Ever wonder what it really looks like? The harassment I mean.
Screenwriter and director Sigal Avin knows how it looks. Unfortunately, she knows how it feels too, and she thought it was about time someone actually aired it on screen so we were all aware that yes, that’s harassment. It may look innocent at times, it may even feel innocent at times, but let's not make any mistakes, that’s harassment. And yes, it can happen to men too.
Avin created short online episodes based on real life scenarios in the hopes of attaching visual representations to what sexual harassment looks like. She started the project with 5 episodes in Israel, where she filmed well-known actors (all on a volunteer basis) in scenes from different work place environments to illustrate what happens when the thin but so thick line is crossed. Welcome to the real world.
Now, Avin is doing it the American way with a six episode American version that features stars like David Schwimmer (also an executive producer on the project) , Cynthia Nixon, Emmy Rossum, Cristela Alonzo and more. The project, produced by Milk studios and David Schwimmer, features a doctor and a patient, a boss and a secretary, an actor and a wardrobe assistant, a politician and a journalist, a photographer and a model and coworkers, all doing the exact same thing. Doing their thing, whatever it is. Until something GOES WRONG. Something does not feel right anymore. That moment, that subtle moment needs to be acknowledged.
These 5 short online episodes may cause arguments. Some will say, “that’s not harassment, he barely touched her,” or “that’s not harassment, she can say no at any point.” That’s exactly why we need to take a close look at these videos and understand that this is exactly that thin-thick line that is very clearly the line of harassment. This is inappropriate.