Director Woody Allen said that “I should be the poster boy for the Me Too movement
KARACHI: Should people be awarded for basic human decency? Director Woody Allen does think so. Eighty-two-year-old director in a recent interview said that “I should be the poster boy for the Me Too movement. Because I have worked in movies for 50 years. I’ve worked with hundreds of actresses and not a single one—big ones, famous ones, ones starting out—have ever ever suggested any kind of impropriety at all. I’ve always had a wonderful record with them.”
His statement is ignorant at best as Allen believes that people should be recognised for ‘not’ harassing women. His statement is not only offensive to women but also depicts men as people who cannot avoid harassing women and hence a man who doesn’t do so should be awarded.
However, let’s also not forget that Allen had been accused of sexually harassing his own adopted daughter 25 years ago. While the authorities came to the conclusion that the allegations were untrue, one cannot rule out the fact if today the judicial system protects powerful men — if it was not for the resilience of female journalists and dozens of victims in both Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein cases, the men would have been protected by the system — then it is a wonder how it could have worked in favour of a coveted and celebrated director.
And it’s not like Allen has forgotten about being accused of sexual misconduct himself but instead he thinks it is ‘unfair’ to club him in the same list of harassers as he has only been accused by one individual while others have been accused by 30 or 50. Like that in itself is an achievement. Allen’s entitlement is beyond surprising. However, his attitude does reflect the mindset of many men who consider the Me Too movement to be nothing but women going on a rampage against men.
Ramsha Jhangir
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2018.
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