from Netflix’s House of Cards television series. Now, the Hollywood studios have gone further. They’re going to completely erase Spacey from a movie he just starred in, yet which has not yet been released.
Spacey just completed filming All the Money in the World, in which he plays oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. (The movie retells the story of the 1973 kidnapping of Getty’s teenage grandson.) Spacey was heavily made up to appear older for the role. Now, it has been
announced that all of the scenes in which Spacey appeared will be reshot. This time, Christopher Plummer will take on the role of Getty. (Presumably, the 87-year-old Plummer will require less makeup to appear doddering.)
No plans have been announced to reshoot older Spacey movies—The Usual Suspects, American Beauty, Glengarry Glen Ross. At least not yet. Given that that would be an arduous process, perhaps an easier solution would be one borrowed from South Park, and studios could simply black out the screen when Spacey appears, as Comedy Central did when Trey Parker and Matt Stone used
Muhammed imagery. Similarly, it’s been rumored that old Harvey Weinstein-produced movies will have his name removed from the credits. As if doing that will un-sexually assault the dozens of women who are allegedly Weinstein’s victims.
One does marvel at who gets the Stalin treatment and who doesn’t, however. After all, Meryl Streep’s
favorite director, the convicted rapist and fugitive Roman Polanski, still enjoys a good reputation in polite society. Perhaps one day that will change, and Hollywood will commission shot-by-shot remakes of Polanski classics like Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby.
