Remember how we said the Woody Allen/Dylan Farrow story wasn’t “going anywhere anytime soon”? It’s not. Last week, Bob Weide, a former Curb Your Enthusiasm director and the director/producer of PBS’ Woody Allen: A Documentary, wrote an article for the Daily Beast about the allegations aimed at Allen, and how we shouldn’t be so quick to think of him as History’s Greatest Monster. Totally fair point, but one that was list in Weide’s glib tone, and he often (and uncomfortably) seemed to resort to victim-blaming.
I’ve already said this, but it bears repeating: I know Dylan/Malone believes these events took place, and I know Ronan believes so too. I am not in a position to say they didn’t, any more than all the people on the internet calling for Woody’s head can say they did. The point is that accusations make headlines; retractions are buried on page twelve, and coerced accusations are as much a reality as coerced confessions. Since Woody literally pays no mind to this stuff, and he continues to work and have a happy home life, I would never suggest he’s a victim in this case. The real victim has always been Malone. For me, however, the real questions are: who’s doing the victimizing, and does pain really heal better in the public spotlight? I don’t pretend to have answers for either question. (Via)
Last night, after Dylan’s piece went live on the NY Times website, Weide tweeted the following:
You can almost taste the dismissiveness. People were not happy.
If Dylan is fibbing, as Weide implies, why would she bring this ALL up again? That’s what I found most interesting about her letter: either she’s been telling herself a lie for so long that it actually feels real to her, an unlikely scenario, or something terrible really did happen on August 4, 1992, and she wants the public to be aware of the Woody Allen she knows, not the Woody Allen that wasn’t brought to court. Maybe Weide’s point would have been taken more seriously if he had changed his Twitter header photo.
Banner via Getty Image, via the Hollywood Reporter