Can I Still Allow Myself to Watch Woody Allen Films?

Prelude:
Lately I've been at an impasse. I really, really love alot of Woody Allen films, but at the same time the dude might be guilty of some really fucked up charges. I have really struggled with this fact since Dylan Farrow's public letter was published, so much so that I have abstained on watching any of his films since. This blog-post is not written to sway you in any way, shape or form. It was written solely by me in an effort to work out whether or not I should allow myself to watch and or enjoy his work.

Every film buff has a Woody Allen phase. Admit it. Whether you like him or not, at some point you have made it a point to catch several of his films in quick succession due to either your adoration of his work, or attempting to figure out what all the fuss is about.Which ever side of the fence you fall on, you cannot deny the fucker is one hard-working son-of-a-bitch. "Midnight In Paris" is not only my favorite film of 2011, but is the only film I have ever seen on the small screen (caught it early while working at Sony) that I then went to the theater to watch again that night.

Before analyzing the situation, there are a number of barebones facts that are undeniable about the situation, here are the pertinent ones as I understand them.

Mia Farrow is a fucking crazy ass bitch
Immediately after publicly accusing Allen of this horrible crime, Farrow was still aggressively pursuing

her role on his next project "Manhattan Murder Mystery". To continue a relationship in any way, shape or form with a man who you believe has actually sexually-assaulted your daughter means you are either batshit crazy, a fucking liar, or the most self-centered bitch on the planet. Hell, she even testified on behalf of Roman Polanski (who was also charged with having sex with a minor) during his trial. Does this mean the incident didn't happen? Fuck no, it just means that regardless, Mia Farrow is a fucking crazy ass bitch. The insanity doesn't end there either, Farrow continued to let her children around Allen after even after she found out he had sex with Soon-Yi, her stepdaughter, which brings me to the next point.

Woody Allen is a fucked up dude

Directly before the accusation of the molestation of Dylan, Woody Allen already had sex and a relationship with one of her daughters while in a relationship with Farrow. Yes, both people in this were probably of legal age (due to her not having a birth certificate it was assumed she was between 18-20 years old) at the time, but it was still his girlfriends daughter. Further, he publicly stated that “I didn’t feel that just because she was Mia’s daughter, there was any great moral dilemma. It was a fact, but not one with any great import. It wasn’t like she was my daughter.”. Does that prove that he molested Dylan? Nope, but it does prove that he is one weird motherfucker who doesn't have issues with fucking someone who looks up to him as a father figure.

Was Allen indeed being treated for obsession over Dylan?

Taken from the custody transcript

In researching this case I discovered again and again reports that Allen had been in treatment with a "Dr. Coates" regarding treatment for his "inappropriate behavior with Dylan". Well I decided not to re-read what a bunch of fucking bloggers wrote and rewrote (scum of the Earth if you ask me ;-) and read the statement myself. According to the papers, he was not being "treated" for it, but the subject did arise while in therapy. According to Dr. Coates, the subject of Allen's preferential treatment of Dylan did indeed come up, but that he "did not see it as sexual". Basically the doctor discussed with Allen that he should not dote solely on Dylan and that doing so was creeping people out. What I find strange here is that the doctor recognized that he preferred the child, but did not believe that the attention was sexual in nature, something I would suspect someone of his profession is trained to do.

Dylan's claims
It is beyond a shadow of a doubt to me that Dylan believes she was molested by Allen at seven years old. How do you approach this claim as being potentially untruthful and not be a piece of shit? You could attempt to explain away that Mia could have brainwashed her into believing this, but jesus fucking christ, now you're questioning someone who has been through an insane ordeal. I feel dirty just writing these few lines on the subject, but then again, this is an exploratory piece. I myself have written briefly about being young and told that I watched a gun be held to my mothers head resulting in confusion of not being able to tell in retrospect what I have seen VS what I was told I had seen. To this day it is debated what actually happened. Is it a possibility that she is mistaken? Yes, I think I can speak with some very limited understanding to the effect of having people tell you what you saw and how that can cloud a young mind. Does that make it the case that it didn't happen? Shit no it doesn't.

The older brother insists it didn't happen
Moses Farrow is 8 years older than Dylan and denies that there was ever any inappropriate anything that happened during their years with Allen. Think about that for a second, that makes the kid around 15 years old when all of this was going down. I remember damn near everything from 15 years old. That either means that Moses is lying for Dad for his inheritance, being honest and nothing happened, or that he's technically retarded and never noticed anything. The first two seem like logical possibilities, but the dude seems well spoken enough to eliminate the third.

Conclusion:
That's a Readers Digest version of the nuts and bolts of it. Allen has a history of doing some weird freaky

The Whole Fucking Mess

shit and has not had problems with who he does it with, even if she's a daughter-like figure. Dylan was only 7 and impressionable, both from a nut-bag mother and a fucking weirdo father. I put a certain amount of stock in what Moses claims as he doesn't seem to be doing more than protecting his fathers name and he would have been a correct age to notice things of that sort from Allen. The custody paper's far from speak kindly about Allen, they even go as far as to say that he was detrimental to the children whether he committed the crime or not. Regardless, that cunt Mia Farrow put her children into harms way so I'd say she shoulders quite a bit of responsibility.

Did he do it? Fuck me, those are some murky waters. Dylan's insistence on the subject seems damning, but there isn't much more past that. Hell, there's even quite a bit of evidence to the contrary... so the dude very well might be guilty of an unimaginable crime. But this is America, and we are supposed to believe in innocence until proven guilty, and even the judge in the fucking custody case couldn't handle making a ruling on whether he did it or not. I have no idea if he did it, I wish to fuck I did.

To be completely honest, I thought that after researching this subject I would completely be against watching Woody Allen films ever again. But what it comes down to for me personally is that it's just not right to judge someone on one persons claims when there isn't a body of damning body of evidence to support it. After all, the weird bastard never has been accused of this before (as is usually the case with pedophiles). Perhaps I'm writing this and looking for an excuse to still watch Woody Allen's films, but I don't believe in my heart of hearts that I am. With all of the weird history, accusations, and drama in mind I choose to continue to watch his films, but I have the nagging suspicion that everytime I do, I will fell just a little bit dirty.