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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 1, 2024

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Allen's case is complicated in that he took up with, and then married, a girl who was the (1) adoptive daughter of his current partner at the time (2) adoptive sibling of his own kid(s) (3) someone he'd known since she was ten:

Soon-Yi Previn (original name Oh Soon-hee) was born in South Korea. ...The Seoul Family Court established a Family Census Register (legal birth document) on her behalf on December 28, 1976, with an official birth date of October 8, 1970.

...Farrow's marriage to André Previn ended in 1979. In 1980, Farrow began a long-term relationship with filmmaker Woody Allen. Allen later adopted two of Farrow's adopted children: Dylan Farrow and Moses Farrow. In 1987, Mia Farrow gave birth to Ronan Farrow, who is Allen's biological son.

Even without dragging in the abuse accusations by the other children, and accepting that Allen and Farrow were not co-habiting and that he was not meaningfully parenting Soon-Yi in any way, it's still a bit dicey to find out your boyfriend is (presumably) banging your daughter this way:

In January 1992, Farrow found nude photographs of Previn in Allen's home. Allen, then 56, told Farrow that he had taken the photos the day before, approximately two weeks after he and Previn first had sex. Farrow contends that she broke off her relationship with Allen in 1992 following her discovery of the affair. Previn and Allen dispute that, claiming that Allen and Farrow were no longer involved when Farrow discovered the photos.

I mean, even if I had broken up with a guy anywhere from six months to a year previously, I'd go nuclear if I found that out. So I can't blame Farrow for hitting the roof over this. Leaving out your sex photos where you know there's a good chance the ex, who is still visiting your place, will find them is... tacky, at best. At worst, it's like either Allen, Soon-Yi, or both did this intentionally to hurt Farrow.

There's a 35 year age gap between them, which is also a bit steep. When she was 21 (officially) and that's when the sexual aspect of the affair started (officially), he was 56. Even on the best reading of the entire mess, there's something trashy about it. The kind of jokes about redneck trailer trash in the Deep South scenario. "I'm fucking your momma and your sister and your sister is gonna be the momma of our babies":

Previn and Allen married in Venice on December 22, 1997; she was 27 and he was 62. They have adopted two daughters together.

If I'm being really tasteless about this, are we sure he's not going to move on to one of the adopted with Soon-Yi kids as soon as she's old enough, given his track record? No, that's not a likelihood, but it's the kind of miasma hanging over the entire relationship given how it started. He's already demonstrated that he's happy to move on to the adopted kid of a former partner. Even with regard to Ronan Farrow - your step-mom married to your biological dad is your adoptive sister? That's a messed-up family dynamic.

Yes, because their (now grown up) kids defend Allen & Soon Yi:

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/streaming/inside-the-mysterious-lives-of-woody-allen-and-soonyis-daughters/news-story/faa37730cad186c4f1b0beb7331fc5b0

Whatever one can sneer at the marriage, it held better than many others. They will stay together until Woody dies.

Even with regard to Ronan Farrow

I bet good money that Allen doesn’t have any biological children. I subscribe to the Frank Sinatra’s theory.

That's a messed-up family dynamic.

True.

Even with regard to Ronan Farrow - your step-mom married to your biological dad is your adoptive sister?

I'll never be persuaded that Allen is Farrow's biological dad and Frank Sinatra isn't.

Yeah, because your step-mom married to your step-dad is your adoptive sister is a much better look 🙄

If I'm being really tasteless about this, are we sure he's not going to move on to one of the adopted with Soon-Yi kids as soon as she's old enough, given his track record?

No, because

accepting that Allen and Farrow were not co-habiting and that he was not meaningfully parenting Soon-Yi in any way

that wouldn't be an analogous situation.

It's more about perception, though, on a subconscious level. It's the "you fuck one goat" problem. He fucked one adopted daughter, and now...