Alison Sudol Instagram – One of the most galling things about a bully in power is that it seems like they will always win. They are pathologically driven to win; they will go to lengths no normal human being with a conscience will go to to win because they don’t have one. I mean, maybe somewhere they might, deep down, know what they’re doing is wrong, but they certainly don’t listen. Slippery, conniving, clever as a virus, they are programmed to survive and dominate. And they do it over and over and over again. And so often, no one and nothing can stop them. They are the aliens in the movie where the army shoots them full of holes and then they eat the guns (and the people wielding them). I understand the despair that comes from being caught in the web of someone like this. Until I heard the accounts of the women assaulted by, Harvey Weinstein, I didn’t understand that what I had encountered (by a different man) was sexual abuse. The initial wave of this story coming out sent shock waves through my system, and the story I had been telling myself was thrown into complete disarray. I had to pick up the pieces and try and figure out who was left. I spoke about it publicly. It was healing but extremely painful. Took a long time to settle my heart back down after being rocked like that. That was five years ago, but the weight i carried then is immeasurably lighter. I watched this film tonight and was struck by another element of this story that wasn’t as clear to me yet. It was about this kind of energy. The kind of people that demolish others around them, who take what they want, who will stop at nothing to be on top; those who seem like consequences don’t apply. There are things that seem unchangeable in the world. Bully people, bully forces. Some things feel like they will never change, they are ingrained, they are systemic, they are the winners. But nothing, nothing is impervious. The truth can prevail, if it is coupled with courage, tenacity, diligence, and passion. Change does not happen overnight, or without a massive, massive amount of dedication and guts, but it is possible. As long as we keep that in mind, no bully, no matter how unimpeachable they might seem, is safe.