Woody Allen Speaks Out

[TM99]

304. Please read Ney's book.

Here's why, and I hope that since you are in the field, you will be more open to what I have been trying communicate.

Many, including yourself, are taking out of context Dylan Farrows public admission of sexual molestation and abuse. You are instantly accepting that she is simply a survivor and as the stats show, less than 5% are false allegations. You are stopping there as many are. But we can't really do that. Why? Because this is a 20 year old allegation that absolutely fits with the very quote you are presenting here. The adult is involved in the accusations AND it often occurs during the context of a divorce and child-custody battle.

That is what was happening between Mia Farrow & Woody Allen. There were investigations, a trial, and an appeal which all determined that there was no proof of sexual abuse. Lots of subsequent authors attempt to suggest otherwise because Woody Allen didn't take a lie detector from one person but did another, because the Judge thought Mia was good and Allen bad because he got involved with Soon-Yi, because the Yale-New Haven medical team was 'incompetent' or 'paid for by Woody Allen's PR team', etc, etc, etc.

As professionals in the field, we both know first of all that if accusations like this were made that it would be extremely difficult for Woody Allen & Soon-Yi to adopt two daughters without careful scrutiny. We both know that sexual abusers have a long history of abuse. Woody Allen may have history of dating younger women, some even bordering on legal age, but sexual attraction to a 17 or 19 year old is NOT the same thing a sexual attraction to a 7 year old. There were no previous accusations of abuse, and there have been no subsequent ones either.

Many may consider him 'creepy' but his actions with Soon-Yi are really no different than Mia Farrows with Frank Sinatra. Some here say, Woody Allen groomed her from an early age because some abusers do that (not all as you should know). Did Frank Sinatra do the same to Mia Farrow? After all she was 11 when John Farrow introduced her to Frank Sinatra with John Farrow warning Frank Sinatra to not go near his daughter - of course John Farrow was having an affair with Eva Gardner, Frank Sinatra's wife at the time. He then seduced her at age 19, married her, and divorced her within 2 years. Was Frank Sinatra a child sexual abuser? Did he 'groom' Mia Farrow? Is Mia Farrow a survivor of childhood sexual abuse? Does that explain her history with bad relationships, serial adoptions, emotional instability, etc.? If so, did that get projected into her nasty dispute with Woody Allen? The emotional stress of experiencing your adopted daughter falling in love with and beginning a long-term sexual and romantic relationship with your estranged partner could and would certainly trigger abuse issues. Even more so, given that a younger woman is breaking up a relationship she is in with an older man much as she did with Dory and Andre Previn.

So, there are enough questions that yes, I would and do hesitate in believing carte blanche that what Dylan claims she remembers is 'true'. Some here believe that that makes me insensitive, unempathic, or inconsiderate to those who have experienced sexual abuse. I am none of those things. I was molested myself. I learned in my own training that my own counter-transference if not fully dealt with can, could, and does cloud my perception. My professional integrity in this case, naturally judging it only from afar, does have me question the certainty that so many 'feel' about the entire situation. I will still maintain as I have that while I have questions and am not certain, I also am not personally involved, know none of the parties in question, and am not arrogant enough to presume that I am certain just because of some 'stats'. I do hope that Dylan Farrow gets the hell away from her mother and gets extensive therapy to figure out what did and didn't occur. The timing of this letter and the still obvious rancor that Mia Farrow has for Woody Allen is not condusive to Dylan Farrow getting any sort of healing in the matter.

And if Woody Allen did molest her and got away with it, we both know as professionals that if she is waiting for an admission in order to 'heal' then she will never do so. Take herself back into privacy, not hidden or ashamed, but just private & personally deal with healing so that she can be free from those shadows, have healthier relationships than her mother ever did, and live a happy life. So few abuse victims ever really heal which does deeply sadden me. They nurse and nurture their victimization, their hurt, their rage, and deny themselves happiness decades after the past has ended.