Michael Crichton – Disclosure – Comment

 

Disclosure was first published in 1994. Like millions of people around the planet, a new Crichton novel hitting the newsstands was a seminal event. The author’s books continue to sell at an extraordinary rate despite his premature death in November of 2008 from Lymphoma. Considering it had been close to 30 years since reading this novel, coming back to it was a gesture of sentimentality. We could count on a Crichton novel to be published once a year, usually around Christmas. Although picking it up again years later read familiar, after three decades, in many respects, the novel felt to be brand new.  

One can count on a Crichton novel to be prescient, especially in the sciences. Jurassic Park was a deep dive into regenerative genetics. The novel State of Fear was a compelling argument against the hysteria of global warming. One of his last novels, Prey, focused on the science of nanotechnology, and its dangers when technology is misused and exploited. Most of the author’s novels delt with different sciences and technology that could be exploited for nefarious ends.  

In Disclosure, Crichton combines a pressing social issue, sexual harassment in the workplace, and the growing CD ROM and virtual reality industries in the northeastern U.S. CD ROM technology was unknown to the masses in 1994. Sexual harassment in the workforce was indeed becoming a ‘thing’ in the late 90’s. At the time, most cases were women accusing men. Crichton decided to turn it around and write a case about a woman executive sexually harassing a male executive and what a male came up against when making such a claim. Of course, most of these cases are filed by women against men. The prescience of this novel reveals that cases of female harassment has rose significantly over the decades.  

The novel’s action happens over a single week. Thomas Sanders is a department head in the fictional computer company, Digicom. An old lover of Sanders has arrived and has been appointed to head of all operations in the company. The woman is strikingly beautiful and has expertise in marketing but zero understanding about the technical side of the business. Most of the staff in the company are surprised believing Sanders would have gotten the job. She also has a special relationship with the founder and CEO of the company. This leads to the typical sexes comments that she “slept” her way to the top. However, the situation is much more sinister and complex.  

On the first day, Merideth Johnson, the newly appointed head of operations, invites Sanders for a meeting in her office after hours. She orders Tom’s favorite white wine and proceeds to seduce him. Crichton writes this scene graphically and expresses Sander’s thoughts and feelings during the encounter. There are short moments when the sex appears to be consensual, a gray area, though it is apparent to the reader that this was clearly harassment.  

After the incident, Sanders acts like a dumb and confused male: he does not report the harassment, he does not tell anyone including his wife, believing it may have been a misunderstanding. Walking into work the next morning, the proverbial ‘shit’ hit the fan. Based on rumor and inuendo, in a matter of hours, he is viewed by the staff as a sexual deviant. He knows he is innocent; he knows he was the victim here, but in the court of public opinion, in cases of sexual harassment, the man is always the perpetrator. The case moves along so fast that he is offered a transfer to a sister company in Texas. What can he do? The man’s entire life is on the line. At the end of the day, he decides to fight. He knows the entire system is against him, and winning such a case would be impossible.  

As is the case with most of Crichton’s novels, the pace gains momentum, ending in an explosive climax where all the questions are answered for the reader. We discover the entire conspiracy when the characters use virtual, computer-generated technology. In 1994, for the common person, this was pure science fiction. Now, placing goggles on your face and experiencing a reality-based virtual world is something most middle-class families can experience in their own home.  

What really brought me back to this novel was a lecture Crichton gave on fear-based prophecies, like Y2K, and over population, that can be seen on You Tube.  

A wonderful novel in 1994, and just as entertaining in 2023.