(Check out Chris Reed’s Ask E. Jean movie review, it’s in theaters now. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
Crime should not pay, at least not for the criminal. Those found guilty in a court of law must face the judicial music, no matter who they are. Just ask E. Jean Carroll.
In fact, you don’t have to go to her directly, thanks to Ivy Meeropol’s new documentary, conveniently titled Ask E. Jean. The filmmaker and subject could not hope for better timing, given the fact that the latter has just received payment (#1 of a projected 2) from her aggressor.
That would be the current occupant of the White House, one Donald J. Trump. He is now an adjudicated sexual abuser, and no one can claim otherwise. Actions, it seems, occasionally do have consequences.
Long before the 45th and 47th president was a household name outside of his native New York, E. Jean Carroll was herself the bigger star, thanks to her Elle advice column and NBC series (both also called “Ask E. Jean”). When she and he ran across each other in 1996 at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman department store, their interaction turned violent. As we now see every day from his fawning coterie of yes-men, Donald does not like being told no.
Meeropol (After the Bite) makes sure to properly set up Carroll’s biography, jumping between the present and past in ways that heighten the dramatic tension. It’s fascinating to watch Carroll grow from a self-professed “gonzo journalist” in the mold of Hunter S. Thompson into a more sober-minded advocate for women’s issues. We follow her through that journey, beginning with her high-school and college cheerleading career in Indiana (she was crowned Miss Cheerleader U.S.A. in 1964) to her rise in print news and then TV, and beyond.
This is not a hagiography. There are no two ways about it, Carroll gave unfortunate advice to both Paula Jones and Anita Hill, confident in her belief that women always had agency (she now regrets those words). It’s good that she had lived a life until then that made her think that way and profoundly sad that Trump forced this change of attitude upon her.
We learn that she has not had sex since the incident in Bergdorf Goodman. Imagine that. And then think about all the people running cover for the man at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Who are we as a nation to tolerate such behavior?
Cinematically, the movie is fairly boilerplate. Narratively, it is wholly engaging. See it and rue the day we ever elected such a person to the highest office in the land, not once but twice. Ask E. Jean all about it. She brings receipts.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
