Within the last couple of weeks, Hollywood has seen some hard times. Possibly one of the most notable hardships of late, would be the accusation that one of the world's favorite filmmakers is a child molester.
In case you have spent your recent days under a rock, I will remind you that this accused person is none other than Woody Allen. As a filmmaker and film student, I cannot help but feel an appreciation for the work of Mr. Allen. He's undoubtedly talented, and, in addition to practically rewriting the rules of contemporary comedy in film, has put out some of the best work Hollywood has to offer. Being a person of great exposure the world, it is only expected that a public accusation to the extremity of child molestation should blow up in the faces of those involved. On the other hand, holding such a position within the media sphere, it is likely that bias will indeed accumulate and gather into the ugly mask that forms when necessary to hide the exposed face of rape culture and victim-silencing every time it wonders out into the public in way that it might be recognized.
Recently, in an open letter written by Dylan Farrow - daughter of Mia farrow and adopted daughter of Woody Allen - communicated her alleged molestation by Mr. Allen. Just days after Mr. Allen had been honored at the 2014 Golden Globes, Farrow recalls with detail the horrors she had experienced in an effort to reveal her side of the story in regard to being in personal relation to the filmmaker.
It is important to remember that in 1992, Allen was under investigation for just this; molestation of Dylan Farrow. The case was dropped because the state attorney believed Dylan was too "fragile for a court case." In an open letter from Mr. Allen, acting as a rebuttal to Dylan's letter, Allen made the point that a team of highly experienced professionals from the Yale-New Haven Hospital Child Abuse Clinic determined that Dylan was not sexually abused. What Mr. failed to mention was the reality that the decision made by the clinic was not accepted by Judge Wilk due to the fact that the team consisted of only two social workers and a pediatrician, no psychologists nor psychiatrists, and therefore the persons responsible for the investigative conclusion were not reliable in their claims that Dylan was simply having trouble determining fantasy from reality.
The situation is particularly hard considering the immensely dysfunctional nature of the relationships held between nearly all family members across the Farrows and Mr. Allen. The family in known for its harboring of anger and feelings of betrayal, particularly felt by Mia Farrow, and Mr. Allen's children, toward Mr. Allen in response to his seduction and marriage to Soon-Yi, his and Mia Farrow's adopted daughter.
So far, the media's coverage of the situation has been a mixed bag. There is little information, and therefore little to report on. Unfortunately, for the most part, all that can be said after citing the facts of Mr. Allen and Dylan Farrow's pasts, is opinion-based. The New York Times originally published Dylan Farrow's article, in an initial stance of support. Since then, after facing criticism for "rushing to judgement" and "condemning" a possibly innocent man, the publication has released Mr. Allen's response, in an effort to seem balanced. Despite Dylan Farrow's first hand accounts, Mr. Allen's rebuttal has primarily been recognized as "persuasive," as the public takes a sigh of relief that their favorite filmmaker may not actually be a child molester, something much nicer to believe than not. Regardless of the "degree" of abuse which Mr. Allen may have inflicted upon Dylan Farrow, it is large-scale media saturated situations like this, in which victims are portrayed as untruthful in their "accusations," that validates this omnipresent element of rape culture throughout the rest of society. The Washington Post recently published a piece by Richard Cohen, in which he contemptibly goes full-on rape apologist, stating "It's hard to imagine a more odious crime than child molestation. It's hard also to imagine the mortification of those falsely accused of it. If the Times thinks it has made matters right by printing Allen's rebuttal, it is both naive and wrong. It may or may not owe Allen an apology, but it owes one to its readers."
I'm not here to determine who is in the wrong; I am neither of the knowledge nor position to do that. What I am absolutely compelled to believe is that this "scandal" resonates in the beings of millions in the United States who live in silence for this very reason: all too often, those who have suffered sexual abuse are told that they are wrong, that it did not happen, and that if it did happen, it was no person's fault but their own. If the media tells the public that we, collectively, should not believe Dylan Farrow, what message will this send to victims elsewhere?
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