Sunday, March 07, 2021

Dylan Farrow: 'How Is Brainwashing More Believable Than Assault?'


UPDATE: People who choose to believe the Farrows have long said that their side of the story was never fully heard because Woody Allen is a rich and powerful man, so he controlled the narrative. These days, Woody's one biological child, Ronan Farrow, is a rich and powerful man. (In 2018, HBO signed him for a documentary deal following his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, and the network curiously spent millions of dollars to produce a one-sided docuseries highlighting his point of view.) Might he have anything to do with a major news outlet reneging on an article about "Allen v. Farrow" featuring Woody's most knowledgeable defender? Decide for yourself HERE.
 
"How is this crazy story of me being brainwashed and coached more believable than what I’m saying about being sexually assaulted by my father?" -- Dylan Farrow in 2018.

In a New York Times piece about the HBO docuseries "Allen v. Farrow," Alexis Soloski answered the question like this:

"Because that story reinforces norms of power and control. Because it supports an idea of women as conniving and untrustworthy. Because making women wrong ... is what our culture loves to do."

It's hard to argue with her reasoning given our history -- see also: Trump vs. Clinton -- and it should be said that everyone's default should be to believe people who say they were victims of abuse. But each accusation still needs to be evaluated on its own merits, so let me see if I can help Dylan understand why everyone isn't just rushing to believe her mother.

Early on, the thing that struck many as not ringing true is that a man who was living under an intense spotlight for an exceedingly inappropriate relationship would then suddenly commit -- for the one and only time in his life, by all accounts -- an act of incest and pedophilia. Although false sex-abuse accusations are rare, ones leveled at the height of a custody battle are "highly suspicious" in the opinion of a former child-protection worker and current trauma therapist. (And do you want to know what's even more rare than a false accusation? A pedophile who only acts on his impulses once.) Add to the equation that the child-disputing couple’s breakup involved an affair with the woman’s adult daughter and it was clear this case had no precedent. 

While questionable mud was slung in both directions, it's what we do know to be true that has led people who have critically examined the case to find it “more believable” (that Dylan Farrow was brainwashed and coached) because it is more than a bit coincidental that the allegation surfaced a mere 72 hours after her mother begged a psychologist who had been helping the family to "find a way" to stop the Soon-Yi affair -- even talking about marrying(!) "satanic" and "evil" (Mia's words) Woody if necessary to bring it to an end. The doctor said there was absolutely nothing that could be done -- as the public winced but ultimately shrugged because Woody and his girlfriend's adopted daughter were consenting adults -- and then suddenly a whole new offense that the entire world would have to be outraged about fell into Mia’s lap. (It’s the QAnon playbook.) The doctor said Mia went from being hysterical to strangely calm once she “learned” her daughter had been sexually assaulted. 

It also hasn’t gone unnoticed by objective observers that details have been added to the abuse incident that do not check out. (Read about the case of the magical disappearing electric troy train HERE, which also calls the filmmakers’ credibility into further question.) 

Does this mean Mia brainwashed her daughter? Of course not. But what I have outlined might go a long way toward answering Dylan’s question.

6 comments:

NA said...

I've said this before on other blogs, but he was cleared in those investigations regarding Dylan, but then had to be cleared (twice, again!) in the early 2000's to adopt two daughters with his wife Soon-Yi. I feel bad for Allen and especially Dylan, but Mia could have simply disowned Soon-Yi and walked away from this and she didn't--she ruined that poor girl's life. I'm also disgusted by the actors who have said they regret working with him or won't work with him. He's been married to the same woman for nearly 25 years and raised two daughters with for 20. Not many people in the entertainment business have that kind of stability.

Chris Jones said...

IN your criticism of the show you leave out two very important points. First that there is evidence that the Yale Institute study was a total coverup. Second that the NYC Child welfare investigation was also a coverup with both the supervisor and social worker stating they were convinced abuse had occurred. This is just another example of a rich, powerful white man getting away with a major crime. I'm surprised at you for using minor inconsistencies in a 7 year old's story to discredit the truth of what happened to her. You should be ashamed of yourself. I'd no more watch a Woody Allen film than listen to a Trump speech.
Chris Jones chrisjones10024@yahoo.com

Kenneth M. Walsh said...

@Chris Jones: The "rich, powerful white man" here is Ronan Farrow, who leveraged his deal with HBO to get this propaganda on the air.

NA said...

Chris Jones chrisjones10024@yahoo.com

People's memories don't usually get better 22 years later, so to call the invention of an entire memory during the abuse that has been proven to be demonstrably false a "minor inconsistency" just shows that you have bought into the one-sided Farrow festival.

Chris Jones said...

Why do Allen's defenders never mention the very strange circumstances at the Yale Institute where notes were destroyed which is never supposed to happen and one of the Yale social workers stated she believed Dylan? And the details of the NYC social worker who handled the case and was unfairly fired for his conclusions that abuse took place, Plus all the experts who found her testimony credible. Allen portraying Farrow as vindictive is a common ploy. It was in face he who was vindictive trying to take custody of three of her children. Remember the details of his ludicrous attempt to gain custody?
Chris Jones

Via Bob Weide said...

@Chris Jones: The Farrows have been going on about the destroyed notes for years, and now the filmmakers are joining in on that red herring. If they say they can’t find anyone who thinks this is normal protocol, they aren’t looking very hard. I can direct them to any number of people who will tell them this is quite standard protocol for many investigative bodies, including the FBI. Once they write up their summaries, they often destroy their notes. It’s an issue of privacy for the interview subjects, especially in a sensitive investigation involving a minor. The Farrows would love for us to think this is some kind of smoking gun, when it’s actually just shooting blanks. If the notes had been kept, they’d be complaining about that. They complain that the head of the team, Dr. Leventhal never personally interviewed Dylan. If he had, they’d say she shouldn’t have been interviewed by a man. Her nine interviews were conducted by a female PhD and a female social worker. I’m sure that was either too many times or not enough. They’re desperate to discredit the findings of a thorough seven-month investigation that simply didn’t go their way.

What are they suggesting, anyway? That Woody Allen got on the phone with the Yale-New Haven team and said, “Guys, if you can get me off the hook on this, I’ll get you tickets to the premiere of ‘Bullets Over Broadway’?” I mean, it’s really quite insane.

The fact is that both Mia and Woody and their lawyers were called in at the same time and personally told the results of the investigation, right on the eve of the custody trial. I seem to recall hearing that Mia beat a hasty retreat upon hearing the news.