Thanks to all of you who sent in nominations for the Bill Finger Award. The committee is close to arriving at a decision and no more names are needed right now…but we'll keep 'em all in mind for next year. There are many deserving people and if your suggestion doesn't make it this time around, do not despair.
I continue to do a poor job of not reading articles and comments about the Woody/Mia/Dylan mess…and a mess it is. I'm seeing a lot more folks who say "I wasn't there so I have no way of knowing exactly what happened" and who then proceed to tell us exactly what happened and to impugn the intelligence and character of those who don't concur. Personally, I can't help but have an opinion — which at the moment is roughly the same as Moses Farrow's — but it's not something of which I'm positive the way he is. To use jurors' lingo, I am not certain beyond a reasonable doubt. I'm not sure I ever will be but I'll tell you something I am pretty sure about…
In her open letter, Dylan started by asking, "What's your favorite Woody Allen movie?" Well, since she asked, it's Broadway Danny Rose. And if I became convinced that its director-writer-star had done the loathesome act alleged, my favorite Woody Allen movie would still be Broadway Danny Rose. Ditto if I became convinced that its female lead was the psychotic promoter of a false charge.
Either way, I like Broadway Danny Rose and it and my other favorite Woody Allen films don't get any worse if I see proof that one of their stars did something horrible. I would imagine that a number of books and movies and plays and TV shows I admire were the works of people who did something I'd find repulsive if I knew about it…and there are a few where I do know about it. I like a couple of movies that O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake were in, even though murdering your wife or ex-wife is not a much more noble act than molesting a seven-year-old. But a movie isn't a lesser movie because your opinion of its maker as human being plunges — especially when you're just not sure. At worse, it means an awful person made a great movie. Some terrible people have done some good paintings, too.