It's so gross seeing DU'ers defend middle-aged men dating teenagers

[Bonobo]

Wow, I wonder where Soon-Yi ever learned that it was acceptable? So is it Woody's fault or did perhaps Mom set a bad example about how to get ahead in life?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

1. The heart wants what the heart wants and all that I guess

The usual suspects are showing their slip that apparently they feel 18 should not be the legal age of adulthood.

I think Woody Allen is a pretty strange guy and of pretty questionable moral character, but it seems he and Ms. Farrow clearly have some bizarre ideas about relationships that fostered over the time they were....uh, together.

He's also stayed with Soon-Yi for twenty plus years, so there's that.

[Major Nikon]

3. Interesting how they deny agency to adult women

Soon Yi is described as a "teenager", as if 20 = 13.

Meanwhile they write off someone who pals around with a known convicted child molester (who actually did drug and molest a 13 yr old) as "nothing to do with sleeping with underage girls".

[Bonobo]

4. It's not defending Polanski apparently

If you just defend them at a trial that has nothing to do with the pedophilia.

Sure, that doesn't imply that she was a defender of Polanski at all! LOL. Wow, you really CAN get yourself to believe anything if you try hard enough.

It's like self-hypnosis.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

5. The fact is Mia Farrow has never denounced Roman Polanski

I hate that word...."problematic"....yet it fits right here, doesn't it?

I mean, if "defending" Woody Allen, or even watching his movies is an issue for some here....what is testifying on behalf of Polanski even in an unrelated trial long after the allegations came out about Roman AND after Mia became a crusader for victim's rights?

[Major Nikon]

6. Not only that she still regards him as a "close friend"

So here's a guy that admits to drugging and raping a 13 yr old girl, who Farrow is such good friends with that she flies all the way to London to testify on his behalf. Yet somehow we are to believe that someone who claims their own child was molested would have no problem with this.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

7. And that people who merely watch Allen's movies are bad, bad, bad.... nt

[Bonobo]

8. Not just bad, but defenders of rape and pedophilia!

No seriously, they outright SAY that.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. Oh, I know

I don't think I've heard the term "overrated" used so many times, lest anyone think he's worth watching!

[Major Nikon]

2. The doublethink is quite strong on that one

Soon Yi was 20 years old and a sophomore in college when she started dating Allen who was 56, so that makes him a creep. Mia started dating Sinatra (who was friends with her father and knew her well as a child) at 19, yet Mia who is obviously attracted to significantly older men (Sinatra, Previn, Allen) is somehow not creepy.

[MicaelS]

10. It takes two to Tango.

The question is why are so many women attracted to, and have relationships with, men old enough to be their fathers? That has always struck me as creepy. How often do you see a man with a woman old enough to be his mother? Very, very seldom.

[Bonobo]

11. Indeed.

But I find it odd how the label "creepy" seems to stick only to men.

Denying women the right to make their own decisions is inconsistent with claims of Feminism.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

12. On who's part is it creepy?

Only the men?

I have a hard time labeling adults relationships as creepy in the same way that there are people who think two gay men together is creepy. If there's something about an individual relationship one finds disturbing....and certainly Woody and Soon-Yi falls into that category, that's another issue. But in general, I'm against blanket creepiness.

[MicaelS]

14. Oh no, I'm talking both ways.

I think it's creepy that a woman would want to have a relationship with a man old enough to be her father, and I think it's creepy that a man would want a relationship with a woman young enough to be his daughter.

[Major Nikon]

15. I don't think it's creepy

I realize lots of people do, but age has taught me to not be so judgmental regarding who is sleeping with whom. Along the same lines, two people the same age could be siblings. The reality is that generally they are not or you probably wouldn't know about it.

As far as things other than age go, there's already far too many people who are in the business of judging people for whom they chose as their mate and I just don't see age being all that much different. If they make each other happy and they are consenting adults, that's all that really matters.

[Major Nikon]

13. A fat wallet probably has a lot to do with it

So which is more creepy, sleeping with someone because they are youthful and attractive, or sleeping with someone who is more wrinkly and flabby because of their bank account?

[nomorenomore08]

16. I see your point, but focusing on Mia *or* Soon-Yi strikes me as a bit of a distraction.

Really, it's between the accused and the accuser, and I do know that adults rarely lie about being abused as children, let alone in such detail. I honestly couldn't give much of a shit about the fact that Allen took up with his barely-legal quasi-stepdaughter - thought it does strike me as rather gross, not to mention insensitive to the family as a whole - but at the least it suggests he doesn't have the best judgement.

For anyone who's ambivalent about the current allegations, I would suggest reading the Huffington Post article RE: the 1993 custody hearing. From my vantage point at least, it looks fairly damning of Allen.

[Bonobo]

17. I have personal knowledge of people who had false recovered memories.

And believe me, they really are quite certain they are true.

Even when they are not.

It is the nature of how memories and the brain works.

It is not an attack on Dylan to suggest that her memories are not accurate.

And that is what I believe.

[nomorenomore08]

18. Okay, fair enough. But I think people in general are too quick to jump to that sort of conclusion

when the alternative makes them uncomfortable. This is nothing to do with you personally, it's just a general tendency that I've noticed repeatedly.

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. jumping to a conclusion as a form of discomfort avoidance.

There are probably some people who don't want to believe that Allen molested his daughter because they like the guy.
There are definitely some people who believe that he did because they're invested in the idea that accusations are always or ("almost always&quot true.

From our view in the cheap seats, it's impossible to know which is true. What I do know is that prosecutors didn't think they could prove it, and our legal system is built upon innocence until guilt is proven.