Woody Allen’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, finally came out in the open, to the world, about the abuse she suffered at the hand of her adopted father, Woody Allen. This is my reaction.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a Woody Allen movie. Maybe in the 80s? I don’t know why, but the luster wore away from one of two things, either he wasn’t funny anymore, or well, just that. I didn’t find his films as entertaining as I once did. Or maybe it was about the time the news hit that he had been cheating on his wife (common law), Mia Farrow, with his (kinda-sorta) step-daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. I remember how sickened I felt.
Although I can’t really say I’ve ever held Allen out to be one of my idols, I did think his early movies were hilarious, and I would rent them from time to time to get a “dose of Allen” when I needed it. I won’t mention the titles of the movies, any of them, because that would detract from what I have to say.
Saturday’s New York Times ran an open letter by Allen’s former adopted daughter, then Dylan Farrow. In it, she pours out a story few have heard, many have refused to hear, and probably many knew and refused to say they knew. That she had been sexually assaulted as a little girl.
She gave the reason for writing the article now because she said that after hearing that her father accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Golden Globes last month, she couldn’t let the truth be jammed behind the curtains any longer (my words, not hers). That she was tired of everyone giving this man praise while she re-lives the ugly things Allen did to her as a little girl, telling her it was “their secret.” The fact they even chose to honor this man in spite of his sordid personal affairs, is testament to how much money holds sway over morals and decency in this world.
What is particularly haunting about this is that I can imagine the man saying that line, “it’s our little secret…” as if he were in one of his movies. I can’t, or won’t, imagine him as a predator, as I find the act of child abuse and child molestation such a terrible crime, I can’t imagine it from any angle. And, according to his adopted daughter, Woody Allen committed a crime. I have no reason to doubt her, especially since her own brother, Ronan, another Allen adoptee, won’t even go near his “father” because of the Soon-Yi marriage.
I’ll keep this short. Bottom line is that the Connecticut Prosecutor came out after the letter ran and said he couldn’t prosecute Allen, then, or now. Then, because he said he didn’t have enough evidence, and now, because it is too late.
So another child predator is loose because of the old “he said-she said” glitch. Woody Allen says it never happened, or that his daughter was too young to know the difference between fatherly love and abuse. He even went to far as to say again on Sunday that he found the revelation disgusting. Hell, who knows. Again, he said, she said. But my money is riding on Dylan.
What troubles me even more, is this. Like every good plot in a movie, there is a twist…
Allen, along with his wife, Soon-Yi have two daughters. How utterly convenient for this closet rapist. This ugly piece of filth (so much for being non-judgmental) that got away with ruining a young girl’s life, got two more opportunities, and how many untold more, what with sleep-overs, birthday parties. A predator’s work is never done.
This is the second case this week that I’ve seen how money can corrupt judgment, especially in the case of caring for young children, young children whose only crime was being adopted or born into a family with a damaged adult and unlimited wealth.
I wasn’t there so I’m going to have to go with my gut on this one and say that it did happen. And because of that gut feeling, I promise never to see another Woody Allen movie in my lifetime because of this. If the allegations are true, and I have no reason to believe that they aren’t, then we all should at least do something to show this woman that we hear her and we are on her side. Show her she didn’t do anything wrong, but everything right, especially coming out against a big name like Woody Allen.
Next time you even consider seeing one of Allen’s movies, think that possibly that money you are spending is going into his pocket and helping him pay hush money to those around him to keep him out of jail.
Maybe, by law, it is too late to prosecute Woody Allen, but it can never be too late to try him for his actions in the court of public opinion. Obviously, his receiving his latest award shows that not enough of us spoke up the first time and for that, I truly apologize to all the Allen children.
And to Dylan. I’m sorry that this happened to you. If nothing else, your “father” got one thing right. You are a good girl, and he, a very, very bad man.
*To be fair, Allen and Soon-Li were never blood related, rather forced into an familial relationship through Mia Farrow, where they shared living space for much of Soon-Li’s formative years.
Holy Jesus on a bicycle!
I have it on good authority that Woody Allen molested himself on numerous occasions
IMO there was plenty of evidence, the testimony of the young girl and her mother to whom she accounted the incident very shortly after the attic incident.
A lack of physical evidence is not unusual. If there was no penetration what physical evidence would there be?
Actually, this whole new (old) thing is doing the same, unfolding one scene at a time. Some he said, some she said. Same old. I wrote the story on a gut feeling. I’m not backing down, but honestly? deep inside. I hope this (one) time, I’m wrong.
We used to play a drinking game with Woody Allen movies. If you see any minority in the background of any scene, drink. Better than AA. One scene at a time, brother, one scene at a time.
I don’t know whether Woody Allen molested anyone, but some of the themes of his movies are kind of strange, the way Michael Jackson was quite strange (he lived in a children’s playground, he compared himself to a monster in the Thriller video). Well, Woody Allen isn’t as strange as Michael Jackson, but the women in his movies are almost always controlled by a man and usually by Allen’s character himself. They’re either mouthpieces for Allen, playing the Allen character, or they’re his love objects. Still, he mocks himself, but for an intellectual he’s strangely preoccupied with love and sex. I actually write about this apparent conflict in the worldview he expresses in his movies, on my blog:
http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.com/2012/05/woody-allens-curious-intellectualism.html
David, you are right. Previn had another adopted father, but she lived her formative years within the Allen household (I grappled with what to call her, but came down to step-daughter for lack of a better term–I clarified this in an edit to my original commentary). I am sure, seeing as she was a minor, that there had to be an implied fatherly role. And yes, you are correct again that the charges were unsubstantiated and subsequently, Allen was not brought to trial, but even the prosecutor claims he thought there was reason to believe Allen committed the acts he was charged with. People are human, they make mistakes, some big some small. When they make small mistakes, they take ownership. It’s not so easy when you make large mistakes. Mistakes that can cost you your career, your fortune. So I stand by what I said. You stand by what you say. And we agree to disagree.
Congratulations on being able to determine guilt or innocence without the aid of any testimony or facts. Here’s one fact for you: Soon-Yi was never his daughter, adopted, step- or otherwise.
Here’s some more, there wasn’t just not enough evidence to support Dylan’s story, there was none. Two different medical experts (independent, unconnected to Allen) said there was no sign of any abuse at all.
She was likely coached at the time and has been brainwashed (a term used by Farrow’s *other* adopted child with Allen, Moses) into believing these things are true.
Yes, it’s possible they are. But highly unlikely.