Spacey Unmasked

Before I discuss my thoughts on this two part docu-series, I must state right now that the subject matter detailed here are not easy for anyone to bare witness. If you happen to be a victim of sexual misconduct in any way, it's perhaps better to avoid this series as it chronicles numerous people within the entertainment industry who were assaulted by former acting legend Kevin Spacey. You have every right to not watch this series and anything depicted should be advised through viewer discretion.

Now with that said, where this documentary series succeeds the most in is bringing new insight into many men who were victimized and horribly mistreated by Spacey through sexual desires. Considering that Spacey himself turned out to be a self-loathing homosexual man, the many interviewees shown in the documentary make enough account into how much Spacey's horrendous actions could have stemmed from internalized anger based on what he was. While it does not excuse anything he did, Spacey's growing career seemed like a good coping mechanism to hide away from his traumatic upbringing. The numerous stories chronicled from the people who Spacey mistreated, his own family members and other journalists paint an interesting light into how much made and broke the actor both in terms of ego and reputation.

That being said, as this series is only two episodes long, it feels a little underdeveloped as far as detailing anything interesting beyond the mere allegations and some of Spacey's already spoken about childhood. Because both episodes focus more on the men who Spacey took advantage of, the moments where Spacey's older brother Randy recollects the abuse he endured from their father and certain details like Spacey's ongoing court trials following his MeToo exposure don't feel as intuitive as they should be. Perhaps one or two more episodes could have been made to go over just how much the trials affected Spacey's washed up career, that way we could gain more insight into how the actor felt following these accusations beyond what the general media thought otherwise. Some more anecdotes might have benefited this series in the long run.

Regardless of the flaws, I would still recommend this to anyone who doesn't know much about how appalling of a human being Kevin Spacey was during his career, and arguably now. It's one thing to coast through your life trying to cope with your internalized hatred and loathing, but to take it out on others is never ok and this series at least had the insight to demonstrate that in an unsentimental yet convincing manner. Enter with caution but remember that it's worth it for at least some of the anecdotal information.

If the accounts are correct and to be believed it would apear that Spacey may well have sexually harassed individuals . However the problem with this documenttary isn't that it hasn't been well researched nor is it lacking apparently credible victims and witnesses , its more the fact that its the same old same old . By that I mean it doesn't provide anything new , I feel heartily sorry for the alleged victims but it's the same "news" repeated over and over. Cathartic for them.

But for the viewer it plods along and doesn't do much more than support theories and ideas about Spacey we've heard before and and accepted .

To be fair the insight of his childhood was interesting as was the interview with his brother although that was a little inconclusive.

This documentary is media court taken too far. Now that i watched Kevin Spacey on Pierce Morgan i believe the filmmakers owe it to themselves to watch it as well. Many of the subjects here said they were molested by Kevin yet Kevin Spacey showed emails and photos of a person who claimed he was molested who kept sending Kevin nudes and continued communications w him after the alleged occurrence. His brother, who talks as if he has a relationship w Kevin has been dismissed by him having claimed to not have been in contact w his brother for over 30 yrs. Brother leaving the house by age 17 and Kevin a few years later at age 19. Yet the brother speaks as if they've maintained some kind of relationship. Kevin says in his Pierce Morgan interview that he knows the Uber driver who drive him to the interview more than his brother who apparently both have been estranged from each other for over 30 years. So what are we doing here? Who are these people who claimed to have been molested yet sends nude pictures to Kevin after the occurrence. What's going on here? Did these people interviewed get paid? Kevin would like to know as well. Have more questions? So do I. The man was found not guilty in civil and criminal court. The very first thing you should have done is open the documentary w that very insignificant (being sarcastic here) piece of information? Because i myself saw this doc weeks before I saw the Pierce Morgan interview and had no idea he was cleared both in civil and criminal court. . Maybe the filmmakers should watch it as well and update their documentary for accuracy purposes as needed because after watching this doc and his interview i have some major credibility issues about this doc. No one is claiming Spaxey is a saint - neither does he, but this documentary is another step on holding this man to account when he's been cleared by the couets. Most people I'm almost certain are unaware of this making this situation an absolute travesty!

I don't know why I watched Spacey Unmasked. If you've been assaulted, go to the police. Blatant hit jobs like this can dilute honest advocacy to promote safety in the world. Is the goal to cancel Kevin Spacey for being a sexual miscreant-deviant-creep? Has he not already been cancelled 1000 times over? Has his career not fallen off a cliff since House of Cards? I'd be shocked if he managed to ever book another major role, forget about matching his past success. I also found this series to be unwatchable since the sources are mostly actors themselves. I can't get out of my head that even they could be reading lines on behalf of a personal nemesis of Spacey's. This is Hollywood, after all. I know they're not donating the profits to charity.

Sexual misconduct is serious. Go to the POLICE. Don't go peddling your story to HBO or the National Enquirer or some other tabloid in the hopes of making a buck. And this isn't to defend alleged predators like Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, Woody Allen, Michael Jackson or anyone else. Far from it. These documentaries exploit a legitimate problem in society. They're more to give audiences the illusion that we're doing something by watching, rather than being actual campaigns that lead to justice for victims. If you truly want to help the cause, volunteer; donate to NGOs in the protection sector; support bills that clamp down on abuse at home, at school and in the workplace; etc. Nobody qualifies as an "ally" just because they produced/watched juicy gossip about Oscar winners on Max.

It frightens me that we live in a world, where "journalism" of this kind, is becoming the norm. Zero accountability. Zero balance. Zero duty of care. The producers were no doubt banking on Spacey being convicted when they first pitched the idea to the execs. We now know that Spacey was cleared of any criminal activity, and a show that was probably intended to be an exposè, showing that his "offences" went far deeper than we could ever imagine, is nothing more than exploitation of a group of men, who each have their own truths regarding their encounters with Spacey, but we will never know which one of their stories were true recollections or like those in the criminal cases (misrecollecrions at best, lies at worst), and we certainly will never get a counterpoint from Spacey or indeed anyone else to corroborate or contest the accounts in the show. I don't even blame the producers, it's the fault of the Channel 4 commissioning editors, chasing exploitative stories that get clicks and eyeballs online. Whether you find the men's stories credible, is not the question that needs answered, it's whether you can trust a production that manipulates the audience so blatantly, cutting the interviews to create tension and drama, and not giving an innocent man a right to reply (according to Spacey himself, he was only sent an abbreviated transcript, with no names, pictures and little or no context). And why wouldn't the police investigate the men's claims, in the UK they certainly have the power to investigate concerns Channel 4 execs may have had that crimes had been committed, yet no investigations were made, suggesting Channel 4 didn't truly belive the men, showing total disregard for their mental health in pursuit of ratings. I gave it 3, not 1 out of 10 because the interview sets were well dressed and lit... but everything else was an exploitative mess, the Channel 4 I used to know and love is a wreck that should be broken up and sold for parts!