Dylan Farrow, adopted daughter of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, published an open letter at the weekend in which she details the sexual abuse she claims to have suffered at the hands of Allen.
Dylan’s mother Mia and brother Ronan have publicly targeted Allen in the past over the abuse allegations, but this is the first time an adult Dylan has given her own detailed account of the abuse.
Woody Allen’s publicist released a statement calling Dylan’s open letter ‘disgraceful’, and said that a response from Allen himself was on its way.
The internet seems pretty evenly split in their response to the letter: there are those who believe Woody Allen, those who believe Dylan Farrow, and those just don’t know what to believe.
Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin, who were both personally mentioned in the open letter, have both tried to sit on the fence. But is that the right way to respond? Is there a right way to respond? This story raises so many important questions about sexual abuse, children and the nature of celebrity – but it doesn’t seem to answer any of them.
These are the six questions that I’m struggling to work through:
1. Is there more reason to believe Dylan now that she is a grown woman?
At the time of the abuse, much emphasis was put on the fact that she was an emotional child in the throes of a custody battle. Many thought her mother Mia was coaching her and thus, her evidence wasn’t considered credible. But she’s an adult now, and she has stuck to her story since 1992. The detail in her letter was chilling.
Why would she now – unprompted – write a letter about the abuse? If she had just made it up or been coached by her mother, why bring it up now? Is it really plausible, like many are claiming, that she has been brainwashed by her mother into believing abuse took place?
Cate Blanchett.
2. How should the celebrities who have worked with Woody Allen be responding to these allegations?
Seriously, how? So far, only Cate Balnchett and Alec Baldwin (both stars of Blue Jasmine) have responded.
Blanchett said: “It’s obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some resolution and peace.”
Baldwin, when asked on Twitter if he felt he owed Dylan Farrow an apology, got angry: “What the f&@% is wrong w u that u think we all need to b commenting on this family’s personal struggle?” and “You are mistaken if you think there is a place for me, or any outsider, in this family’s issue.”
Which brings us to…
3. Is it right to be calling this a ‘private family issue’?
Blanchett and Baldwin seem to have followed the growing trend among those who are trying to be diplomatic about the whole thing: referring to it as a ‘personal’ and ‘private’ thing to be dealt with by the family.
But is that right? There is a woman here who insists she was the victim of abuse, and she has now tried to deal with her pain by being open about it. Is it right to ignore her and insist she should be dealing with it privately?
4. Should we stop watching Woody Allen’s films in light of these allegations? Should people stop working with him?
What kind of responsibility, if any, do we have to separate the artist from his art, when he’s been accused of such horrific crimes?
Woody Allen
5. Has Allen been forgiven more readily because of who he is?
Think about it. Would this attitude of ‘just moving past it’, ‘forgetting it’ and ‘keeping it private’ be applied to another , non-famous father accused of sexual abuse? Is it more convenient for people to move past this because he is such a brilliant filmmaker?
6. Given that sexual abuse is notoriously difficult to prove in court, how do we deal with the people who insist they are survivors of sexual abuse, even if their alleged abusers were never convicted?
Seriously – what is the answer to this one?
There may be debate raging on the internet right now, but there will be no winners here. Every question just seems to morph into another question. In the mean time, a woman who insists she was abused is still living in pain and the man she insists abused her is celebrated in the world over.
Top Comments
4. Should we stop watching Woody Allen’s films in light of these allegations? Should people stop working with him?
Yes. Yes we should. It is called a boycott - we use boycotts so that we can change people's and businesses behaviour. Let them know that what they did was wrong.
These allegations will never be proven in a court of law. There is no evidence to a standard that will allow that to happen. ALso it is outside the time limits for bringing up a case like this. So there will always be people advocating his 'innocence' because it can't be 'proven'.
But the reason why we should boycott his work is that sexual abuse of children often steals their life and potential away. These children often do poorly as adults. They mostly underachieve. All Allens accolades are in direct contrast to the pain and suffering of Dylan Farrow. While he achieves life-time recognition for his body of work she gets disparragement.
Child sex abusers steal the lives of their victims. THere is not just the moment of abuse. It goes on and on and on - they are almost never free of it.
SO yes, I believe that every single one of his works should be burnt because a lot of victims never get those chances he did.
And for those commenting on how slightly 'unhinged' both Mia Farrow and Dylan Farrow seem. Seriously? How 'hinged' would you be if you were abused or you found out your child was abused by your partner and no one believed you?
Um, no one is saying Dylan is unhinged. They are saying Mia Farrow is. And she did that all on her own starting well before her relationship with Allen. It's Farrows own behaviour that has negatively impacted Dylans claims.
So a child shouldn't be believed because her mother may not have been totally sound? That's not fair either...
No, it isn't. But neither is trial by media, which is what this effectively is. The world is very imperfect. I cannot know if the allegations are true. I wasn't there, and I don't know the individuals. But we have adopted a legal code for our societies, for good or ill, and lord knows they are as imperfect as everything else. Why has this not gone to trial, either civil or criminal, or both? I understand that for many victims the trial is another form of abuse, but given the publicity sought by Dylan in this case I suspect this is not something which worries her.
So we should boycott anyone who ever has an accusation made against them? Just sexual abuse allegations, or any allegations?
Didn't South Park do an episode about this?
I don't think Woody is really gifted. Maybe I just don't get his style, but I stopped watching his movies years ago, because they were just stupid to me.
Cate should get used to being asked what she thinks about being associated with pedophiles, since she's represented by Robyn Gardiner; Robert Hughes' wife...
It's not a "private family matter". That's just a cop out people use when they don't want to deal with the less pleasant aspects of life. Pedo's thrive on secrecy and things being "a family matter". It's how they get away with it. If Dylan or her father wasn't famous, and she wrote a blog post stating her father molested her, would people still be praising the father. Just because he supposedly possesses some kind of talent doesn't excuse his actions. It's a pity the US has a statute of limitations on child abuse.
I don't 'get' his movies either, they are boring and self-indulgent, the characters aren't likeable, just really dull. The matter itself will not be resolved if it isn't properly, legally investigated, it will just go on and on as 'Celebrity Gossip' unfortunately. It's sickening to think that no-one is listening to this child/woman as she asks for help, asks to be believed, instead her integrity is being questioned. Imagine not only having to go through being abused by a trusted parent but then have people question your truth when you finally summon the courage to speak out, it would be devastating to say the least.