ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the extent to which #MeToo documentaries on celebrity male abusers work to advance public understandings of gender-based and sexual violence. Through discussion of a selection of US documentaries released post-2017, including Surviving R. Kelly and Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning; At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal ; Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein ; Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich Athlete A (v; On the Record ); and Allen v. Farrow the chapter argues for the value of #MeToo documentaries as an important true crime subgenre. However, the process of critically intervening in rape culture is not clear cut and a key challenge for #MeToo documentaries is how to tell stories about violent men and the institutions that enable them, without reproducing myths about monsters and “bad apples”. Exploring the potential, as well as the limits, of #MeToo documentaries, the chapter explores a range of issues including the role of victim-survivor testimony, the presentation of carceral punishment as justice, and the significance of intersectional approaches.
