By Tunca Arslan
Members of the British royal family like Prince Andrew, US Presidents like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, businessmen like Bill Gates, Hollywood stars such as Woody Allen, Cameron Diaz, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Spacey, and scientists like Stephen Hawking… I am talking about the infamous list of names associated with the sexual exploitation, pedophilia and prostitution network of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell in that strange and wretched prison in New York-Manhattan on August 10, 2019.
The series of scandals in the recent history of the US, beginning with a police investigation in Florida-Palm Beach and spreading worldwide, raises questions about whether it is a mirror capable of representing the perversion in the wealthy and influential world or it is just the tip of the iceberg. Was Jeffrey Epstein simply a perverted billionaire who made sexual exploitation his way of life, or was he, as suggested by the title of Netflix’s four-part series, a “Filthy Rich”? Or did he serve as a tool to blackmail and control wealthy and powerful political figures? Was the source of his unlimited wealth solely related to financial business? Did he really commit suicide or was he murdered? Aside from Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of media tycoon Robert Maxwell -who died by falling off his yacht into the sea near the Canary Islands in 1991- and his prominent assistant in the sex pyramid, who else was helping Epstein?
Like just a trailer
In front of us lies an unbelievable chain of sexual exploitation involving frightening names in proportion to their networks, influences and wealth. Where the chain ends and whether it will extend to Türkiye, as suggested by recent social media claims of “children kidnapped in the earthquake,” remains uncertain. What if the sex aspect of the issue is nothing but a cover and Epstein is nothing more than a “disposable pawn” when needed…
The 2020 Netflix documentary “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich” that completed long before the spotlight turned on new names that I have mentioned is a work that raises half of the above and similar questions and only answers half of them, evoking a feeling of inadequacy. 3 hours 47 minutes long documentary, does nothing more than telling the adventure of a perverted billionaire who has a habit of getting sex massages from underage girls for $200, has houses in New York, Florida, the Virgin Islands, New Mexico, Paris, and the brave cops and judges who dare to deal with him. The many victims, lawyers, psychologists, journalists, detectives, who had to remain silent for years but finally said “Me Too!”, of course show a part of the network of relationships and produce a dreadful portrait of Epstein. As in the case of “Vanity Fair”, it is explained how the media is silenced, but the dimension of social decay is conspicuously missing. “These are just trailers, when will the real film start?” is the question that occupies your mind throughout the documentary. Netflix has prepared a gut-wrenching, nauseating series, but for some reason, it does not come close to teaching and explaining anything beyond the horrible details.
If it were a Michael Moore documentary.…
“Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich” succeeds in focusing on the personality, his disgusting sexual world and drawing a pyramid of sexual abuse, but fails to delve into the social and political roots. For example, if this were a Michael Moore documentary, it is hard not to think that questions such as “Who is this man, under what conditions did he become like this, who(s) made him possible, in which social-political environment did he appear?” could have been answered much more satisfactorily. Because we are dealing with a man far beyond being “horrible”.
Cover graphic: Netflix’ documentary series “Epstein: Filthy Rich”.