Besides the fact that the allegations of abuse were unraveled by two separate, professional and public investigations which both concluded that there was no evidence that abuse occurred and much evidence that Dylan was coached by her mother, and that the son whose sister he cheated with has a very good relationship with them both (see th…
Besides the fact that the allegations of abuse were unraveled by two separate, professional and public investigations which both concluded that there was no evidence that abuse occurred and much evidence that Dylan was coached by her mother, and that the son whose sister he cheated with has a very good relationship with them both (see the link below), yes, he absolutely did a very bad thing 33 years ago, I completely agree. What does this tell us about who he is today?
How has Allen behaved in the last 30 years? The last 20 or 10 years? Certainly, no one here knows for sure, and there's been no evidence of similarly irresponsible and unhealthy behavior.
It's reasonable to judge behavior and actions, especially when someone is harmed in one way or another. But, *absent any relevant evidence*, I don't believe it's reasonable to judge the character of person decades after they behaved in irresponsible and even harmful ways.
Yes,those investigations did take place, as you say, but Dylan Farrow continues to maintain as an adult that the abuse happened. That doesn't make me jump to the belief that Woody Allen is definitely an abuser but it does make think, combined with his willingness to trample over normal family boundaries in a way that I consider abusive to his child, that he might be. I don't think anyone will ever be able to know at this point.
I agree with you that none of us knows how Allen has behaved for the last 30 years but does that really mean we can't make a judgement about his character based on what we do know? I mean, as far as I'm aware, Roman Polanski hasn't sodomised any more 13 year old girls but I still think he's a bad person.
I very much understand and respect your perspective, but I don't know these people, so I don't expend any energy having any opinions as to whether or not they're good or bad people. I only know what they did decades ago. This could be partly because I often work professionally with folks who have been released from prison and try to help them start over. I always tell them that I don't care what they did so much as I care what they're doing.
I think the very worst thing about all of it is that Dylan sincerely believes she was abused. I have nothing but sympathy for her. My opinion is that, based on the investigations and our growing understanding of false memory syndrome over the last 25 years (along with the physical and mental abuse endured by her siblings), Mia Farrow is primarily responsible for the pain Dylan experiences. Of course, I'm old enough to have been mistaken about many things and I could be mistaken about this.
Well, if you buy into Elizabeth Loftus theories on memory, even a small suggestion that an event happened during childhood can trigger a false memory, never mind being raised in a family situation where you’ve been told since you were 7 that this happened to you. I’m sure Dylan Farrow believes this happened to her, but that’s not enough to make it an open and shut case, imo.
As to Polanski, on one hand, his victim, Samantha Geimer has long since forgiven him and wants the case dropped and the press to just leave her alone. On the other hand, there are several other allegations against Polanski, some for even a more serious degree of sexual assault than the Geimer case.
Besides the fact that the allegations of abuse were unraveled by two separate, professional and public investigations which both concluded that there was no evidence that abuse occurred and much evidence that Dylan was coached by her mother, and that the son whose sister he cheated with has a very good relationship with them both (see the link below), yes, he absolutely did a very bad thing 33 years ago, I completely agree. What does this tell us about who he is today?
How has Allen behaved in the last 30 years? The last 20 or 10 years? Certainly, no one here knows for sure, and there's been no evidence of similarly irresponsible and unhealthy behavior.
It's reasonable to judge behavior and actions, especially when someone is harmed in one way or another. But, *absent any relevant evidence*, I don't believe it's reasonable to judge the character of person decades after they behaved in irresponsible and even harmful ways.
Yes,those investigations did take place, as you say, but Dylan Farrow continues to maintain as an adult that the abuse happened. That doesn't make me jump to the belief that Woody Allen is definitely an abuser but it does make think, combined with his willingness to trample over normal family boundaries in a way that I consider abusive to his child, that he might be. I don't think anyone will ever be able to know at this point.
I agree with you that none of us knows how Allen has behaved for the last 30 years but does that really mean we can't make a judgement about his character based on what we do know? I mean, as far as I'm aware, Roman Polanski hasn't sodomised any more 13 year old girls but I still think he's a bad person.
I very much understand and respect your perspective, but I don't know these people, so I don't expend any energy having any opinions as to whether or not they're good or bad people. I only know what they did decades ago. This could be partly because I often work professionally with folks who have been released from prison and try to help them start over. I always tell them that I don't care what they did so much as I care what they're doing.
I think the very worst thing about all of it is that Dylan sincerely believes she was abused. I have nothing but sympathy for her. My opinion is that, based on the investigations and our growing understanding of false memory syndrome over the last 25 years (along with the physical and mental abuse endured by her siblings), Mia Farrow is primarily responsible for the pain Dylan experiences. Of course, I'm old enough to have been mistaken about many things and I could be mistaken about this.
"I think the very worst thing about all of it is that Dylan sincerely believes she was abused."
That's how I see it too, and however that happened is heinous. If the allegations are true of course and if, as the evidence points, they're untrue.
Well, if you buy into Elizabeth Loftus theories on memory, even a small suggestion that an event happened during childhood can trigger a false memory, never mind being raised in a family situation where you’ve been told since you were 7 that this happened to you. I’m sure Dylan Farrow believes this happened to her, but that’s not enough to make it an open and shut case, imo.
As to Polanski, on one hand, his victim, Samantha Geimer has long since forgiven him and wants the case dropped and the press to just leave her alone. On the other hand, there are several other allegations against Polanski, some for even a more serious degree of sexual assault than the Geimer case.