I am not sure the term "soul-searching" applies to the process underway in Hollywood in the wake of public revelations about Harvey Weinstein's behavior toward women.  That would imply that souls are available to be examined.  But something must be blamed for the sea change: behavior that was privately acknowledged but held as a community secret to be joked about as insider humor was exposed to the broader public.  The reigning opinion-makers definitely are interested in finding someone to blame.

Vanity Fair, in an article written by Yohana Desta, blames the outing of the Access Hollywood tape, intended to end the Trump candidacy, for the willingness of abused women to speak up. She writes:

[W]hile the Access Hollywood catastrophe barely put a dent in Trump's career, it did act as the catalyst for something else: the gradual allegations of widespread sexual misconduct in the film community. A direct line can be drawn from the tape to the current wave of well-known figures in the movie world who have been ousted from their positions after being undone by disturbing allegations. ...

When the Access Hollywood tape was made public, journalists in every sphere weighed in on Twitter; among them was Birth.Movies.Death editor Devin Faraci tweeted that he was "terrified" of Trump in the wake of the "grab them by the pussy" comment. Then a woman tweeted back at him: "quick question: do you remember grabbing me by the [p----] and bragging to our friends about it, telling them to smell your fingers?"

Other women then stepped forward with their own allegations against Faraci. Soon afterward, he stepped down as editor in chief of the influential film blog "because I take these types of claims seriously," he said in a statement.

She chronicles other lesser lights undone by women speaking up, allegedly inspired by rage toward Trump (or the permission to express rage toward abusers).  It was a trend.

And it was amplified by the Bill Cosby case, which emerged even before the presidential campaign.

Call it the dialectic of Trump, or maybe just "what goes around comes around."

Either way, the frustration at Trump among his enemies only increases.

Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit