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

[AmazonGrace]

They're saying the relationship started when she was 21.

[AmazonGrace]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/30

He said: 'I started the relationship with her and I thought it would just be a fling. It wouldn't be serious, but it had a life of its own. And I never thought it would be anything more. Then we started going together, then we started living together, and we were enjoying it.'

 

 

From 1997, five years after he left Mia Farrow, and he already looks like, "wtf happened, I was only supposed to nail her and then get rid of her when I get bored"

[nellautumngirl]

There was a discussion about this topic on another forum and I agreed with a poster who said she views the art seperate from the artist. Their movies are beautiful and I'm not going to deprive myself of them because the creators are terrible people, otherwise there wouldn't be much art left to look at. But I respect if people don't want to give them their money as well.

[AmazonGrace]

I'm not sure about that, I find that I can easily avoid the art of known child molesters and still have more to look at than I can manage the time for.

[QuiverDance]

On 1/5/2016 at 10:42 AM, nellautumngirl said:

There was a discussion about this topic on another forum and I agreed with a poster who said she views the art seperate from the artist. Their movies are beautiful and I'm not going to deprive myself of them because the creators are terrible people, otherwise there wouldn't be much art left to look at. But I respect if people don't want to give them their money as well.

Midnight in Paris.  That was some good stuff, even if this schmuck made it.  

[nellautumngirl]

4 hours ago, QuiverDance said:

Midnight in Paris.  That was some good stuff, even if this schmuck made it.  

Totally! I also really like The Fearless Vampire Hunters, The Pianist and Chinatown by Roman Polanski.

[Avalondaughter]

On 12/10/2015 at 0:53 PM, 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.  

You would not be alone in that sentiment. 

I recently performed in a community theater play where one of the characters was a young, clueless playwright.  The guy who played him was 20 years old.  I remember at one of our first rehearsals the director told the kid to use Woody Allen as an inspiration.  The kid asked, "Who's Woody Allen?"  The rest of the cast gasped and guffawed.  Soon movies were named and the cast was all praises.  I pointed out that he was a molesting sleazebag who married his own stepdaughter and I was told to ignore that.  It was only proper to divorce his brilliant work from his personal life. 

I have not watched most of his body of work.  I have been hearing the mixed reviews my whole life.  There is part of me that would like to see more of his films so I could really grasp the kind of person he was through his movies.  The movies I have seen are "Midnight in Paris" (loved) "Radio Days" (also loved) and "Blue Jasmine" (not so much).  I also saw the anthology of shorts "NY Stories" that featured an Allen short that was hilarious.  A few years ago my husband bought one of his books that contained a collection of essays and it was also hilarious.  A few years ago I saw an anthology of short plays that featured one of Allen's works called "Honeymoon Motel" and it was funny, but it was the first one of his works that put his creep factor on display (a bride runs off with her father-in-law after the wedding).  I am a little afraid to watch some of his work surrounding relationships with men and women (Annie Hall, Husbands and Wives, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters) because knowning what I know about him would make that experience truly unpleasant.  My husband (a former actor) loves Allen and prefers his early work (Sleeper, etc.) and seems to have no trouble enjoying his work and understanding the guy is a sleeze.   He tells me I really should watch Annie Hall.  Allen has proved he can make me laugh.   He is not someone I want making me cry.

He will always have a spot in my memory as he is (as I pointed out in another thread) the first celebrity I ever recognized on the street.

[CoveredInBees]

'I started the relationship with her and I thought it would just be a fling'

Somehow that makes it even worse, the idea that he was just going to use her and then cast her aside knowing full well it would blow the whole family apart.

I won't watch Allen or Polanski films. I find them both appalling human beings.

What I find interesting is that whilst Allen hasn't done anything legally wrong, Polanski clearly has and (as far as I know) cannot set foot on US soil. I really do not understand actors who continue to work with him.

 

[nausicaa]

On 4/17/2016 at 7:50 AM, CoveredInBees said:

'I started the relationship with her and I thought it would just be a fling'

Somehow that makes it even worse, the idea that he was just going to use her and then cast her aside knowing full well it would blow the whole family apart.

I won't watch Allen or Polanski films. I find them both appalling human beings.

What I find interesting is that whilst Allen hasn't done anything legally wrong, Polanski clearly has and (as far as I know) cannot set foot on US soil. I really do not understand actors who continue to work with him.

 

Agree with all of this.

I find it despicable no matter the intentions, but "We had this amazing attraction I'd never felt before and before I knew it I was in love with her heart and mind" is a lot more sympathetic to most people than "I wanted someone new to bang and my girlfriend's emotionally unstable daughter was around a lot." God he is a piece of shit. 

I also have no idea why people work with Polanski. Unlike Allen, he has not denied what he has done and it was undeniably illegal for several reasons. He had his day in court and just decided to flee the punishment. So actors in his films are essentially saying, "Hey I'm cool with child rapists if they can further my career!" 

[turquoise]

I never liked Woody Allen that much. I haven't seen a lot of his movies, but in the ones I saw, he always seemed to be playing the same whiny character.  I won't watch them now. I understand others may feel differently, but personally I can't get past what he's done.

A few years ago I saw a picture of him out walking with Soon Yi and one of their daughters, who appeared to be a teenager. Woody was holding hands with the daughter and Soon Yi was walking a few steps behind them. It struck me as strange. I've seen couples hold hands, but I don't think I held my father's hand walking in public past the age of 5 or so.

[SnazzyNazzy]

This relationship has always, and still does, squick me out. It isn't the age difference that does it, it's the whole pseudo-incestuous thing that does it.