Was Woody Allen Guilty of Sexual Abuse? ‘Allen v. Farrow’ Filmmakers Dissect Episode 1 (EXCLUSIVE)
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/allen-v-farrow-filmmakers-dylan-mia-farrow-woody-allen-1234911658/
In addition to Dylan, several other of Mia Farrow’s children — Ronan Farrow, and Fletcher and Daisy Previn — also gave interviews to “Allen v. Farrow,” as did family friends and people who had worked on the investigation.
Allen, 85, who has always angrily denied any wrongdoing against Dylan, did not participate. His side is presented through past interviews; press conferences; the surprisingly intimate home movies in which he appears (often uncomfortably hugging and kissing Dylan); and in snippets from his audiobook reading of his 2020 memoir, “Apropos of Nothing.”
she casually mentioned that there might be some boxes in the basement, so down to the basement, I went.
There were photocopies of photos of Woody Allen with the kids as they were growing up that had been entered as an exhibit in the custody trial. I thought that was interesting, because he had maintained that he had kept such a distance from them. There was the affidavit of when he adopted Dylan — that adoption went through in December of 1991. And there was his affidavit, which is a sworn statement, testifying that he and Mia were in a close, committed and continuing relationship. A month later, those photos were found of Soon-Yi — the naked photos. So that was a seismic disconnect.
Ziering: We talked to some experts as we were doing our research, and they were saying those are classic grooming patterns. It’s this behavior that right at first seems unseemly maybe, but maybe OK. But if you’re not an expert in this arena, you don’t know how to recognize it. And the transgressions are subtle, and they happen incrementally, which you see in Episode 1 — [Dylan] sucking [Allen’s] thumb. It’s these slight transgressions — of personal space, of appropriate behavior — that you normalize the child to.
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joi2049 (5572)
4 years ago
Dick: For a younger generation who hasn’t grown up so completely with his work, I think it was important to do that. It was also, I think, important to acknowledge his accomplishments. It’s fair; he has accomplished a great deal. But also, to show that how revered and respected he was — by society, by critics, by the industry. It was that respect, that reverence that actually gave him a lot of opportunity to create the spin that he did later on.
Ziering: It’s about much greater themes: It’s about the power of celebrity, the impunity of privilege. The impunity that the power of celebrity can confer on people. The way that a celebrity grooms all of us, to some extent, to be blind to certain private acts that might not accord with what we perceive their public persona to be.
Ziering: She’s been through a lot. She was publicly excoriated for decades — she has rightful trepidation, she has not been treated kindly by the press. It’s been presented as “he said/she said” where it’s really just a “he said” narrative over and over and over and over again. And she hasn’t had a voice in it.
Ziering: When we talked to experts, they frequently say that one of the things predators do is they say, “This is our secret.” And that’s one of the classic ways that predators get children to not talk, right? So when Amy uncovered that, which was new information that Dylan had actually gone to a therapist two years before this incident, it is pretty significant. And revelatory.
Is the implication, then, that he was molesting her already?
Ziering: You should draw your own conclusions. What we showed it throughout was, as I said earlier, there were these incremental behaviors: sleeping in bed with underwear, sucking the thumb. Experts will tell you there’s an incremental transgression of boundaries so that everything becomes normalized when you actually do more profound violations.
Allison Stickland: who was the nanny who actually was an eyewitness to behavior between Woody Allen and Dylan, who testified in the custody trial and gave a sworn statement to police that she walked in and Woody had his face in Dylan’s naked lap.
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joi2049 (5572)
4 years ago
What do you want viewers to be thinking about after they’ve watched all four episodes? What do you want people to take away from it?
Ziering: It’s about the power that celebrity confers on individuals, and the way that it can blind us all to uncomfortable truths.
Do you feel like Dylan will finally have been heard after this is all over?
Ziering: Our hope is that people finally see the truth.
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joi2049 (5572)
4 years ago
Ziering: You should draw your own conclusions. What we showed it throughout was, as I said earlier, there were these incremental behaviors: sleeping in bed with underwear, sucking the thumb. Experts will tell you there’s an incremental transgression of boundaries so that everything becomes normalized when you actually do more profound violations.
Allison Stickland: who was the nanny who actually was an eyewitness to behavior between Woody Allen and Dylan, who testified in the custody trial and gave a sworn statement to police that she walked in and Woody had his face in Dylan’s naked lap.
Was there anyone that you wanted to interview who wouldn’t talk?
Herdy: Well, there was somebody that we found, and it was too late. And it was one of those forehead-slapping moments. Allison Stickland: who was the nanny who actually was an eyewitness to behavior between Woody Allen and Dylan, who testified in the custody trial and gave a sworn statement to police that she walked in and Woody had his face in Dylan’s naked lap.
I sent a snail mail letter, a very carefully worded one, and said, “If you are Allison Stickland who was a nanny in Connecticut, I would love to have a conversation with you,” and put my cellphone number in it. And apparently, she got the letter and debated it for several weeks. And then she sent me a text message the day after we locked, and said, “Sure, I’ll talk to you.” And it was excruciatingly painful. But we did talk to her for a podcast. She’s amazing. And she still remembers everything very vividly.
Does anyone know how to find the PODCAST???
It's such a shame that the NANNY who was an EYE WITNESS to the SEXUAL ABUSE of DYLAN didn't contact the FILMMAKERS soon enough or until AFTER the DOCUMENTARY was already made. Because her TESTIMONY in it could probably also have been very helpful in getting people to see that DYLAN is telling us the TRUTH about what happened to her.
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joi2049 (5572)
4 years ago
https://news.yahoo.com/woody-allen-sexual-abuse-assualt-daughter-dylan-farrow-mia-hbo-documentary-224832130.html
[Woody Allen sexual abuse allegations told through the eyes of daughter Dylan Farrow in haunting 'Allen v. Farrow' HBO documentary
many celebrities and studios no longer wanting to be associated with him.
the docuseries forces us to face the evidence around what happened at the Connecticut home in 1992.
Dylan Farrow describes Allen’s “intense affection” towards her, explaining uncomfortable moments when she would suck Allen’s thumb and he would put his head in her lap. The documentary also shows a series of videos, which are frankly difficult to watch, that show seven-year-old Dylan explaining where and how her father touched her, and how he allegedly said he would take her to Paris, during that moment.
The breakdown of trust between Mia Farrow and Allen is striking. In recordings of phone conversations between the two, Allen comes across particularly cold with Farrow, very matter of fact, sticking to his position as Farrow is clearly yearning to put an end to the chaos.
Dylan Farrow’s physical reactions, shaking and starting to panic when recalling the alleged assault, makes you feel like Allen's perspective is not something you necessarily want to hear at that moment. One thing is clear, this is Dylan’s turn to have a platform to tell her side of the story, which she was not able to as a child.
Whenever there are any misconduct allegations against celebrities, like Michael Jackson ...
questions are always raised around why and how we should believe alleged victims in these circumstances, particularly when the allegations are against powerful men.
Allen v. Farrow takes the position that Allen was grooming or prepping his audience to normalize relationships between an older man and a younger woman, particularly in films like the 1979's Manhattan, in which Allen's character has a relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
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joi2049 (5572)
4 years ago
It may be a less convincing argument in isolation but the pattern is certainly present in Allen's work.
we also do not necessarily want to believe our heroes have flaws, especially particularly grotesque flaws,
In 2017, Dylan Farrow wrote an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times asking why the #MeToo movement spared her father.
Will this continue to be a he said, she said game? We'll just have to wait and see how it unfolds.
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brux (14773)
4 years ago
>It may be a less convincing argument in isolation but the pattern is certainly present in Allen's work.
Never seen any Woody Allen movie with a 7 year old in it.
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joi2049 (5572)
4 years ago
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DYLAN'S TIME LINE: 🕰
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-02-21/woody-allen-mia-farrow-dylan-farrow-allegations-timeline-hbo
August 4, 1992:
Dylan claims Allen sexually abused her on this day when she was 7 years old. Farrow begins filming Dylan discussing the abuse on the family camcorder.
August 13, 1992: Allen sues Farrow for custody of Ronan, Dylan and Moses.
March 19, 1993: The custody trial in Allen vs. Farrow begins.
June 7, 1993:
Mia Farrow wins custody of Ronan, Dylan and Moses.
Allen is denied visitation rights with Dylan.
In his ruling, New York State Supreme Court Justice Elliott Wilk describes Allen as “self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive,” and had “demonstrated no parenting skills that would qualify him as an adequate custodian” of the three children.
By contrast, Wilk called Farrow “a caring and loving mother who has provided a home for both her biological and her adopted children.”
Feb. 1, 2014:
Dylan writes an open letter detailing Allen’s alleged abuse, which Times columnist Nicholas Kristof posts to his blog. “What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?” the letter begins. “Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me.”
Dec. 7. 2017:
Dylan Farrow publishes a Los Angeles Times op-ed, “Why has the #MeToo revolution spared Woody Allen?”
Feb. 21, 2021:
“Allen v. Farrow” premieres. Times TV critic Lorraine Ali calls the four-part docuseries “a comprehensive, convincing and ultimately devastating documentary that threatens to burn what’s left of [Allen’s] career and legacy to the ground.”
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