So, Woody Allen's awarding of the Cecil B. DeMille Award at this year's Golden Globes got Ronan Farrow, Mia Farrow, and others very upset because of the 20 year-standing allegation that he sexually assaulted Dylan Farrow, when she was seven years old, during Mia and Woody's separation.
What shocked me and saddened me more than this story coming back to light, is how quickly so many people jumped to Allen's defense. He is a rich, famous man with klout and accolades, so many believe it's basically impossible for him to also be a monster. Here is my take, including what we can do as parents when dealing with this sort of thing.
Allen's New York Times piece is basically the guilty man's guide to denying damning accusations, and his tune hasn't changed in 20 years. But here's the thing—there are a number of falsehoods in his piece, and all one has to do is actually research his side of the story to see where he's not being honest (Vanity Fair has done the leg work for you in their piece, "Ten Undeniable Facts About The Woody Allen Sexual Abuse Allegation").
When assault statistics in Canada are staggering, even though the vast majority of assaults go unreported, and men like Allen are allowed to discredit their victims by picking them apart and we as a society let this happen, we are telling assault victims that their voices aren't loud or appreciated, and that maybe they did make the whole thing up for some reason.
While I'm definitely not a psychotherapist or therapist, I'm a survivor, and when things like this happen in Hollywood, we have a tendency to ignore the allegations depending on our personal feelings on the artist at hand. Like all things in the media, we should use these times as learning tools as parents, and not let Hollywood dictate how our children feel.
And while our kids may be too young to know or care about Woody Allen, many—especially teenagers—are going to hear twinklings of this, and as parents, we need to make sure our kids have the right tools to protect themselves. And in case they don't, they need to know they have a safe place to come and be honest, and not be labeled a liar.
For more Celebritease, check out "Philip Seymour Hoffman: A Life In Film" and "Music Video By Boggie Explores PhotoShop."
Yet another confession from me: I love documentaries. I always have. Reality TV's sophisticated sibling. Slice of life film. Topics that run the gamut. Netflix Canada has an amazing selection of docs, but right now, for the Winter Olympics, they are airing a number of winter-sports-themed movies that look spectacular.
There's a doc about snowboarding called Horgasm: A Love Story; an awesome looking movie about the 1972 Canada-Russia series, called Summit on the Ice; and a Netflix exclusive, called The Fabulous Ice Age about the evolution of the ice shows that we now generally bring kids to. They all look really neat, and, for me, are the interesting part of sport.
I have always loved watching the little athlete vignettes that are shown during competitions, and these are feature length versions of those. The human element and story are what really draw me into events like the Olympics, but I may skip this year's competition for these movies instead.
Will you check out some of these movies over the next few weeks? If documentaries aren't your thing, Netflix also produces new episodic dramas!
I was completely floored early Sunday when reports started surfacing that actor Philip Seymour Hoffman had died of an apparent drug overdose (a hot shot — the needle was still found in his arm, so it killed him instantly). He was found Sunday morning after he'd missed going to pick up his three kids, which was unlike the doting father. He'd checked himself into rehab in May for issues with heroin, but I hadn't heard anything about him since he'd left, so I thought he'd just been laying low and taking care of himself. It's just awful news from a man who has won numerous awards for his spectacular body of work, and by all accounts was one of the most lovely, down to earth men in Hollywood.
While I don't want to get into the horrible addiction that took his life here, I want to talk a bit about his varied work and some of his most memorable roles, because, well, the man was unreal.
For many women in my age group, he really came to life for us in Magnolia (though how can we forget his small part, Brandt in The Big Lebowski), playing Phil Parma.
In 2000, Hoffman played real life music critic and larger-than-life human, Lester Bangs in Almost Famous (please rewatch this if you haven't seen it recently).
Between 2000-2005, he was in a number of really fantastic movies, including Owning Mahoney, Punch Drunk Love, Strangers with Candy, and Cold Mountain. Then, in 2005, he played Truman Capote in the film Capote and won all the awards for everything. After 2005, it was hit after hit after hit and fantastic role after fantastic role. For me, his most incredible role and the most amazing movie was Synechdoche, New York written and directed by the insanely talented Charlie Kaufman.
Synechdoche is really, really hard to explain but is a must-see for anyone who really, truly loves movies.
And there you have it, we are all leads in our own plays.
Sadly, it seems that Philip Seymour Hoffman's play was a tragedy.
If you know someone struggling with substance abuse, there are a number of organizations you can contact in Canada. Let's stop these things from becoming examples for our kids.
API/FAMEFLYNET PICTURES
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