I know you're not doing this, but your mentioning of it brings up something
that annoys me. In a lot of the writing on this case (I won't elevate it by
calling it reporting), Allen is called "a powerful figure in Hollywood," or "an
example of the rich getting away with crimes."
While I have no doubt Allen is wealthy (not crazy rich, but he's not going to
have to worry), he's never been a part of the power culture. He doesn't
socialize, isn't seen in the company of other rich people, and doesn't seem to
have access to the networks that, say, Trump, Epstein, and Weinstein had. Yes,
he's a "rich white guy," but not everyone who meets that description is plugged
in and invulnerable.
As well, yes, he's won Oscars and directed scores of films, but he's not
exactly a power player. For decades, to be in "a Woody Allen" picture was a
prestige move, but his pictures always had relatively-miniscule budgets, rarely
made a lot of money and, over the last decade or so, he's scrambled for
financing and casting actors concerned with being connected with him. It's not
like he could make or break a career by casting or not casting someone. His was
a niche business at best. For quite a while now, his pictures have ranged from
okay to terrible, as he essentially juggled the same tropes over and over in
different combinations. Sometimes they hit (I generally liked "A Rainy Day in
New York," for example, despite the usual modern young people acting as though
they were born in the 40s and one uncomfortable scene with Elle Fanning in her
underwear [which would have been uncomfortable even without the smear campaign
hanging over them], but "Wonder Wheel" was all but unwatchable), so maybe it's
time for him to retire.
Because of the charges--and especially because of HBO thing--I think his career
is essentially over, anyway. He still hasn't found a distributor for his last
movie, actors are disowning him, and Farrow has succeeded in smearing his
reputation. The former part of this probably doesn't bother him. I'd imagine
he'll be just as happy raising his kids, watching the Knicks, and living his
remaining years in relative obscurity. The latter, I'm sure, concerns him, but
that ship has sailed. Despite the YouTube documentary proclaiming his innocence
(I've yet to watch it), to the general public, his reputation is toxic. This is
apparent from all the writers I've seen online whose argument boils down to "I
always found him creepy, so of course the charges must be true," which is
circular logic at its best.
Another charge that keeps coming up again is "He played a man in love with a
teenager in 'Manhattan,' so he's obviously guilty," even though they never
charge him with being a bank robber, a revolutionary, a small-time criminal, or
hiring a hit man, all of whom were protagonists in his films -- and ignoring
the criticism his character gets in "Manhattan" itself about his relationship.
(The whole "he married his stepdaughter!" thing is just more evidence why Trump
still has a following. Too many people are basically stupid and don't read
beyond the neon headlines.)
I'd never deny that what he did was shitty and handled badly, but if everyone
who's done something appalling in a relationship is open to being called a
pedophile, a lot of people are in trouble.
I'm assuming that the HBO series won't mention Farrow's own issues (Moses's
charges of abuse, her children's suicides, her own marriages to much older men,
and Ronan's father), because that might actually muddy the waters and lessen
her (in my mind, nonexistent) credibility. The producers and HBO have invested
a lot in her story, and they're not going to dilute it.
--Dave Sikula
On Sunday, February 21, 2021, 8:28:29 PM PST, PGage <[email protected]>
wrote:
I probably should avoid it too, but I watched the first episode just now, as I
suspect it will come up at work.
Dave’s summary of the bias and distortion is accurate, though they represent
Woody with audio from his book, in his voice, which seems like they would need
his permission to do?
Dylan is allowed to tell her story of course, but I would have more respect for
this series if it was in fact titled something like “Dylan’s Story” (though,
frankly, it would probably more accurately be called “Mia’s Story”) than
something implying both sides are being told.
The series could go a long way towards redeeming it self if it spends an hour
somewhere on what we now know about the suggestibility of human, and especially
childhood, memory, and the complications of child abuse allegations in the
context of custody and relationship conflict. However, the failure to present
this at the very beginning of the series so it could contextualize (to use a
favorite word of Ronan’s) the story to come is a major failure.
For me the most revealing moment in episode 1 was Mia’s friend saying that Mia
was “very forgiving” of Soon-Yi when Mia first found the pornographic pictures
of Soon-Yi in Woody’s apartment. Soon-Yi was 21 (or, by some accounts, 19) at
the time, having an affair with a man in his late 50s, and to that extent not
that different from her mother Mia’s relationship with Frank Sinatra. Woody was
never married to Soon-Yi, and never adopted her, and she had an adoptive
father, but even so clearly had some form of father figure role for much of her
childhood. This is the most obviously shitty behavior on the part of Woody, and
is the part that come closest to his avatar in *Manhattan*.
That remark from Mia’s friend though suggested to me that Mia is functioning
during this period more as a hurt and jealous romantic parter to Allen (and
rival to her daughter Soon-Yi) than as a concerned mother.
None of that means that Allen did not molest his adopted daughter Dylan. But
the documentary assumes an ominous tone of his guilt being inevitable, which it
never justifies or earns. I am open to evidence that Allen is guilty- God knows
in my own work I have seen enough horrific instances of men doing horrible
things to their daughters. But I still have not seen that evidence. We know
that several competent agencies investigated at the time and found no evidence,
though of course it would not be the first time rich and famous people got
favorable treatment (though in this case there were rich and famous people on
both sides). I am going to need more than horrified memories from Mia’s friend
that Woody let 3 year old Dylan suck on his thumb.
On Wed, 17 Feb 2021 at 1:43 AM 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV
<[email protected]> wrote:
I'll be avoiding this one the way the Farrows avoid the truth. From all advance
word, it's heavily slanted in their favor and damns Allen, who refused to
participate, as did Moses Farrow, who seems to have the clearest perspective of
all.
What Allen did was, well, shitty, but (from what's on the record) not as
reprehensible as Mia and Ronan would have us believe.
--Dave Sikula
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