A great many things have changed since my youth, but some things, regrettably, remain unchanged. This was brought home to me at a recent local performance of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni. For those of you who are not familiar with this piece of music, it is the story of a rich, titled libertine who tries to seduce every woman who crosses his path. As with all Mozart operas, there is beautiful music, demanding singing, comedy relief and a sharp eye for the human condition.
What struck me as the plot unfolded, however, was its similarity to a more modern story line that took place in the very recent past. We have the powerful man, the sycophants around him who know what is going on and do nothing, the lone woman who risks her reputation to uncover his crimes, and the final terrible reckoning. The only things that have changed are the man’s source of power, the root of the women’s fear, and the final result. While Don Giovanni’s power relied on his appearance as a gentleman along with his wealth and title, the carrot that he dangled before the women he met was not career enhancement or, conversely, career destruction, but marriage which was the female coin of the day.
While Mozart wrote his opera in 1787, the parallels with the recent reckoning for Mr. Weinsten are basically unchanged in the ensuing 200 plus years. And while Don Giovanni is confronted by a ghost and dragged off to eternal punishment in hell with a great deal of excited singing, Mr. Weinstein was forced into court, his actions against women uncovered, and his position as a powerful man ruined as he was found guilty with much excited press coverage.
The final lines of the opera, sung by the sextet of the triumphant victims, are “This is the end which befalls evildoers. And in this life scoundrels always receive their just deserts!” If only this were always true, but we do have Don Weinstein as a hopeful example.
