Oleanna was released in 1992, in the midst of a national discussion about sexual assault and consent. Still fresh in peoples’ minds were the 1991 Anita Hill hearings, which took place during Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Hill, a law professor, was compelled to testify before Congress after she reported instances of sexual harassment by Thomas to the FBI. According to Hill, Thomas had repeatedly made lewd comments and asked her to become intimate when the two of them had worked together. During these hearings in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hill was repeatedly mocked and dismissed by the all-male, all-white panel. Several congressmen attacked Hill’s character and suggested that sexually explicit comments were simply a normal part of the work environment.
While the testimony had little impact on Thomas’ nomination, it did start a larger cultural conversation about workplace harassment, bringing into the open the “locker room talk” that was often normalized in work environments. Many people felt angry about Hill’s treatment and saw it as an example of what happens to women who accuse men of sexual assault. Others saw Hill as a jealous woman who made specious claims in order to get attention.
Mamet jumped directly into this controversy, playing off of the emotions surrounding the discussion on Hill’s trial and workplace harassment. The play draws the audience into the scene, raising difficult questions about what constitutes harassment or an abuse of power. While discussions of sexual assault and harassment often revolved around accusations that one side was lying or exaggerating, in Oleanna, audiences were privy to every private interaction between accuser and accused. While the play shed light on the topic of harassment, not only in the workplace but in the classroom as well, Mamet’s less-than-flattering depiction of Carol has led some critics to accuse him of failing to understand the nature of sexual harassment.
While almost 30 years have passed since the Anita Hill hearings, Oleanna’s central themes continue to resonate as the discussion surrounding workplace harassment continues. Indeed, now, in the era of the #MeToo movement, the play is more relevant than ever. As third-wave feminists argue for a more intersectional approach to these problems—that is to say, one which takes into account issues of race, class, and sexuality as well as gender alone—certain elements of Oleanna appear particularly prescient, in particular the discussion surrounding class difference in universities.
