An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow

[hue]

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/an-open-letter-from-dylan-farrow/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=OP_AOL_20140201&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=0

(A note from Nicholas Kristof: In 1993, accusations that Woody Allen had abused his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, filled the headlines, part of a sensational story about the celebrity split between Allen and his girlfriend, Mia Farrow. This is a case that has been written about endlessly, but this is the first time that Dylan Farrow herself has written about it in public. It’s important to note that Woody Allen was never prosecuted in this case and has consistently denied wrongdoing; he deserves the presumption of innocence. So why publish an account of an old case on my blog? Partly because the Golden Globe lifetime achievement award to Allen ignited a debate about the propriety of the award. Partly because the root issue here isn’t celebrity but sex abuse. And partly because countless people on all sides have written passionately about these events, but we haven’t fully heard from the young woman who was at the heart of them. I’ve written a column about this, but it’s time for the world to hear Dylan’s story in her own words.)

What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies. I remember staring at that toy train, focusing on it as it traveled in its circle around the attic. To this day, I find it difficult to look at toy trains.

For as long as I could remember, my father had been doing things to me that I didn’t like. I didn’t like how often he would take me away from my mom, siblings and friends to be alone with him. I didn’t like it when he would stick his thumb in my mouth. I didn’t like it when I had to get in bed with him under the sheets when he was in his underwear. I didn’t like it when he would place his head in my naked lap and breathe in and breathe out. I would hide under beds or lock myself in the bathroom to avoid these encounters, but he always found me. These things happened so often, so routinely, so skillfully hidden from a mother that would have protected me had she known, that I thought it was normal. I thought this was how fathers doted on their daughters. But what he did to me in the attic felt different. I couldn’t keep the secret anymore.

[dipsydoodle]

1. I prefer the title in GD : What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024427516

[DURHAM D]

2. There is an on-going conversation about this article here

if you want to join in -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024427516

[patricia92243]

3. Did Mia Farrow continue to live with Allen for years and years after all this? The only

reason they split was he left her for her step-daughter. In other words, Mia would still be with a man that molested her daughter - if he hadn't left her. Doesn't say much for her.

Poor child, caught in the middle.

[maddiemom]

6. Mia Farrow (and I'm a contemporary) is someone I've found both strange and annoying

since she first came to national attention on the television "Peyton Place." In real life, she seemed to exude this innocent, waif-like persona similar to her television role, while apparently a real expert at "getting" whatever man she wanted. The late Dory Previn had a lot to say about this when her "friend" Mia, grabbed and married her then husband, Andre. The Frank Sinatra marriage involved her cutting off her hair and other strange behavior. Enough has long been known publicly to indicate Woody Allen has a predilection for young women. As a rich and famous guy who is brilliant, but physically unassuming, Allen would not be unusual, if admittedly disgusting, in this. Not defending him at all, just saying that Mia has been somewhat looney all along. whatever goes on provokes enough attention to suck in those like myself, who aren't celebrity groupies... but I'm guilty, nonetheless, of paying attention.

[trublu992]

4. I'm soo tired of hearing how talented he is.

His movies are alright some good most okay but there has always been latent sexual themes in his work

that screams creepy.

[maddiemom]

7. He was way, way better in stand-up and with his movies prior to 1990 or so.

Although his films have gotten the most adulation in the past couple of decades, he's completely lost me along the way. After the much acclaimed "Hannah and Her Sisters," saved by some good performances from other actors, I pretty much lost interest in anything he's done.

[nikto]

5. Sounds like Crimes, and not misdemeanors