Boycott Woody Allen. He’s talented at writing and making movies yes, and his pull in the industry has enabled him and allowed him to rape a child, groom another, and then call his victims liars. He has never faced consequences for his actions and his victim is still being hurt by his support.
No, don’t say it again, say the next part. Why is he talented at writing and making movies? He’s a popular auteur, is there something iffy about celebrating centralized power?? Is that a sound value system? What about Dario Argento’s male gaze? Are these questions worth thinking about?
there are plenty of auteurs that aren’t pedophiles that rape their own children. like, the vast majority of them. perhaps every single other one of them.
It’s not that complicated. I don’t care why he’s good at making movies or even that he is, except for the fact that it has enabled him and that’s all the more reason to say to hell with him and boycott him.
And I’m not even saying it’s wrong to put Annie Hall in your top 3 or whatever. The film is out there and many of us saw it without even knowing what happened with Allen. I’m just saying if I were to put it in my top 3 I would mention that the filmmaker is a child rapist and never got any punishment and it’s important to say that when speaking objectively about his movies because his actual supporters can be pretty vile and I wouldn’t want to be mistaken for one of them. Also if you’re going to watch it, don’t pay for it.
I think it’s possible to hold a conversation about the quality of the work of Allen or other abusers in entertainment alongside their horrific abuses of power. As long as there’s acknowledgement and reckoning with it, it can lead to good discussion. Like, if someone were having a conversation about the greatest pop music performers in history and Michael Jackson were completely omitted, that would feel off, to me. Bring the tough conversation along with the one about the art.
All pretty well-said, but you're also making assumptions about people in here, like everyone was supposed to broadcast their ally bonafides along with a ballot. I didn't need a zeitgeist docu-series on it: I voiced opposition to the inclusion of Manhattan in my college film class a decade ago and I haven't spent money on or seen a Woody Allen movie since 2008. Like, yeah, I go to protests and call my reps and talk to my students about consent in very clear terms, and joined other alumni of my HS at a board meeting in calling out a creepy teacher, but I don't really feel like I needed to mention that all unprovoked in an unrelated thread because that's pretty uncouth and I don't really feel like saying I liked Annie Hall invalidates any of that, either. You can't just assume that people who liked Annie Hall haven't "done the next part" and call them "disgusting" unless you actually know that they haven't or that they are. I'm totally fine with people who wouldn't want to include it but I've tried to view it in a vacuum in terms of its quality and am totally fine with a discussion on that. Also: defending one abuser over another because his movie is "an important issues movie" and the other is a romcom just looks fuckin dumb.
Eraserhead wins it with 27 votes. Star Wars was in second place with 20 votes. Eraserhead will move on to the bracket.
I just watched A Special Day, a Ettore Scola film with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, which I thought was remarkable. Loren and Mastroianni are neighbours in an apartment complex, left more or less alone on the "special day" when Hitler comes to Rome to visit Mussolini. The two strike up a relationship that feels a bit like In The Mood For Love compressed to an afternoon, but looking specifically at gender, sexuality and of course fascism in 1938 Italy. I thought it was incredible, so I'll make this my honorary Number 1 for 1977 and demand a full recount of the votes.
having a child can make some films, like Eraserhead, even more meaningful. plus babies sleep a lot leaving a lot of time to watch movies so you can do both.