Apropos of Nothing

Funny, frank, fascinating, insightful, and frequently self-deprecating. I'm SO glad Mr. Allen found a publisher with a spine, so that his story could finally be told, despite the avalanche of ignorant, anti-Woody propaganda that was - and is - sure to meet its release. Hard facts and solid evidence are of no interest to the Woody-haters. It's like trying to convince a Trumper that they just might have erred in their choice of leaders. Read this book and then decide for yourself whether or not he sounds as if he's a sick monster. (Spoiler alert: He is neither.) A remarkable and revealing memoir by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time - and a very funny fellow.

Judging by the quotes floating around the internet, the book is as wise and funny as his movies and his short stories. Bravo, Woody !!! Until 120 (and more) !!

Weaponizing humor and self-deprecation and celebrity and name-dropping in the service of abuse and seduction: someone should really have taken aim at this guy at the Battle of Gettysburg. My opinion is that Woody Allen does not get it. As to genre, it reminds me most of Harvey Weinstein’s rambling speech before he was convicted. He could not understand what was happening to him. Evidently, genre is where the comparison stops. There is a vast difference between what Weinstein did and what Allen did. In 1860/1861, President Abraham Lincoln concluded that slavery needed to be abolished. Slavery had been a colossal abuse that had been with us since the beginning of civilization. But finally the time had come. But there was a price to pay. Tens of thousands of young men went to war and were killed or maimed, the bloodiest war in US history. In 2017, the MeToo movement made a beginning to put an end to a colossal abuse that has also been with us from time immemorial. Celebrity had so often been an enabler. So many people are actually intimidated and even frightened to speak up when they meet a barrage of name-dropping and glamour. It is a culture of fear. But the time had come. However, this time, no one had to go fight and die. Some went to jail. Others like Allen took a paycut. I have not read the entire book. But I was looking for just one sympathetic reference to this new movement, a giant development, the elephant in the room, yet the book seems completely blind to it (I did not read the entire book, I don’t think I could, maybe there is one). In Genesis 18:32, the Lord promised Abraham that he would not destroy the city of Sodom if ten righteous men could be found. But no ten could be found. In this case, (perhaps) not even one reference can be found. No one can verify the facts of Allen’s sexual abuse case directly. But I find it hard to believe that Mia Farrow got up one morning and decided to hold Allen accountable for sexual abuse because she had nothing better to do. Don’t you feel sometimes like going after a person and accusing them of sexual abuse because you do not like them? Maybe I should go look for someone to single out. Allen had already married his own daughter. It squeaked by legally. But who marries his own daughter? Do you know of anyone? If anyone of you out there is thinking of marrying your own daughter, I would like to assure you: there are many other women out there. I am not sure whether all Allen’s movies are bad. So I will need to rely on the best judge of them all, Allen himself. The book’s remarkable conclusion is clear: They kind of stink or are at best mediocre. So let’s hope that Allen’s deepest wish gets fulfilled and that they all forever vanish along with their director from the common memory of history and civilization. I have good news for Allen: they will.

Who knows what to believe anymore? News and journalism seem to have fully merged with entertainment and fantasy, allowing almost anyone with headline appeal to dictate the terms of "truth." The often contradictory tweets, blogs, texts and posts allow for a construction of reality conformable to individual tastes, beliefs and biases. Just about anyone can confirm just about anything in this spreading information miasma. The key remains obtaining a place on the stage, which may help explain why others try to silence opinions that don't conform to their particular notion of morphed reality. Because anything that manages to find a place on the digital landscape becomes part of the fog of discourse and may challenge cherished narratives with alternate opinions, information and realities. Ultimately, nothing ever really gets resolved on a grand scale since the cacophony never allows a clear view of anything. In the end, whoever has the most "likes" wins. Until, of course, someone else comes along with more "likes." Strangely, some people confuse "likes" with "truth." As such, a bizarre new twist on the concept of participatory democracy has emerged in the public sphere as upvotes dominate an ineffable and incalculable race for nebulous numbers. Somehow these never tabulated mystical sums help shape ultimate reality for the consumers of such platforms. The court of public opinion has never seemed so incomprehensible, unpredictable or brutal.

When hideous allegations arose against Woody Allen in 1992, many fans obviously didn't want to believe it. Their source, his longtime life and movie companion, Mia Farrow, didn't boost his credibility, especially in the public eye. As the ensuing media circus cycloned into a phantasmagoric swirl, it became increasingly difficult to know what to believe. When Allen's relationship with one of Farrow's adopted daughters, the much younger Soon-Yi Previn, came to light, many saw Allen as an old, creepy predator fully capable of carrying out the unimaginable charges brought against him. Soon-Yi, though in her early twenties at the time, to some seemed ripe for molding and manipulation, as some salacious press releases insinuated. Allen vigorously denied any wrongdoing and cooperated with the investigation. Given the circumstances, many awaited the seemingly inevitable conviction. Some probably even hoped for it. But the conviction never came. After the investigations ended, authorities found no grounds for the accusations. With limited custody of his children, not for punitive reasons, Allen went back to cranking out movies annually and started a new life with Soon-Yi. The Internet barely existed then and "social media" wouldn't become a sensation for years, but the event lingered in public memory and never really vanished. Detractors, assuming Allen's guilt, thought that something had gone horribly wrong. Surely with all of his "money and power" he had gamed the system and dodged a heinous crime? In the eyes of the justice system he remained an innocent man. Yet some people retained their suspicions, while others felt exonerated and continued enjoying his work, but most of the world simply forgot about the whole thing.

Then, a few decades later, the world changed. An unexpected movement, spread from a Twitter hashtag, called "#MeToo," helped send a few high profile male predators to trial and to prison. Around the same time Dylan Farrow, the focus of the 1992 accusations against Allen, resurfaced the allegations in letters and passionate interviews. Journalist Ronan Farrow, the biological son of Allen and Mia Farrow, supported Dylan and also denounced Allen. Others began to distance themselves from him, many claimed to regret working with him, some returned their salaries and, for the first time in Allen's long illustrious career, many people turned down roles in his movies. His recent film, "A Rainy Day in New York," found distribution only in Europe. Its follow-up, "Rifkin's Festival," will open in Spain. As denunciators piled up and American funders seemed less willing to back his projects, Allen must have felt an urgent need to respond to the situation. Maybe he had already planned or even started an autobiography? Maybe the book, titled "Apropos of Nothing," emerged purely out of the serious crisis that his reputation faced? Only Allen really knows, but the autobiography contains information not only about his upbringing and his career, but also long fervent passages about the accusations from his point of view. Its original publisher, Hatchette, decided to drop the book after some employees staged a walk out in protest, supposedly inspired by Ronan and Dylan Farrow's public pronouncements against it. Ronan Farrow also threatened to never work with Hatchette again. Author Stephen King, apparently not a fan of Allen's, spoke out against this move, claiming that it created a questionable precedent. After all, why silence someone with no criminal convictions pleading their innocence? Even Lee Harvey Oswald, charged but never tried, had time in front of the cameras (he would have had more, but Jack Ruby intervened). In any case, another publisher, Arcade, quickly picked up Allen's book, so the matter became somewhat moot.

Fans of Allen's work will very likely enjoy the majority of the book, though it does present somewhat of a mish-mash. He reminisces about his childhood, his fascination with magic and how he has never considered himself an intellectual. Only an early attraction to "earthy" intellectual girls led to him reading the classics. Not interested in school, he started earning money by writing gags for newspapers, which led to other jobs, including the "NBC Writers Program," lots of money, his first failed marriage and eventually to a writing spot with Sid Caesar. A new agent, Jack Rollins, pushed Allen to become a comedian, something he resisted, but which led directly to his television and movie career. As his film career took off, though shaky at first, a second marriage floundered. A stage play and a voice-over experiment later, Allen miraculously received full artistic control for his directorial debut. A self-deprecatory high-level rundown of his subsequent films up to "Zelig" ensues, with anecdotes inserted throughout, such as his attempt at becoming a chef. When Mia Farrow enters the story, the narrative and tone take an unforgettable turn. In a few seriously frenzied sections, Allen relates his side of the abuse allegations. Asserting his innocence, he portrays a plot laid out by Farrow to use Dylan as revenge for his relationship with Soon-Yi. He claims that Farrow told his sister "he took my daughter, now I'll take his" and that Farrow told him "I have something planned for you." Overall, Allen sticks to his story, and claims that the investigation came to the same conclusion, that Mia Farrow had likely coached the then seven year old Dylan into believing that Allen had abused her. He never says a bad thing about Dylan, and he even states that "Soon-Yi and I would welcome Dylan with open arms."

Starting again from "Zelig," the narrative returns to a film-by-film delineation, interspersed with opinions on awards, on famous people he met, on playing jazz (which he thinks he does terribly), and on actors and actresses that he worked with. Since he claims to never watch his films after completing them, it shouldn't surprise anyone that he doesn't really have a whole lot to say about each one. Some get mentioned simply because he made them. He also forgets to mention "Magic in the Moonlight" by name. He married Soon-Yi and the couple had no trouble adopting two daughters. Along the way, he stops to say that not one of the numerous women that he has worked with over the decades, including 106 lead female actresses and 230 lead female crew members, had ever accused him of any impropriety. Yet he also uses some questionable and sometimes nasty terms when discussing the relative attractiveness of some women, particularly those from his own family. Upon reaching the 2017 movie "Wonder Wheel," he says "I am forced to return to the tedious subject of the false accusation." Though he had not spoken with Dylan in 23 years, another of Mia Farrow's adopted children, Moses Farrow, had reached out to Allen. Allen had also co-adopted both Moses and Dylan with Mia Farrow years earlier. Moses painted a much different and bleaker picture of the Farrow household. Dylan's "open letter," which Allen accuses of "taking advantage of a legitimate movement," turned the tide against him. But he does list many people, including many women, who spoke up in his defense. The book ends on this note. Allen says that people dismiss him largely out of "guilt by accusation" and that "people believe what is important for them to believe." In addition, "being a misanthrope has its saving grace - people can never disappoint you" and "for students of cinema, I have nothing of value to offer." His regret: "I never made a great film."

Allen's book, arguably just as much of a defence as an autobiography, adds another dimension to the grand narrative of the accusations against him, but will it change anything? If he sought to absolve himself, one could question the effectiveness of using a book in the age of instantaneous tweets and posts. Most likely, only people who already support him or who suspect his innocence will purchase and read it. Those who already declared him guilty, or who fear backlash, real or imagined, at the slightest sign of support, probably won't go near it. Plus, at some 300 pages, though with fairly large font, it takes some of that precious and increasingly limited resource, time, to process. Claiming illiteracy with computers, Allen likely attempted to defend himself in the only way that he knew how. The book does provide a counter-narrative. Like everything, it will convince some and not others. At the very least, it deserves a hearing in a free and fair society. Considering that Allen has no charges to his name, has pledged his innocence for years, has had no additional allegations brought against him, and those that were brought against him arose during a heated custody battle, that the state allowed him to adopt children after the fact and that others have also come to his defense, including some of Mia Farrow's own adopted children, the attempts to silence and ruin him seem unwarranted. This case goes beyond Hollywood scandal and has implications for free speech and justice in a society increasingly ruled by the digital media court of public opinion.

None of this either implies or denies Allen's actual guilt or innocence, against which stands the emotional testimony of Dylan Farrow. No one should silence her, either. But the case has become more complicated over time, well beyond the reach of tabloids, blogs, tweets and sensationalized news stories to resolve. Did Allen abuse Dylan? Was Dylan coached by Mia at an impressionable age into internalizing the accusations? Barring a confession, further evidence or the filing of additional charges, this case will likely forever dwell in the realm of polarized speculation, at least in the public eye. The legal system considers it closed. As for all such cases, the public and media should use caution when making judgments, because no one really knows what happened. There is no way that anyone outside of the actual situation could really know. In any case, one must ultimately feel for Dylan Farrow, because it appears that either she was heinously abused by her adopted father or that she was heartlessly manipulated by her adopted mother. Neither outcome looks particularly promising. Far from mere tabloid fodder, this case carries some ominous implications for some deep principles, including truth, justice and the kind of society in which we ultimately want to live. After all, anyone could someday find themselves at the mercy of public opinion. Anyone could also someday find themselves in roles similar to any of the major players of this heavily contentious drama. One will then hope and plea for a public that withholds judgment without first looking at and listening to all sides of the story, because life is often far more complicated than we want it to be.

An engaging book. Allen writes well, things move right along. Though somewhat disappointing; I wanted, expected, more. When I finished the book, I had a slightly down feeling.

Right to the big issue: Allen taking after Mia Farrow in detail in this book. It was fine with me. The @MeToo movement has set out some self-serving rules of the game: namely, that women can, no-holds-barred, go public with allegations and do everything they can to destroy a man’s life, and the man has to take it and not hit back. They talk--on and on and on--and the man is publicly silent, or silenced; the first publisher of this book was successfully pressured to withdraw it.

Allen has been badly damaged by the decades-old, single-alleged-incident molestation charges against him—he’s been effectively cancelled. His personal reputation has been destroyed, his latest film isn’t shown in the U.S., and he can’t get films made. In this book, he vigorously defends himself--and more, hits back hard at Ms. Farrow, who has been bent on publicly destroying him. As I was reading along, I was going “Good for him.”

What I most wanted in this book was insight into Allen’s working life. Woody Allen has been one of the most important writers, performers, and filmmakers of our time. I saw this book as a chance to hear in detail from the man himself how he went about it. I thought I’d come away with a good idea of what this major creative force has been about.

Didn’t get it. What I got was a chatty, too-easy, too-much-on the surface account of his personal life, particularly his relationships with women, and brief, laundry-list references to every film he ever made. I found myself thinking “So what? Give me specifics on how you came at ‘Annie Hall.’”

So, not a bad book. But would I buy it again? No.

This book never got within 10 feet of an editor. I wanted to grab a pencil to correct the spelling, grammar and factual mistakes. Name-dropping? How about lists and list of his ‘best friends’. I’ve enjoyed most of his work, including well written articles in New Yorker, but this was a big disappointment. I love gossip as much as anyone, but the factual mistakes and contradictions from one page to the next were just too much.

This book was clearly written as a defense against the charges of molestation and pedophilia, but it had the opposite effect for me. The tone is all over the place; there's some is boilerplate PR (Soon-Yi and I have been happily married for years, said ad nauseam) some funny lines (though the humor can be uncomfortable), and the rest is just a sad mishmash of his self-deprecating views. It's as if he can't help himself from revealing all of the thoughts that support the charges against him. In the end I felt bad for everyone who has been hurt by this narcissist, but not in any way bad for him.

Woody Allen was not Soon Yi’s step-father. He didn’t molest Dylan. He’s a brilliant film-maker. The cancel culture in America is draining. This is a brilliant book by a brilliant artist.

I'm angry that I wasted a day and a half on this garbage. I've always been a student of his films, but there's nothing about filmmaking, script writing, or the art of cinema in this book. I genuinely wonder if he even remembers his better films. The first half of the book sounds like it was written in the late 50s - there's a lot of Jewish slang, and repetitive name dropping. He claims to have met all the big stars in American comedy (before they were big, of course). But who in the heck cares about Arthur Godfrey... or the Lunts? After 200 pages of the same repetitive story "I met this guy, he was wonderful and so smart and educated, we became dear friends, and his name was [insert name of person who's been dead for decades].
Then he goes into a protracted defense of the Mia Farrow allegations. Pointless. There have been multiple investigations, therapists, lie detector tests, the 60 minutes interview, as well as Farrow's own staff testifying against her. If you want to know the truth, you probably already do before picking up the book. However, Allen does himself no favors by calling himself a louse, and a cheat, and over and over citing young beautiful women as his chief motivation in every aspect of his life. He sounds like a stunted adolescent. I came away feeling like I only got half of the story - and almost nothing about the films. As Judy Davis's character in Deconstructing Harry shouted: "stop tap dancing!" - I really wish he had.

Semi-skillfully written with so much faux self-deprecation that, ironically, results in an effect 180 degrees from what allen intended, i.e., that is that he was an athletic little jew hustler bully-brawler with naught but an inherent "funny" quality to serve him. Yet he claims to have read the NYT for breakfast daily, bedded several sexpots and once had the temerity to have fired Haskell Wexler, a master of cinema's technical tools, the side of which Allen admits ignorance. The massive question is, of course, did Allen molest his adopted daughter in 1992? The book tells Allen's side and, predictably, demonizes Mia Farrow. he makes a forceful denical, which, it is to be expected, a writer should be able to do. However, Allen has had decades to hone his denial. Worse, he shades the facts to favor himself. And, once his slants are exposed, it damages his credibility. Advice: read the judge's opinion denying him custody; the judge pointed out flaws in the new haven study that Allen himself repeatedly cites as PROOF that he was falsely accused. The judge didn't swallow that investigation 100%, but Allen wants his reader to do so. The judge found that Allen was self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive. But he did not conclude that Allen was was (or was not) a child molester. The Soon Yi saga does not make Allen seem, well, normal. It's obvious that those who revere Allen as the American version of Bergman & Fellini combined will think this book is biblical in its devotion to truth. He may be "not guilty," but that doesn't make him "innocent." q.v. THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.