Picture: "Out of Thin Air" cover Network diagram The same below
Married to his 35-year-old adopted daughter and accused of sexually assaulting another underage adopted daughter, the famous American film director and actor Woody Allen is widely known not only for classic literary and artistic works such as "Midnight in Paris" and "Once Upon a Time in Stardust", but also for a large number of peach-colored news around him. Recently, the controversial and once-terminated memoir of Woody Allen, "Out of Thin Air", was finally released. The old-age director seems to want to use this to "whitewash" his various scandals.
The publication of "Hot Potato" has undergone several twists and turns
"Out of Thin Air" was completed as early as 2003, but the publication of this memoir has been tortuous due to the fermentation of the Woody Allen sexual assault scandal. Originally, the French Archet Publishing Group had announced that it would publish the book in April this year, but after the news was released, Woody Allen's ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow and her adopted son and adopted daughter immediately spoke out against it, claiming that her adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, who had been sexually assaulted, described the feeling at the time as "deeply frustrated" and "betrayed". Subsequently, 75 employees of the publishing group went on strike to demand the cancellation of the distribution plan. Under pressure, the Ashet Publishing Group announced last month that it would abandon publishing.
Pictured: Wood Allen and Song Yi
Then, the Arcade Press, a subsidiary of the American independent publishing company Tianma Publishing House, bought the copyright to the book and officially published it on Monday at a lightning speed. The cover of the book, only printed with the words "Woody Allen", "Out of Thin Air", "Memoirs" on a black background, without any decoration, the design is very simple and the content of the book is the same as many people expect, not only including Woody Allen's excellent acting career, but also revealing a lot of details of private life.
Demystifying the relationship with Mia Farrow's mother and daughter
According to "Out of Thin Air", Allen's relationship with his current wife began in 1991, when he was still in a romantic relationship with Song Yi's adoptive mother, Mia Farrow, and had a son. This confirms the scandal of Woody Allen's "unrequited love" and "infidelity". But Woody Allen didn't regret it in the slightest: "There was slander everywhere against me. When asked if I knew the consequences and wished I had never been with Song Yi, I always replied, 'I will still choose her again.' In the book, Woody fails to really get rid of the problem of "unlovely" and only expresses his thoughts "from the heart". He also accused Mia of abusing Song Yi and accused Mia of cheating.
Pictured: Mia Farrow with her adopted daughter Song Yi
Woody's entanglement with Mia's mother and daughter also involves another, younger adopted daughter. After the two broke up, Mia accused Woody of sexually assaulting her adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, who was only 7 years old at the time. Because neither party was able to give conclusive evidence, the lawsuit was eventually dropped. Woody explains in the book, "I've never done anything that could be misunderstood as a violation of her. "All the kids and a couple of nannies were watching TV in the hall, and the room was full of people, and there were no seats for me. So I sat down on the floor, probably leaning back, leaning back on the couch, and for a moment I fell on her knees. ”
Respond to the "METOO" campaign
Speaking of woody's sexual assault scandal with Dylan Farrow, we have to mention the anti-sexual assault movement that swept the world, the "METOO" movement. The movement began precisely by Woody's son, Ronan Farrow. In October 2017, Ronan published an article in The New York Times revealing for the first time the crimes of former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein for sexually assaulting multiple women. Subsequently, many victims appeared on the Internet and exposed sexual assault crimes under the label of "MeToo", setting off the "METOO" movement. Weinstein has now been sentenced to 23 years in prison. Many people believe that Ronan's deep hatred of sexual assault is due to his father Woody. When Mia sued Woody, Ronan was only 5 years old. In the controversy that followed for more than 20 years, Ronan remained a supporter of his mother and sister, even at the expense of breaking with Woody. He once said that Mia was a reliable mother who had endured hardships but created a loving home, "but that didn't stop Woody Allen and his allies from spreading rumors about my mother and trying to deflect credible accusations against my sister." As another sister of Ronan, Song Yi believes: "Mia used 'METOO' to package Dylan as a victim. ”
Pictured: Ronan Farrow
This family sexual assault "Rashomon" has affected more celebrities due to the development of the "METOO" movement. For Weinstein, who bore the brunt of it, Woody clears up the relationship in the book: "Harvey has never directed my films. It's just that there are a few films that have already been made and distributed by him. So, the two of us will never be able to work together. ”
Timothy Chalame, the actor who filmed "A Rainy Day in New York" with Woody, expressed regret for working with Woody and donated all his remuneration. In this regard, Woody also wrote in the book: "This thing is actually not so great, because our crew conditions are average, and they are only paid the lowest salary." So I suspect that if we had paid the average Hollywood salary, these actors might still have righteously declared that they would never work with me again, but the donation of film remuneration might not exist at all. Woody also revealed that "Sweet Tea" was entirely due to the fact that he was nominated for an Oscar for "A Rainy Day in New York" at the time, and his agent thought that opposing Woody could improve the odds of winning.
Readers have mixed reviews
The controversy, which began in the 1990s, was not settled by the memoir. Woody and Mia's narratives are always contradictory but lack real evidence.
Pictured: Timothy Chalame
After the work was published, Arcade Press issued a statement saying: "As publishers, we hope to give respected authors and filmmakers a voice. We respect Ashett's decision not to publish Woody Allen's book. After reading this book, some people choose to forgive, and some people continue to struggle. One fan named "Travis Buckle" said: "If Woody Allen didn't marry Song Yi, maybe more people would believe him." But how do you trust a man who is trying to marry his ex-girlfriend's adopted daughter? ”
At present, on Amazon's website, the paper version of "Out of Thin Air" has been sold out, and the book has received a total of 35 reader reviews, with a total score of 4.4 points, and 70% of readers have given 5 full ratings. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Wu Xuying)