Crimes and Misdemeanors

I am regularly baffled by popular responses to Woody Allen. The thing that baffles me is certainty.

I have no idea whether Mr. Allen molested Ms. Farrow's daughter. I do know that that's an allegation. I also know that it was found to be not provable, that Woody Allen denies the allegation, and that one member of the Farrow household--Moses--has an account of events that is not at all flattering to Mia. I think that's really all that anyone knows--unless the person in question is Woody himself, or Dylan.

Given the facts, the frequent attacks on Allen in Vulture are baffling to me. What if these writers are wrong?

One voice of sanity seems to be Cherry Jones, who has stated that she is unwilling to attack Allen, and observed that others are "more comfortable in their certainty" than she herself is.

Ms. Jones is a lone wolf. A few other actors are outspoken in their total support of Woody Allen, going well beyond Jones's cautious statements: Those actors are Diane Keaton, Javier Bardem, and Anjelica Huston.

Another thing that bothers me in Vulture is the haughtiness about other choices Allen makes. A writer referred to Allen's casting for his upcoming movie as desperate: "With the exception of Christoph Waltz, they're all washed up." Is Louis Garrel not a major figure in current French cinema? Does Louis Garrel really count as "washed up"?

Vulture takes issue with Allen's narrow scope of focus: "This is another movie about falling in love while white." But if Allen were to alter his casting landscape, I can't help but wonder, would he not then be accused (by some of the same writers) of failing to "stay in his lane"?

Again, I don't have many answers here. I continue to find Allen's work--and his work ethic--intriguing. There will be a new movie soon.

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