Nothing can stop Woody Allen, according to Woody Allen. The prolific filmmaker's newest movie, "Magic in the Moonlight," has already received several less-than-positive reviews, but critical opinion doesn't seem to weigh too heavily on Allen -- or, in his view, on the public, according to a recent interview with the New York Times. In the midst of shooting his latest project, Allen told the Times that "nothing keeps [audiences] away if they think they'll enjoy" one of his films.
That includes deterrents like lingering public outrage over the allegations of sexual abuse Allen encountered earlier this year, when his former stepdaughter Dylan Farrow publicly accused the filmmaker of molesting her as a child. In Allen's view, and in the view of his sister and longtime producer Letty Aronson, such allegations have little to do with whether people will turn out to see his movies:
“No thoughts like that occur to me,” he said to this reporter. “They only occur to you guys.”
“I don’t think anyone has ever not come to a film of mine that they thought they would enjoy,” he added. “Nothing keeps them away if they think they’ll enjoy the film. And if they don’t think they’ll enjoy the film, nothing we can do ever brings them in.”
Ms. Aronson agreed it would be “sheer stupidity” for Mr. Allen’s fans to avoid his future films. “If they like Woody Allen movies, what are they doing?” she said. “They’re not hurting him. They’re hurting themselves.”
Asked if the recent scrutiny weighed on Mr. Allen, Ms. Aronson said: “No, not at all. And I think this year’s rehashing of everything made everything so much more obvious.”
Whatever people want to believe about Mr. Allen, “there’s nothing you can do,” she said. “You just move on and go on with your life, which is what he’s done.”
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