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NPR Interview - Woody Allen's "Paternal" Relationship w/Wife


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In a new and decidedly rare interview with NPR, Woody Allen opens up about his relationship with his Wife and former [but not legal] step-daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, and their marriage of 20 years.

 

Included, are his candid remarks of how it all began, in his mind, as "a fling".

 

Woody Allen said:
“I started the relationship with her and I thought it would just be a fling." [1]

In a 2011 interview , he said

Woody Allen said:
What was the scandal? I fell in love with this girl, married her. [2]

Funny, he uses the term, "fell in love with this girl", instead of "my girlfriend of twelve-years' daughter". Convenient. Also convenient that he reportedly stopped his weekly psychoanalysis upon the start of the relationship with Soon-Yi.

 

 

Vanity Fair said:
“I'm 35 years older, and somehow, through no fault of mine or hers, the dynamic worked. I was paternal,†he explains. “She responded to someone paternal. I liked her youth and energy. She deferred to me, and I was happy to give her an enormous amount of decision making just as a gift and let her take charge of so many things.â€

 

The statement goes directly against what both Previn and Allen said to press in the early 1990s. “To think that Woody was in any way a father or stepfather to me is laughable,†Previn told Time. “She’s probably more mature than I am,†Allen said in a separate interview. Farrow, meanwhile, told Vanity Fair that she learned of the duo’s relationship when she discovered a stack of Polaroids taken by Allen of her daughter—a college student at the time—in full-frontal nudity. (Allen maintained the pictures were taken because Previn was interested in modeling.) [3]

 

 

NPR said:

The separation between church and state, artists and their personal lives — do you think the allegations [that you sexually abused your adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow] have affected how people approach your movies?

 

I would say no. I always had a small audience. People did not come in great abundance, and they still don't, and I've maintained the same audience over the years. If the reviews are bad, they don't come. If the reviews are good, they probably come.

 

You really don't believe they carry that external baggage into the theater?

 

Not for a second. It has no meaning in the way I make movies, too. I never see any evidence of anything in my private life resonating in film. If I come out with a film people want to see, they flock to see it, which means they see it to the degree of Manhattan or Annie Hall or Midnight in Paris. That's my outer limits. If I come out with a film they don't want to see, they don't come. [1]

 

Think again! The only reason I do not "carry that external baggage into the theater" is because I simply do not go - God-forbid he see profit from his "inspiration". Granted I am younger, at one time I enjoyed a film or two. That is, until I learned the "10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation" [4]. And I will not see his upcoming 3000th movie.

 

What about you?! Do you still see his films?

 

I feel that the notion that his films are too great to be weighed down by ethical concerns is bullshit. His "nice guy" style of sexism is still just that - sexism.

 

Sources:

[1] Original NPR Interview.

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/29/426827865 ... -best-work

[2] Reuters, June 22, 2011.

[3] Vanity Fair article.

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/201 ... -yi-previn

[4] 10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2014/02/ ... e-10-facts

And my favorite:

[5] Smart snark, entitled, "Woody Allen Thought He Was Probably Just Gonna Fuck Soon-Yi a Few Times"

http://gawker.com/woody-allen-thought-h ... 1721088754

 

(One source edited.)

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I had never seen a Woody Allen film before the scandal, and I've never felt the need to. I doubt they're my sort of thing anyway, but I just don't like the guy.

I saw a Roman Polanski film once, but it was before his rape news came out. Again, I won't be watching any more.

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  • 2 weeks later...

He is just so wrong on so many levels. He's creepy, and that's the mildest thing I can say about him. He's a predator. I remember when th story broke about the nude pics. I don't doubt their inappropriate "relationship" began when she was underage. I don't know how Mia didnt kill him. If Soon-Yi was my baby, I'd be in prison. I believe the the abuse allegations of the other children, too. Nope, I don't watch his movies.

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As far as I know, I've never seen one of his movies. I have no interest in helping him make a profit. Same goes with Roman Polanski - I have a tad bit of sympathy for him given what happened to his wife and unborn son, as well as the fact that he survived the Holocaust (his mother did not.)

Both are pretty creepy and disgusting men though. I honestly don't understand how someone like Woody Allen is able to rationalize what he did. Even if Soon-Yi was a legal adult, he was still in a relationship with her mother and held a position of power over her because of that... not to mention that allegations made by his adopted-daughter Dylan, which takes it to a whole other level of creepy.

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“I started the relationship with her and I thought it would just be a fling." [1]

How could you possibly have a fling with your partner's adopted daughter? It's not even possible. She's a permanent fixture in your life. Even if the sex ended, you'd still have to see her all the time.

What was the scandal? I fell in love with this girl, married her. [2]

Playing dumb doesn't go over well when you're as smart as Woody Allen.

She deferred to me, and I was happy to give her an enormous amount of decision making just as a gift and let her take charge of so many things.â€

This is one of the creepiest statements I've ever read. She deferred to him and, in return, he let her make decisions as a gift? Disgusting.

You really don't believe they carry that external baggage into the theater?

I never see any evidence of anything in my private life resonating in film. [1]

LOL. He is famous for using his own life and relationships as inspiration for his films, especially the earlier ones. Heck, he acted in his own movies for as long as he could! Basically just played himself.

I will admit that he's a talented screenwriter/director, and I've seen a lot of his movies. But once I heard the rape accusations, which I believe to be true because I don't believe most women make that stuff up, I stopped paying for any of them. The only time I'll watch one of his movies is on HBO. I won't go to the theater to see them.

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Nothing substantive to add except I saw Woody and Soon Yi last night at Spago in Beverly Hills, he's teeny tiny and pretty creepy honestly.

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I am old enough to have seen several of the early movies he put out before the whole disgusting affair and although some movies were interesting they were always entirely self absorbed and narcissistic. He certainly never lacked self love. As soon as the crap about the adopted daughter came out I made it a point not to watch any movie he made, was in, or was in any way involved in.

Whether he legally was Soon Yi's adopted father or not, he was in a paternal role in the household and as such she was off limits. The quotes in this original post are just mind boggling. Talk about making up ones reality as it suits. He is a vile little man and I am not referring to his stature, but rather his character.

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He is not even that good of a filmmaker. IMO he is painfully overrated. Not to mention that he is disgusting. This whole situation is so wrong in so many ways. I pity her.

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I watched a film or two in the 80's and was sick of his self absorbed whining really fast. I was in high school at the time and wondered what all the fuss was about.

He us creepy gross. I wasn't surprised he is a molester.

Snip:Vanity Fair wrote:

"She deferred to me, and I was happy to give her an enormous amount of decision making just as a gift and let her take charge of so many things.â€

I'm not surprised.A person who does the things he has done cannot see a human as anything other than an object to possess.

I was greatly sad for Mia Ferrell and her children. But her eyes were apparently glued shut to his narcissism.

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Used to watch his movies & used to enjoy them. Was grossed out when he started the relationship, but this latest interview took me over the top. I don't see how some people get away with these things. The initial relationship was treated as a joke, in my opinion---and this interview barely made a ripple.

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  • 2 months later...

I've made an effort to watch this films, but the only one I've ever enjoyed was Midnight in Paris. The rest are, in my opinion, terrible. He comes off as a creep. I was a small child when all this stuff happened with Soon-Yi, so I've only read back on it, but just because he wasn't her "official" step father doesn't mean he probably didn't act like it around the house. I think his son, Ronan said it best when he said "She was my sister, it would be offensive to adoption to not say she was" or something like that. Watching Diane Keaton giving him that award at the Golden Globes a few years ago, especially after the news with Dylan broke was just awful to watch.

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As far as I know, I've never seen one of his movies. I have no interest in helping him make a profit. Same goes with Roman Polanski - I have a tad bit of sympathy for him given what happened to his wife and unborn son, as well as the fact that he survived the Holocaust (his mother did not.)

 

Both are pretty creepy and disgusting men though. I honestly don't understand how someone like Woody Allen is able to rationalize what he did. Even if Soon-Yi was a legal adult, he was still in a relationship with her mother and held a position of power over her because of that... not to mention that allegations made by his adopted-daughter Dylan, which takes it to a whole other level of creepy.

I don't think Soon-yi's exact age is known, because she was a street kid before she was adopted. Regardless, the whole situation is gross. It's the kind of story that would be on Maury or Jerry Springer, were the principle character not all wealthy. Consequently, they end up airing all their dirty laundry in the New York Times, NPR, and Vanity Fair. I guess the rich really are different from the rest of us.

Allen's comments that he likes being "paternal" to Previn reminds me of what I read about marriage in classical Athens, where fourteen year old girls would be married off to men in their thirties. The idea was that the husband would mold the girl in whatever way he wanted, so that when she was a mature matron (assuming she didn't die in childbirth), she would be like his reflection.

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I've made an effort to watch this films, but the only one I've ever enjoyed was Midnight in Paris. The rest are, in my opinion, terrible. He comes off as a creep. I was a small child when all this stuff happened with Soon-Yi, so I've only read back on it, but just because he wasn't her "official" step father doesn't mean he probably didn't act like it around the house. I think his son, Ronan said it best when he said "She was my sister, it would be offensive to adoption to not say she was" or something like that. Watching Diane Keaton giving him that award at the Golden Globes a few years ago, especially after the news with Dylan broke was just awful to watch.

I've tried to watch his stuff as well, and I was forced to watch two of his movies for class (Crimes and Misdemeanors, as well as Midnight in Paris), but I can't do it. He's a disgusting skeeze at best. If Hollywood thought he was less talented than they think he is now, he would be in jail. The pressure would be enormous.

 

I saw a Roman Polanski film once, but it was before his rape news came out. Again, I won't be watching any more.

The thing that really gets me about the Roman Polanski thing is how many famous people try to defend him and act as though he's so put-upon. Yes, losing his wife and unborn child to the Manson family was awful, as was losing his mother in the Holocaust and suffering through the Holocaust. But it's not like he didn't know what he was doing; he gave her alcohol and drugs. I refuse to watch his stuff, too. Like others have said, I'm not giving Allen or Polanski part of my hard-earned money.

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I hate to admit Polanski is a talented director. I hate it, I don't seek out his movies, but The Pianist and Rosemary's Baby are so good.

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I remember going to see Hannah and Her Sisters with my grandmother as a teen.  I enjoyed the movie at the time (there were some funny bits, like the rosary, mayo and Wonder Bread), but it becomes REALLY creepy when you realize that it's just reflecting what was going on in his personal life, without Farrow's knowledge.  For anyone not familiar with the movie, Farrow is the main character.  Her husband sees her as some sort of domestic saint, but also has an affair with her sexy sister.

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I've hesitated to share this story on here because these are people I know in real life, but I know a family where the dad, who is the preacher at a very questionable cult-like church, married his own son's wife and is attempting to adopt his granddaughter as his own daughter. Very reminiscent of the Woody Soon Yi situation. 

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In a new and decidedly rare interview with NPR, Woody Allen opens up about his relationship with his Wife and former [but not legal] step-daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, and their marriage of 20 years.

 

Included, are his candid remarks of how it all began, in his mind, as "a fling".

 

In a 2011 interview , he said

Funny, he uses the term, "fell in love with this girl", instead of "my girlfriend of twelve-years' daughter". Convenient. Also convenient that he reportedly stopped his weekly psychoanalysis upon the start of the relationship with Soon-Yi.

 

 

 

 

 

Think again! The only reason I do not "carry that external baggage into the theater" is because I simply do not go - God-forbid he see profit from his "inspiration". Granted I am younger, at one time I enjoyed a film or two. That is, until I learned the "10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation" [4]. And I will not see his upcoming 3000th movie.

 

What about you?! Do you still see his films?

 

I feel that the notion that his films are too great to be weighed down by ethical concerns is bullshit. His "nice guy" style of sexism is still just that - sexism.

 

Sources:

[1] Original NPR Interview.

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/29/426827865 ... -best-work

[2] Reuters, June 22, 2011.

[3] Vanity Fair article.

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/201 ... -yi-previn

[4] 10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2014/02/ ... e-10-facts

And my favorite:

[5] Smart snark, entitled, "Woody Allen Thought He Was Probably Just Gonna Fuck Soon-Yi a Few Times"

http://gawker.com/woody-allen-thought-h ... 1721088754

 

(One source edited.)

 

This guy hits all my squick spots.  Anything to do with him has been a big Nope!!! with me since it all came out.  I don't care how *good* his movies are or who comes out in support of him.  My ticket money loss won't matter to him, but it matters to me.

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There was ONE really funny, not creepy bit in Hannah and Her Sisters....and I've discovered that there are people who don't understand it AT ALL.  https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.fan.woody-allen/M-I_5a7tmDk

Not sure whether to laugh or cry at the idea that the rosary, mayo and Wonder Bread was a commentary on the communion ritual.

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  • 1 month later...

This is one of those areas where I have a really hard time divorcing the person from their art.

I was raised on Woody Allen movies and his record album of standup from the 60's.  I loved them.  I still love Hannah and Her Sisters so much; for me, beyond the story and the characters, the cinematography is a love letter to NYC (where I was born and lived as a small child).  I tend to watch it when I'm homesick for NY.  And there are one-liners in it that I think are hysterical and still quote often (his father: "How the hell do I know why there were Nazis, I don't know how the can opener works!").  

Flip side:  I am a survivor of molestation and rape and everything about what he did is heinous and disgusting to me.  No excuses, no justification, it's horrible.  And I hate him for it.  

Same with Roman Polanski.  Hate what he did, no excuses for it, none.  But god I love Rosemary's Baby and I think The Pianist is just brilliant.

For me, just me - I have not spent any money on Woody's films since his scandals, or gone to see any in the theater since the 80's.  I still think Roman should be brought to justice for what he did.  But I'm not throwing out my DVD copies of Hannah and Her Sisters and The Pianist, and I watch them both about once a year.  

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On 12/11/2015 at 11:53 AM, danvillebelle said:

This is one of those areas where I have a really hard time divorcing the person from their art.

I was raised on Woody Allen movies and his record album of standup from the 60's.  I loved them.  I still love Hannah and Her Sisters so much; for me, beyond the story and the characters, the cinematography is a love letter to NYC (where I was born and lived as a small child).  I tend to watch it when I'm homesick for NY.  And there are one-liners in it that I think are hysterical and still quote often (his father: "How the hell do I know why there were Nazis, I don't know how the can opener works!").  

Flip side:  I am a survivor of molestation and rape and everything about what he did is heinous and disgusting to me.  No excuses, no justification, it's horrible.  And I hate him for it.  

Same with Roman Polanski.  Hate what he did, no excuses for it, none.  But god I love Rosemary's Baby and I think The Pianist is just brilliant.

For me, just me - I have not spent any money on Woody's films since his scandals, or gone to see any in the theater since the 80's.  I still think Roman should be brought to justice for what he did.  But I'm not throwing out my DVD copies of Hannah and Her Sisters and The Pianist, and I watch them both about once a year.  

This is me too.  I saw a number of Woody Allen's films and for the most part liked them  Hannah and Her Sisters was one of my favorites.   However, since the scandal with Soon Yi broke I haven't seen any of them and had no inclination to.

How MIa Farrow didn't kill him after learning of his affair with her adopted daughter is beyond me. 

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He is a total scumbag, not to mention creepy. I had seen a few of his movies back in the day before all of this came out, but I've been on Mia Farrow's side since then & refuse to see any of them anymore. I can't figure out why Hollywood continues to kiss his (& Roman Polanski's) ass.

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39 minutes ago, LadyCrow1313 said:

He is a total scumbag, not to mention creepy. I had seen a few of his movies back in the day before all of this came out, but I've been on Mia Farrow's side since then & refuse to see any of them anymore. I can't figure out why Hollywood continues to kiss his (& Roman Polanski's) ass.

While I personally think Mia Farrow is a bit whackadoo, I was totally on her side when the scandal came out.  She was completely within her rights to be majorly pissed.   And yeah, that Allen and Polanski aren't complete personae non gratae (even long after the facts) in Hollywood is beyond me.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ok, I have what some might consider as a silly question. But I 1st saw Woody Allen movies cuz I had to for class, at the time I was unaware abt the Scandal - cuz I was a kid and not in the US.

Anyway the pictures, aren't they child porn? Wasn't she under 18 ? Or were the pics taken after she turned 18? Jst confused how he would had managed to avoid that whole mess

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