Why Woody Allen’s supporters are upset about ‘Allen v. Harrow’s Farrow ‘

It didn’t take long to convince Woody Allen’s advocates that HBO’s four-part documentaries, “Allen v. Farrow ”, were a unilateral blow to the revered filmmaker. The four-part investigative series had not yet premiered when they began to demolish the re-examination of the allegation that Allen molested Dylan Farrow, his adopted daughter with actress Mia Farrow, when she was just 7 years old.

Furious readers wrote to The Times in response to my favorable review of the series, insisting that I was part of a lynching mob: “What a shame!” Others protested this on Twitter as an HBO hit. Heated discussions broke out on Facebook. Some of the disturbances were understandable: Robert Weide, who directed “American Masters’” “Woody Allen: A Documentary”, spoke in favor of his friend, complaining on a blog that most of the press was guilty of “swallowing the entire HBO series , apparently thrilled that someone was finally taking Allen down. ”

But the immediacy and intensity of those who presumably don’t know Allen personally was intriguing. His peak as a filmmaker was more than 30 years ago. The charges detailed in “Allen v. Farrow ”are almost as old. Why are these fans so committed to defending you?

Part of the answer is simple. The world has changed since the scandal surrounding the separation of Allen and Farrow in 1992, and even more so since the 1970s and 1980s, when Allen’s films often seemed to be driven by an obsession with young women – and occasionally minors. The #MeToo movement changed the power dynamics of Hollywood and changed the perception of the American public regarding the role of women on and off the screen. But more than that, it changed the script for who believes in the “he said, she said” cases, making Allen and Farrow’s case the perfect candidate for reconsideration under a more modern cultural lens.

This reassessment also did not focus solely on Dylan’s claims. It also includes Allen’s sexual relationship and the subsequent marriage to Farrow’s daughter Soon-Yi Previn, which she adopted with ex-husband Andre Previn when Soon-Yi was a child. Soon-Yi was still in elementary school when Farrow started his 12-year relationship with Allen, and she was 21 when Farrow caught Allen with pornographic photos of her. When Allen made the “case” public in 1992, shortly after Dylan first claimed to have abused her and filed for custody of Dylan, Ronan and Moses Farrow, Allen claimed that Mia had fabricated or trained the allegations of abuse of Dylan as revenge.

Allen’s advocates say the documentation, by directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering and producer Amy Herdy, is biased because Allen and Previn are not interviewed; nor is it Moses. (All three refused to be interviewed for the series, according to the title cards that appear on the screen. Allen repeatedly denied Dylan’s accusation.) These critics sought to oppose the view of the production, which is directly on the side of Dylan and Mia, for separating the evidence presented and noting that the details that support Allen’s innocence have been covered up or omitted. The filmmakers responded by saying that Allen’s account is already widely known and that “Allen v. Farrow ”tries to show the other side.

Mia and Dylan Farrow are interviewed throughout the series, as are almost all of Farrow’s other children, many family friends, former nannies, prosecutors, social workers and more. These, along with court documents, Farrow’s home movies, Allen’s movie clips, excerpts from the audiobook of his memories, and more, add up to a disturbing image of a predator who is willing to destroy everyone around him to preserve his reputation as a brilliant filmmaker.

By examining not only Dylan Farrow’s allegations of sexual abuse, but also the bitter battle for custody of the couple and the beginning of Allen’s sexual relationship with Previn, the series builds a powerful challenge to the narrative that emerged at the time, shaped by the blitz itself. Allen media: Farrow was scorned and Allen was framed. Allen’s influence and celebrity, and the Hollywood story of supporting talented men instead of accusers, helped bring his account to the forefront, while Mia begged him to keep the fight out of the newspapers. And that’s where the story stayed – until “Allen v. Farrow ”revisited the controversy.

If you accept the argument of the series, in which the long-waived accounts of Dylan and Mia Farrow receive a high-profile platform, it is up to you to decide, based not only on the series, but also on your prior knowledge and many Google searches . The problem with many of Allen’s advocates, having dismissed the bill before seeing it, is that they clearly made up their mind a long time ago – before “Allen v. Farrow”, even before Dylan Farrow brought the charge back in 2014 and 2017.

For these avid fans, Allen is a victim of Farrow’s green grapes, of the “culture of cancellation”, of feminism itself. But the truth behind Allen’s emotional and often highly personal defenses is that he became subject to the forces of change that finally began to challenge the old world order, when a girl’s place was tormenting Allen or other actors on the screen, no it matters how much these men may be nerds or neurotics, or how young the woman.

No one knows for sure what really happened at the Allen / Farrow house, except the people who survived the nightmare. The rest of us base our opinions on the most convincing argument, and so far, Allen – a beloved filmmaker in a notoriously sexist business in a patriarchal society – has had the megaphone and the power of the industry to present his account.

Perhaps these stubborn Allen are upset because “Allen v. Farrow ”finally explores the other side of the story, and they are used to a world where women simply told them to shut up.