We also consider Woody Allen a poster boy of #MeToo. But not quite the same way Woody Allen does. Woody Allen was named a poster boy of #MeToo on NCOSE’s 2018 Dirty Dozen List. Woody Allen was chosen because he personifies the elite exploiters who to date remain insulated from the consequences of their actions, despite decades of reports that he sexually abused his then 7-year old adopted daughter.
In a recent interview Woody Allen told a reporter, “What bothers me is that I get linked in with them. People who have been accused by 20 women, 50 women, 100 women of abuse and abuse and abuse. And I, who was only accused by one woman in a child custody case, which was looked at and proven to be untrue, I get lumped in with these people.”
Well, we don’t care about the amount of people a man abuses. It’s the principle—abusing even one person is too much. Woody Allen has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior towards a child and needs to be held accountable. There are also the exploitive and degrading themes that Woody Allen portrays over and over again through his movies. Many of Woody Allen’s movies contain themes of incest, buying and selling women for sex, and regularly focus on sexualizing young girls. These movies have helped shape a culture and the cultural elites who embrace its ethos by producing films and shows that eroticize or even glamorize sexual harassment, assault, or commercial sexual exploitation and producing content that reinforced rape myths. Since the eruption of #Metoo and #TimesUp there have been multiple actors and actresses who have publicly expressed their regret for working with Woody Allen because of the essential role that he has played in the creation of a culture where male sexual entitlement reigns and sexual violence against women is endemic.
Woody Allen’s personal and professional lives are dripping with themes and actions that need to be held accountable in this #MeToo era. We have every right to “lump him in with these people” who are sexual predators and take advantage of the women around them. Woody Allen is a poster boy of #MeToo.
