Woody Allen is making another movie, with a whole new crop of celebrities choosing to work with a man accused of sexually abusing his seven year old daughter. I’m tired of seeing Woody Allen make movies and watch people flock to go see them. This man has no place in our movie industry, or really any industry.
“But Christina,” I hear you saying, “separate the art from the artist. His personal life doesn’t affect his movies.” That argument could work if we weren’t talking about sexual assault. I can separate an artist’s personal likes and preferences, I can’t ignore the fact that by going to see a Woody Allen movie I would be using my money to support a man who almost definitely sexually assaulted his daughter.
“But Christina,” you say, “he was never even charged.” The attorney in charge of prosecuting the case didn’t charge him because his victim was a seven year old girl who didn’t deserve to be put through a trial that would be highly public based on how famous he is. There was enough evidence that he lost custody of his daughter, which shows something must have happened. But fine, he wasn’t convicted. Let’s talk about Roman Pollanski who was convicted of raping a 13 year old girl and still gets to make movies that get nominated for awards. Let’s talk about Victor Silva, who is a convicted peodophile and is set to release Jeepers Creepers 3 soon. Let’s talk about Casey Affleck, who was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women he worked with and then settled when he was sued who then went on to win a best actor oscar last year.
“But Christina,” you say, “why does it matter?” How do you think Woody Allen’s daughter feels seeing be successful after what he did to her? How do you think any sexual assault survivors feel knowing that it doesn’t matter how credible a claim is, people will still support their assaulters? How does it feel for the people who never got a chance to get justice to see that even if they did, it wouldn’t matter, because society has decided we don’t care about sexual violence against women?
If you want to go see a Woody Allen movie, I can’t stop you. But when you let your money go to a man who sexually assaulted his daughter, you make a statement. You tell survivors everywhere I’m not on your side, I’m on his.