We remembered his weighty gesticulating hands. Knotted the word ‘counter’ in our ears, recycled it scornfully in our jokes. (“Aww, shall I set up a counter for you?” I heard someone say in the market). Furthermore, after the notorious BOOS interview, people proceeded en masse to the understandable, indignant conclusion: John de Mol places the responsibility for transgressive behavior on women. What else could we think? Had he not sometimes said, “If no one says anything, we can do nothing”?
Yet more was discussed in the conversation than these painful sound bites, which we will probably see again in a retrospective program à la Do you remember the twenties. One of the main topics of discussion was the difference, suggested by De Mol, between actual power and the perception of power by others. Now the world has other things on its mind, but I think we should talk about it anyway.
BOOS presenter Tim Hofman asked De Mol whether band leader of The Voice Jeroen Rietbergen had a dominant position due to his prestige, not least as a relative of the De Mollen. The paterfamilias, John, thoughtfully: “He had prestige, but I don’t think he is in a position of power.” De Mol stated that Rietbergen had no influence on how the candidates would fare in the talent show. “But of course anyone can usurp a position of power in contact with third parties that he does not have.” But is power really something you appropriate, or does it sometimes just happen to you – like it or not?
Also read: It’s hard to say no to the man who is going to discuss your book
Not made of concrete
It reminded me of something. Once upon a time, there was a literary critic who sent private messages to female writers at night. Sometimes he told them he was reviewing them, sometimes he invited them over for dinner. The court that examined his dismissal more closely ruled that the reviewer had underestimated the impact of his behavior.
But the court also ruled that he had not abused his position and had not violated integrity standards. That one of those standards stuck in my head for a while. Because the point with standards is that they are not made of concrete. Sometimes we decide they need a change. (Which version of the standard we then use as a benchmark in court or at the coffee machine is another important issue.)
At the time, one female author noted: “You think, how can I reject inappropriate attention without harming my work?” Whether someone of influence and prestige chooses to actually use their power to lure someone for a candlelit dinner is not the most interesting question.
A better question is whether they see that they have that power—willingly or unwillingly, in their own eyes or that of others—and what they do or don’t do with it.
Perhaps power is to the powerful what money is to the rich: something that someone else always has more of. Not something we are quick to think: I should critically examine that within myself. In Sander and the Gorge, the VPRO program in which presenter Sander Schimmelpenninck investigates inequality of opportunity, we could see the uneasy grin of box-3 profiteers. The grin that says: “Yeah, wait a minute, I’m certainly warm, but I’m not rich, am I?” That’s how people with power think: I may have some influence, but really no power. They don’t realize that the perception of power is power.
Madeleijn van den Nieuwenhuizen will receive her PhD in New York on a legal history theme and manages @zeikschrift, an Instagram account for media criticism. She writes a column here every other week.
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