Even if you don’t know anything about Woody Allen, chances are you’ve seen or heard his name a few times in the past month.
Allen is, by far, one of the most prolific writer-directors in Hollywood history. With nearly 50 films under his belt, it was no surprise to most when he was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award at this year’s Golden Globe ceremony causing an event from 20 years before to resurface in the public’s memory.
In 1992, Allen and his partner, actress Mia Farrow, split up. This led to a very long and tedious legal battle for the custody of their three children: Ronan, Dylan and Moses Farrow – the latter two had been adopted by the couple.
During this time, Dylan claimed Allen had sexually abused her.
While these allegations could never be factually proven — as is the case with many child sexual abuse incidents — Allen’s reputation was severely damaged, but he remained successful in his film career.
The reignited interest in this case after the Golden Globe awards in January prompted Dylan Farrow to publish an open letter on a New York Times blog. In the letter, she details the abuse she allegedly experienced at the hand of Allen.
“Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse.”
Allen, who has kept quiet about the issue — save a few “I didn’t do its” — over the past two decades, published his own open letter on a different New York Times blog on Friday night.
“Of course, I did not molest Dylan. I loved her and hope one day she will grasp how she has been cheated out of having a loving father and exploited by a mother more interested in her own festering anger than her daughter’s well-being,” Allen countered.
Although it’s easy to turn this into a dismissible “he said – she said,” the discussion aroused by the re-emergence of this case is extremely relevant.
Can we support and enjoy the work of people who are alleged perpetrators of horrible crimes?
Countless stars have enjoyed success in their careers after committing heinous acts: Sean Penn, Roman Polanski and more recently, Chris Brown.
When Brown was applauded at the Video Music Awards in 2011 — only two years after it was revealed he had brutalized Rihanna to the point where her face was no longer recognizable — it seemed he had gotten away with it.
Hollywood isn’t even the only place where sexual predators can achieve stardom after the fact.
LSU’s starting quarterback last season, Zach Mettenberger, pled guilty to two counts of sexual battery in 2010 while he was still enrolled at the University of Georgia. At a bar, Mettenberger grabbed the breasts and buttocks of a woman without her consent.
Was it wrong to cheer him on or wear his jersey after he was convicted?
While it’s certainly not the public’s obligation to punish criminals, there is a certain accountability that we as regular people have when we celebrate the work and accomplishments of known criminals without recognizing their wrong doing.
There is no excuse for ignoring a celebrity’s actions simply because of their elite status. If you’re going to go to the movie theater and pay to see a Woody Allen film, you have to realize that you are giving money to someone who might have sexually abused his adopted daughter. You have to decide if you want to live with that.
SidneyRose Reynen is an 18-year-old film and art history freshman from New Orleans.