Catch and Kill

Harvey Weinstein is a movie producer and Hollywood executive with a long history of sexually abusive behavior. Catch and Kill tells the story of how the survivors of Weinstein’s abuse were finally able to come forward after years of being aggressively silenced by lawyers, the media, and other institutions.

Weinstein’s role in the book is to be the antagonist and the target. Farrow focuses his investigation on Weinstein, but Weinstein rarely appears in person. The glimpses of Weinstein come from phone calls, television interviews, newspaper articles, and survivors’ harrowing stories of how he abused them. Though kept away from the narrative, Weinstein he looms over everything. The shadow of his abusive behavior is long and ever present. People talk about him in hushed tones, refuse to attach their name to anecdotes, and live in fear of Weinstein’s aggressive reprisals should he discover that they spoke to the press about him. This fear is justified. Weinstein screams, shouts, abuses, and terrifies people. He hires private intelligence firms to research and intimidate anyone who might stand in his way. The book portrays Weinstein as a terrifying media mogul who does exactly as he pleases. Because Weinstein remains on the periphery of the narrative, his presence is even more intimidating. Even when Weinstein is not present, his spies and his corroding influence are keenly felt. One victim tries to confide in her therapist about Weinstein raping her, only to discover that the therapist and Weinstein are business partners. There is no way to escape Weinstein’s monstrous presence.

Weinstein’s downfall is not inevitable. The years he spent dodging reprisal for his actions means that his lawyers and his army of private detectives make him a formidable foe. Weinstein almost succeeds in crushing the investigation at NBC, but the report slips through to The New Yorker. Weinstein’s eventual arrest is satisfying because he abused people without recrimination for years and tried to delay the investigation into his crimes. His decades of abuse are finally broken down, and he becomes one of the first and most important dominos to fall in a sweeping cultural change. Farrow’s success in finally publishing the reports of Weinstein’s abusive behavior is presented as a narrative triumph. The climax of the story is Weinstein’s downfall, and the collapse of the Weinstein empire is earned through the sheer difficulty experienced in bringing the story of his behavior to the public.

Rose McGowan is an American actress and a key figure in the downfall of Harvey Weinstein. She is strong, determined, and traumatized by the man who abused her many years before. When Farrow introduces her, she is at a point where she is no longer happy to sit by and watch Weinstein continue his abusive behavior. McGowan’s statements on social media help to instigate interest in the open secret that is Weinstein’s abusive behavior. She alludes to his abuse and harassment online and then talks to journalists and publishers afterward. She spends a long time talking to Farrow, but years of trying and failing to tell the story have made her cynical. She warns Farrow that people will try to suppress the story just like they have always done. McGowan is proved right and her cynicism is justified.

By the end of the book, she congratulates Farrow for eventually publishing the story. Both McGowan and Farrow play essential roles in bringing down Weinstein but the toll taken on McGowan is a debt that can never be repaid. Her strength and determination are evident in the decades she spends trying to eradicate sexual abuse in Hollywood, even when she knows that her every attempt will be stifled. For all of McGowan’s justified cynicism, she never gives up and eventually is rewarded with something close to justice. 

Matt Lauer plays the role of a secondary antagonist in Catch and Kill. Whereas Harvey Weinstein is the primary focus of the investigation into sexual abuse in the entertainment industry, Lauer plays a key role in demonstrating how pervasive and corroding this behavior can be. Farrow begins his investigation working at NBC. The news network is one of the most respected in America, and part of that respect comes from the familiar face of Matt Lauer. Lauer is a credible and famous journalist whose name is associated with sincerity and honest reporting. When NBC attempts to kill Farrow’s investigation, Farrow alludes to his journalistic ideals when deciding to move forward, and part of these ideals are informed by Matt Lauer. In the book, Lauer represents the illusion of journalistic integrity at NBC. The irony of Farrow’s stunted investigation is that one of NBC’s most famous figures is himself an abuser. Lauer’s abusive behavior illustrates that the failure to report on sexual abuse is, in part, due to the pervasive nature of the issue. Media outlets like NBC, which is dogged by the misconduct of its own journalists, are complicit in perpetrating and silencing stories of sexual abuse. Lauer’s downfall demonstrates the extent to which the media itself has failed the survivors and the society as a whole. 

Rich McHugh is a producer at NBC who works closely with Farrow in the initial stages of the Weinstein investigation. McHugh’s role is to facilitate interviews, help with research, and generally support and guide Farrow through the process. They function as a team and their portfolio of work reveals their talent. McHugh is just as driven by the morals of the situation, and he resents being told to pause reporting when the management at NBC tries to delay the story. He is more willing to circumvent the rules and take risks than Farrow. McHugh creates secret folders and shares videos in ways that place his job at risk. Unlike Farrow, McHugh has a young family to support and little name recognition outside of the industry.

Although they are both journalists, Farrow is a relatively famous television personality while McHugh plays a background role. This difference means that the stakes for McHugh are much higher. He is in genuine danger of losing the job he worked his whole life to attain, as he has far less bargaining power when combating the NBC executives. While Farrow can take his story to The New Yorker, McHugh is stuck at NBC. His name does not appear on the byline when the story is eventually published. McHugh is the unsung hero of Catch and Kill and one of the moral centers of the book. His sincerity, honesty, and professionalism guide the investigation and provide a course to follow even when he is not working on the story.