What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?”

Dylan Farrow, adopted daughter of celebrated actress Mia Farrow and famed director and actor Woody Allen, asked us this question in her open letter to Allen published in The New York Times on Feb. 1, her words dripping with deserved venom. 

Farrow goes on to state that before anyone answers, they should know: “When I was seven years old…Woody Allen sexually assaulted me.”

Things had come to a boil after Farrow reportedly asked her mother if “Daddy touched you like he touches me.” Her mother took Farrow to a slew of doctors and lawyers, all of whom asked her over and over again to repeat her story, making sure there were no inconsistencies. 

Contact between Farrow and Allen was immediately cut off. The newspaper headlines had a field day with the revelation that Allen may have taken advantage of his own daughter. 

In her open letter, Farrow writes that, “After a custody hearing denied my father visitation rights, my mother declined to pursue criminal charges, despite findings of probable cause by the State of Connecticut—due to, in the words of the prosecutor, the fragility of the ‘child victim.’” 

The case was dismissed, and more than 20 years have passed since Hollywood was first shaken by the very notion that Allen, creator of classic films such as Annie Hall, Sleeper and, most recently, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris, was capable of hurting his daughter. 

More upsetting was Allen’s public statement that the entire case was Mia Farrow’s doing: He claims she conspired to publicly tear him down as their personal relationship deteriorated, by planting a story in Dylan’s head. He claims she coached their daughter so well that she “logically” believes she has been abused, even if he maintains the very idea of an assault on his part is absurd. 

“Of course I didn’t molest Dylan,” he wrote in his response this week to Farrow’s open letter, as if claims of sexual abuse and the years of trauma and humiliation that have defined Farrow’s childhood and later years could be brushed aside with a nonchalant response such as “of course I didn’t.” 

In 1997, Allen married another adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, who was about 20 at the time. (Her exact birthdate is unknown, as the place of her birth did not keep accurate records.) Although this doesn’t condemn Allen as a child molester, his relationship with Previn, a child legally adopted in his name, doesn’t help his case. 

Why has the Dylan Farrow case come to the forefront of national attention again? Last month, at the annual Golden Globe Awards, Allen was honored with the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Immediately following the awards ceremony, Ronan Farrow, the other child adopted by Mia Farrow and Allen, tweeted, “Missed the Woody Allen tribute—did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age seven before or after Annie Hall?” 

When the abuse allegedly took place, Farrow was only seven years old. Now, in light of Allen’s Academy Award nominations and in the wake of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Farrow has chosen to come forward and admonish those who have stood by her father over the years, lauding praise on his work while side-stepping the allegations and fear she has lived with her entire life. 

In her open letter she says, “Imagine your 7-year-old daughter being led into an attic by Woody Allen. Imagine she spends a lifetime stricken with nausea at the mention of his name. Imagine a world that celebrates her tormenter.” 

Farrow’s case represents the way that current society fails survivors of sexual abuse. Though it’s unlikely the case will legally be reopened, the swirl of public fury surrounding Allen at the moment will likely impact the voting decisions of the Academy when Oscar winners are determined. 

Though I agree that artistic work and achievement usually stands apart from personal decisions—it has been pointed out to me many times that Martin Luther King Jr. reportedly had affairs outside of his marriage, which does not impact the work he did for the Civil Rights Movement—Allen is accused of crossing the line from morally frowned-upon into morally apprehensible. 

It is of vital importance that we listen to Farrow’s words and take them into consideration when evaluating how our culture and justice system treat the rich and famous, and also survivors of sexual abuse. 

Send your thoughts to Justine at technician-viewpoint@ncsu.edu.