Cranston should just shut the fuck up lol. I mean the "idea" of forgiveness is good but in this climate when were just now finally giving due to accusations of abuse it's not time yet to forgive these assholes. Maybe in ten years revisit it Walt :/
I have had one or two male friends on my Facebook list come forward since the Weinstein story broke, and following the flood of other industry stories, to say that they regretted the way they had behaved with women in their own past. They weren't talking about anything near as serious as the things Weinstein or Spacey were accused of, but they had read these stories, read the accounts of the women and men involved and realised that some of the things that they themselves had done had been unacceptable and they felt compelled to talk about it and take responsibility for it. I can't speak for them, but I think that the prospect of some kind of forgiveness - or even just the opportunity to publicly admit to these things - played at least some part in their decision to be honest.
It is vital that victims are given the platform to have their voices heard and they should be the main focus of the public conversation, but having some voices saying that there is at least a
chance that
some of the people who have been accused could redeem themselves or eventually be forgiven is important too, I think - we want to encourage people to reflect on their own assumptions and behaviours and to be honest and open about what they've done wrong if we want to change the culture that let people like Weinstein and Spacey thrive for so long, and if the public conversation is all pitchforks and no-quarter then there is little incentive for the many more who have low-level toxic attitudes or shitty behaviours to come forward.
To be absolutely clear: I think men like Spacey and Weinstein have shown themselves to be predatory, abusive and criminal and I personally can't imagine either of them doing enough to redeem themselves, but I'm not going to condemn someone who can imagine that, and I hope that having at least some voices saying that there might be the prospect of redemption and forgiveness for shits like them might encourage the people I do consider having the ability to redeem themselves to come forward, rather than hide away.