Pharma Bro and the sexism #metoo didn’t solve
By: Salomea Becquerel
Tags: Journalism, Metoo, Shkreli, Love, Exploitation

All those social media warriors assigning diagnoses and unabashed judgment to Christie Smythe are doing Martin Shkreli-like men nothing but a favor

I read about the jaw-dropping ‘love’ story between a professional journalist and a professional con man Shkreli currently sitting in jail for securities fraud with both a fascination and a genuine concern. First of all, in spite of the author Stephanie Clifford insisting she was not exploitative in her approach to the story, I believe she was; perhaps subconsciously: as an experienced journalist, she must have known that Smythe will receive predominantly negative judgment and minimal compassion being portrayed as a “serial killer groupie” in a story in which she got nothing but taken advantage of. This is totally on Clifford, and while she insists on being an ‘impartial advocate’ for Smythe, the angle she chose and the absolutely terrible ‘fashion shoot’ accompanying her piece almost victimize Smythe in their own right.

While Smythe refuses the label “victim”, which I absolutely understand and I appreciate and admire her empowered position, sometimes you have to call Spade a Spade in order to keep the discussion moving: there is no question in my mind that she indeed is a victim of a masterful manipulator who used her for nothing else but to advance his own agenda, and who feels nothing but scorn and zero remorse for the shipwreck that her professional life now is; the creation of which he was largely responsible for. Yes, Smythe herself and many others will doubtlessly insist that those were her decisions, and hers only — the little, subtle choices made in a sequence that ultimately culminates in a tragedy of a complete loss of oneself accompanied by public humiliation (courtesy of her journalist ‘friend’), but pretending that his actions had nothing to do with it absolves people like Shkreli of any accountability, and that’s completely wrong.

Do you remember the story of an Italian surgeon Paolo Macchiarini who claimed to be a genius that have devised a novel tracheal transplant approach using stem cells which turned out to be nothing but a sham? I read his early work when he was whispered about in the scientific circles as the potential ‘next big thing’ because I was actively working in the cancer stem cells field at that time. Even all those years ago, it was patently clear to me that there is no way this is a legit method that will work, and I was patiently waiting for it to eventually unfold. The fact that several patients had to be harmed and die in the process shows how the system has inexcusably failed them. Scarily, the story has thought us absolutely nothing: Macchiarini is a certified con man, yet nothing has changed in the system to protect future patients from people like him.

I read with equal fascination the story of him and Benita Alexander in Vanity Fair, and it bears eerie similarities to the story of Christie Smythe and Martin Shkreli: a successful, married (!) professional journalist falls for a charming con man, ultimately leaving her career behind for him, only to realize she had been completely duped after she had bought $50,000 wedding dress and sent out $10,000 worth of lamb skin-wrapped invitations to her wedding which the Pope was supposed to officiate, and Obama and Putin were supposed to attend.

You have to agree that this dude is good; a Class A bullshitter, and I will admit that I laughed out loud when I read this, like ‘come on, nobody would fall for THAT, right?’

Well…

The reason these two stories struck a chord with me is because they both contain pieces of self- recognition. Both of these are stories of bad man who took advantage of attractive, talented and successful women who were neither stupid nor poor, yet both ended up looking as such in the end. Somehow the narrative is angled that it’s kind of their fault, their own doing, and I can assure you both Macchiarini and Shkreli are earnestly nodding their heads to this notion. The issue is, it’s not the truth, it’s a misogynist bullshit analogous to blaming a woman wearing a short skirt for a rape.

If a guy gets taken advantage of by a woman, the society will say ‘oh poor guy!’, when a woman gets taken advantage of by a man, the society will say ‘that stupid/crazy/desperate b**ch, what was she thinking!’

This is as much #metoo as is harassment in the workplace or a date rape. Everyone who is judging Christie Smythe, calling her mentally ill is a part of the very problem.

The problem is not Christie Smythe or Benita Alexander, the problem are men like Shkreli and Macchiarini who exploit women who then get blamed for THEIR transgressions (‘she must be a part of the issue’), and many more men like them who do so on a smaller scale, leaving emotional trauma or intimate trauma in the process. I’m repeating myself, but intimate partner violence is a global health problem, and cases like this only epitomize the core issue: men who shamelessly manipulate and use women without accountability.

One element patently missing from both narratives are the husbands: both of the women were married at the time they fell for the con men, and I strongly suspect that in a way, it was never about them, but really about their desire to escape an unfulfilling marriage with a knight in a shining armor, however imaginary or faulty. I would bet that there were cracks and/or some key elements missing in both of these marriages, given how conspicuously these were left out of the stories, aside the fact that Smythe set up a marriage counselling session she didn’t show up for. Shkreli or not, I doubt her marriage would not have fallen apart for a different reason/person. I suspect on some level; he may have served as an excuse to leave her marriage rather than to work on it; same for Alexander who I suspect may have thought she was ‘trading up’ in the process. Let’s not forget that Shkreli is still very wealthy, and Macchiarini was also quite about the money and status.

But does any of this make it the women’s fault? They are not bad women because they got taken advantage of by bad men! We all collect scars going through life, we all have our vulnerable spots, and some men are extremely good at picking those up and using those against women. They’re almost like gun dogs sniffing out game. How do I know? I’ve been there; I’ve had my insecurities used in order to be tricked out of both my altruism and body by a ‘mini-Shkreli’, and it was an incredibly painful lesson. I have nothing but compassion for Smythe and Alexander for this very reason, and when I was reading about the process and means that Shkreli used in order to get her to her current position, it seemed to have come from the very same playbook I was subjected to; it’s almost ridiculous. I will not pathologize Shkreli nor Macchiarini, as many people unrightfully do, because that’s beside the point. Ascribing their behavior to narcissism, psychopathology or what have you diminishes the fact that they are unscrupulous fraudsters whose behavior is not necessarily worthy of couch psychology explanations, but rather jail time. I don’t think it matters that much whether it stems from deeply rooted hate for women because their mothers didn’t love them as much, suppressed homosexuality or a simple absence of conscience and moral values, what matters is that their victims should not be dragged as ‘co-conspirators’ or ‘accomplices’ into narratives of their wrongdoing. I’m by no means absolving them of any responsibility, but if someone gets mugged in the dark alleyway, should they get blamed for entering it in the first place? How — exactly — is that helpful?

Also, for the love of Lord, stop calling these stories of manipulation ‘love’ stories! This is not what real love looks like, love can be complicated and messy, but true love inspires and encourages you to be a better person that does better things because you feel loved and nurtured to do so, not so self-immolate. These was not an ounce of love on the part of these men, so please, stop romanticizing their exploitative behavior in any way.