I wrote a script on #metoo that we made into movie – “Hear a No”. I very much stand with the movement. But. What I don’t stand with is false accusations, which also happen. Evidence suggests that Woody Allen is not guilty, and yet the film industry still treats him as guilty. That doesn’t sit right with me.
I have to admit, for a while, I felt it would be wrong to mention his name as someone I aspire to be alike as a filmmaker, because of the press around the molestation case. Just to be on the safe side. But no, that’s not right. The allegations are fishy. They were never proven. Psychologists looked into it and testified. Court looked into it. Nothing was proven.
Woody’s films are films I look up to. He’s got this particular blend going that just makes them magical. Midnight in Paris is one of my favourite films by Woodie Allen and overall, probably.
There, I’ve said it. Learning to not be afraid to use my voice. Learning from the movement that is going on in America right now with Black Lives Matter. Silence doesn’t help. Black Lives Matter. Justice Matters. Leave Woody be. He was never proven guilty but yet gets treated as such by so many.
Here is an article by Irish Times, that has prompted me to write this post.
Thank you, Lina, for sharing your thoughts, for your loyalty toward your colleague, and your courage to speak out. Obviously, no courage should ever be needed to speak your mind and to defend a likely innocent person. Yet today it seems the social threats are all too real when someone dares to support the idea that a man may be not guilty. Colleagues in the film industry have succumbed to that pressure, and chose to rather be ‘on the safe side’. That is mob pressure. And that mob pressure has been enforced by the Farrows, who call out your colleagues when they dare doubt Woody Allen’s guilt, either with their words or with their actions (such as playing in his movies).
It is an absurd development. The Farrows have always shunned the courts like the Plague. They have never dared to take Woody Allen to court. Never. Not in 1992 when Mia had her pediatrician go to the police (not she). Not in 2014 when Dylan had her ‘open letter’ published in Nick Kristof’s NYT column. Not in 2018 when Dylan chose CBS News for a live interview. And not in 2019 when Ronan had his book released in which he accuses his ‘possible’ father. All the Farrows seek is to have Woody Allen’s reputation destroyed in a trial-by-media.
We should not cooperate with that. If they seek justice, let them find justice through legal channels. Not by pressurizing you and your colleagues through ‘cancel culture’. Because ‘cancel culture’ is Mob Justice 2.0. And we should not bow to mob justice, never.
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