Woody Allen and Roman Polanski Aren't Alike

I'm tired of the snickering about Woody Allen's signature on the statement signed by various Hollywood directors favoring leniency for Roman Polanski. "Well, gee, he would defend Polanski, wouldn't he," snicker snicker.

Woody Allen never raped anyone and never engaged in sexual misconduct. Sun-Yi Previn was, as anyone with eyes can see, not remotely his biological daughter, so any suggestion of incest is just foolish. To my knowledge, she was at or above the age of consent when their relationship began, it was mutually consensual, and they apparently have been happily married since 1997.

Here's a pertinent comment I found online: “Your judgements against Woody Allen are based on sensationalistic misinformation. As mentioned above, Soon-Yi is not his stepdaughter. He and Mia Farrow were never married and, in fact, never even lived together. I believe it is highly unlikely he ever had a father/daughter bond with Soon-Yi. And she was 21, an adult, when the relationship began.”

I don't agree with the rationale behind the statement from the Hollywood directors but that should not be construed as a defense of rape. None of the signatories has said that they're cool with rape, but that's the way their statement has been construed in the public's mind.