Adding to the noise:

MORE IRREVELANT THOUGHTS ON WOODY ALLEN

I posted the Daily Beast “defense” of Woody Allen on Facebook, not because I believed it to be true, but to continue the conversation. The fact that this story has triggered such passionate discourse shows that this crime is more widespread than anybody wants to believe.

Let me be clear. I believe Woody Allen raped his daughter. I also believe that there is more that went on in those households than anybody will ever know. I further believe it’s fair to say that what we believe or don’t believe will have zero impact on Woody Allen. Hopefully Dylan’s letter will shine a light on an insidious crime and help to empower thousands of victims without a voice.

When it comes to the life and times of this “great American filmmaker,” the nation is suffering from a severe case of cognitive dissonance. We have willfully accepted the persona of the Neurotic Jewish Genius who manages to produce a movie every year. Yeah, the Soon-Yi thing is strange, but they seem normal-ish. You know, by ShowBiz Standards. (“ShowBiz standards,” one of life’s great oxymorons. The Entertainment Industry has always been the home to weirdos and perverts. It’s where the outcasts go to form their own cliques and get back at the people who bullied them as teenagers. Yes, I’m generalizing, lay off). Now you’re asking us to reconcile that benign image with the idea that he has committed the most heinous crime a person can commit? No thank you, that’s way too much work on our part. It’s much easier to pick apart a child’s words than to face the reality that the brilliant artist who wrote and directed some of our favorite movies is a creepy dirty pedophile. The Onion makes the point here.  

At least Roman Polanski had the good sense to be foreign. 

This mess got me thinking about Jerry Sandusky. His punishment was swift and stern. A beloved university was embroiled in scandal when the lengths it went to cover up his crimes were revealed. The court of public opinion convicted him early and easily. Of course he had his defenders, but they were dismissed simply as colluders with something to gain by standing up for the guy.

Dare I say that one of the differences between the two was the gender of their victims? Raping teenage boys is monstrous, but raping little girls (your own daughter, for crap's sake) is…heterosexual? Where is that invisible line among pedophiles that delineates creepy from criminal? Why are we so quick to dismiss young men who’ve been tormented by women?

Sexism is alive and well here in the good old USA. You’d think there wouldn’t be a double standard when it comes to such things, but alas, if Ronan had been the victim, this would be an entirely different conversation.