MovieChat Forums > Silk (2011) Discussion > Billy's sexual harrassment *SPOILERS*

Billy's sexual harrassment SPOILERS

posted 9 years ago by morrataxco
3 replies | jump to latest

Due to Billy's illness, he says he can no longer perform sexually, so Martha agreed to defend him after initially criticising his words and actions towards Amy. The understanding seeming to be a simplistic, "How can a man that can't get an erection sexually harass anyone?"

However, immediately prior to touching Amy's leg in the pub and saying that he could help her get taken on if she "did something for [him]", his doctor asked him if had tried any sexual activity/tried to achieve an erection and Billy said something along the lines of being "scared to try". I saw his pub performance and subsequent drink-function aggression towards Amy as a means of seeing whether anything down there was functioning at all.

I felt very uncomfortable when Jake's friend said that she hadn't seen sexual harassment but the actions of a dying man... blah blah blah.

So, because he is dying, that made his actions excusable? A dying man trying to regain his lost sense of manliness by exploiting a young woman is somehow OK because his goal was to see if he could get an erection rather than coerce her into having sex with him? He also referred to Amy as "Miss Saigon" - without any of the other characters passing comment - so he clearly doesn't respect her.

Of course, legally, rape can be done with an object other than a penis, so I don't see why Martha was so quick to defend him just because he said he cannot get an erection. I know the matter was not rape, but sexual harassment, but it all made me feel very uncomfortable. Would someone paralysed from the chest down not be guilty of sexual harassment if they made suggestive comments or used their hands?

If Billy had some other motive - ie help me to get Martha elected head of chambers and I'll help you - why would he need to touch her leg and why would he act aggressively to her at the party when she had already spurned his intended/unintended advances at the pub? He would have realised she'd got the wrong end of the stick and probably made some comment like, "I'm not interested in you in that way. Anyway, you aint my type, Love!"

It seemed to me that, on finding out about his disease, all of the Shoe Lane staff felt sorry for Billy so just decided to overlook the harassment of a junior member of staff. It all seemed a bit 1970's, I was half expecting Martha to ask Amy, "Did your choice of skirt expose your knees in the pub? Did you not think about the consequences of going to the pub on your own with a man?"

[–] kuntext 8 years ago

I understand your point of view but... Billy only looked like he was sexually harassing Amy rather than actually sexually harassing her.

Billy's character had been developed enough by then for the audience to see that he lives inside of his role as head clerk. When he said, "I'm not a man!" he meant that.

When he said to Amy that he was going to show her how the real world works... that if she did something for him then he would do something for her... there is nothing in those words which suggest the "something" is a sexual thing. That's more an assumption based on societal progress surrounding sexual politics.

Once Billy heard of her experience of the encounters, he should have done his job and said something to address and clarify her uncomfortable work environment. Like, directly denying he was interested in her at all and that he was actually referring to "quid pro quo" - which was true.

His entire job is based on his skill at wooing others to do what he wants them to do and he's far older than Amy, so it's understandable that she reacted as she did, and it is also understandable that he failed to see the gravity of her objections simply because he's from a time when his touching others was acceptable.

What tips the scales here, for me, is not that he is dying but rather the character of Billy himself. He does not treat women as objects, as inferiors or as sex objects. The only time he was on the edge of doing that was when Martha first became pregnant and he noticed her nausea, exhaustion and vomiting, so he rearranged her schedule to lighten her load. This may be seen as paternalistic interference except that he was very nurturing towards ALL of his team's needs.

At no point was Billy threatening Amy's career if she did not perform sexual acts for him. Touching her leg was politically incorrect and in some places may also be a criminal act, but in practice, some people touch others a lot while others don't touch at all. The touchy types include Billy. He touched everyone regularly. It's a part of how he kept that set glued together.

Sexual harassment fits the character of Clive better because he treats women as play things despite knowing how he is damaging their careers - the Natalie Dormer character, for example.

Susan, "but I was thinking..." Leo, "STOP! Thinking is for losers!" - Scandal's satirical message.

[–] davedave11 8 years ago

impotence does not prevent sexual harassment which can be done verbally and with the hands

[–] kuntext 8 years ago

impotence does not prevent sexual harassment which can be done verbally and with the hands

This came up as a reply to me but it simply reiterates what I wrote. Did you mean to reply to the OP? If not, could you quote my post and connect it to your reply, please? Confusing.

Susan, "but I was thinking..." Leo, "STOP! Thinking is for losers!" - Scandal's satirical message.