I'm not done talking about Harvey Weinstein. (The man is just such a goldmine of perfect examples.)

We've talked about what he did wrong. (Mistook situational leverage for SMV.)

And we've talked why what drove him to do it. (Used pussy to stroke his ego, instead of just his johnson.)

But now we come to the question of why everyone in Hollywood sheltered him, then suddenly turned on him, when they knew all along what he was doing.

To understand the answer, we have to understand a couple of facts, and think about them all at the same time, in relation to each other.

  • The vast majority of those women were not raped. That wasn't rape. They chose to suck his cock, even if they went home and took six showers and then knelt on the bathroom floor alternately puking and crying.

  • The ones who he grabbed who didn't give in still shut up about it.

  • All the women who are now accusing him of rape and harassment, are all doing so at the same time. A few did, then the others followed in a cascade.

  • Pretty much everyone in Hollywood knew what was going on.

  • Hollywood is in the illusion business. To make money, they need people to believe, or suspend disbelief in, certain illusions.

  • Beginning on 31 Aug 2014, and over the next few weeks, in an event that would be jokingly labelled "the Fappening", an unknown person or persons leaked naked selfies of a bunch of celebrity actresses.

  • The response to this was widespread outrage, ostensibly over their privacy.

  • Celebrity actresses frequently get naked on camera on purpose, and this boosts boxoffice draw.

  • In professional wrestling, the term "kayfabe" refers to the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not of a staged or predetermined nature of any kind. Kayfabe has also evolved to become a code word of sorts for maintaining this "reality" within the direct or indirect presence of the general public.

Now we know everything we need to know.

Kayfabe is how Hollywood makes its money. Kayfabe is why no one said anything about Harv for decades, and kayfabe is why they are calling him a rapist now. Kayfabe is why Hollywood was angry about the "Fappening", and kayfabe is why Hollywood actresses get naked on camera at a specific point in their careers, never too early. Kayfabe is why Hollywood stars talk endlessly about how wonderful and amazing and talented the people they just worked with are, and kayfabe is why they got together at big televised ceremonies and give each other trophies for making dull original movies that you went and saw because you were bored and forgot the plot of within the next two days.

So what is Hollywood's kayfabe, exactly?

Hollywood's kayfabe is the collectively-sustained illusion that Hollywood stars are prettier, more exciting, more interesting, larger-than-life people who are special. If you believe this, you will pay more money to see and hear them, and to see and hear about them.

What is the reality that the kayfabe hides?

Hollywood stars are just a bunch of theatre nerds who have been selected for above-average looks and whoever gave ol' Harv the best handjob.

The only special people in Hollywood are the very expert professional makeup and lighting and sound and production folks who are very, very good at taking your average 7.5 - 9 and making her look ethereally beautiful on camera.

The woman in the second two pictures doesn't exist. She is the highlight reel from a makeover shoot by the best illusionists in the world. She is every bit as fake as if she had been constructed entirely from computer graphics. In the future, she might be. Kayfabe.

Hollywood wants you to believe in her.

The "Fappening" was an outrage not because involuntary porn, but because it revealed that celebrity-actresses don't really look any better than the hot secretary at the local car dealership. And that the girls themselves aren't special, either... just another bunch of dumb sexting instagram hoes. Kayfabe.

Harvey was protected before for precisely the same reason he is being thrown under a bus now... to sustain the illusion that these girls were selected for their extraordinary beauty and talent, as opposed to at random (or by casting couch) from a vast pool of relatively ordinary beauty and talent. Kayfabe.

Hollywood talks about how wonderful each other are, and give each other awards for doing their jobs, to make you believe that they are wonderful, and that their jobs are important and meaningful. Kayfabe.

So is kayfabe limited to Hollywood?

Of course not... other groups have their own kayfabe which helps them succeed.

Ever hear a physician criticize another physician in public? You won't. Some idiot could amputate the wrong leg and others of his guild will rush to defend him.

Why? Because closing ranks prevents public contradictions to the perception that physicians are the most highly trained and competent of professionals and deserve to be the only ones called doctor (as if PhDs didn't exist), as opposed to a mixed bag of ordinary dudes doing jobs that require recognizing the same things over and over again, and doing the same things over and over again.

The navy's SEAL teams have amazing kayfabe. They have practically everyone believing they are invincible-warrior-ninja-philosopher-batman, as opposed to high-selected light infantry who have had a lot more money spent on training them.

Why?

Well, how else do you get to cash in when you EAS? How else do you charge premium rates for "management consulting", as if killing muj had anything in common with manufacturing pipe fittings. How else do take one single idea that's obvious to anyone that isn't an idiot, pad it like a procrastinating undergrad into an entire book, and make the bestseller list?

So what happens with groups that don't have a kayfabe? That don't control their image?

Have a look at software engineers.

Unlike physicians, or actors, they have no group loyalty, and will ruthlessly criticize the slightest shortcoming in their fellow professionals' work, right in front of the public, calling them idiots and incompetents and whatever else comes to mind. Go read some Linus Torvalds posts to see what I mean.

Now, the vast majority of experienced ones are actually very good, having been ruthlessly subjected to this gladiatorial pit for the entirety of their careers. However, the public regards them as a bunch of high-paid manchildren who just seem to keep generating bugs (and never noticing when they swipe a credit card, send an email message, punch up satnav, or turn the lights on, and shit just works).

Because they have selected ruthless quality control over kayfabe, their public repute is lower than their real world competence. For groups with good kayfabe, the reverse is true.

Lessons

  • It is often good to exercise kayfabe, but never beneficial to be fooled by it. Be very careful what you take from anything deliberately presented for your consumption.

  • If a group is held in high repute, instead of automatically admiring them, ask yourself if kayfabe might be active. See if you can discern what it is.

  • People are more often thrown under a bus for breaking kayfabe than for doing something wrong. Learn to spot that guy, and how not to be him.

Further thought

  • Consider how the concept of kayfabe applies both to Donald Trump, and to the politicians who organize resistance against him.

  • Consider how the concept of kayfabe applies to the collective behaviour of women. And of men.