Mia Farrow is on the war path. She’s gotten Maureen Orth to write a piece in Vanity Fair accusing Woody Allen of something–child molestation, anything to retaliate against him for romancing and marrying her adopted daughter Soon Yi in 1992. And for being wildly successful late in life.
Orth does what she can to accommodate Farrow, including painting her as the patron saint of handicapped adopted children and the savior of central Africa. In fact, Orth presents Farrow first as an angel, then turns to her mission of assassinating Allen once the reader is in.
Orth asks Farrow about Allen’s latest film, “Blue Jasmine.” Farrow responds that she doesn’t know what Orth is talking about. Right. The timing of the Orth article is no coincidence: it’s designed to smear Allen just as Oscar season begins. It’s hilarious and sad that after 21 years, Farrow still wields an ax for Allen.
If you do read this piece, and I’m sure you will, there’s a lot that Orth leaves out. Uncomfortable as it may make people today, Allen has been with Soon Yi without incident since 1992. They have two children. They are fairly public, also. They were featured in a documentary made by Barbara Kopple, and in a PBS documentary last year. They seem to be very happy, which makes Farrow probably even more agitated.
In the story, Mia Farrow tries to raise the idea that her son with Allen, Ronan Farrow, was fathered by Frank Sinatra. Ronan–then known as Satchel– was born in December 1987 the same week Allen’s movie, “September,” was released. Vanity Fair has juxtaposed pictures of Ronan and Sinatra opposite the article.
But as I wrote recently, there’s no denying Ronan is Allen’s kid. His Twitter account is filled with one liners that could only come from the mind of Woody Allen’s progeny. I don’t think Frank Sinatra was known for his sense of humor and adroit glibness.
There’s no doubt that Mia Farrow was deeply wounded by Woody Allen. So were her kids. But to carry on a vendetta into a third decade seems tacky and pointless. To suggest that he is guilty of things for which he was exonerated — with no real evidence and a lot of innuendo– is kind of pathetic at this point.
Meantime, I did run into Ronan Farrow a few weeks ago. He is obviously smart, talented, and good looking. After working for the State Department, and then serving as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, he told me that he had a book contract (Orth says he’s writing a book). He also said he’d be joining a major publication soon (Vanity Fair, maybe?). His Twitter account shows a keen mind. But if he were smart, he’d go to Woody directly, and not let this story continue as a public spectacle.
PS I just got my November VF but I’ve already read James Wolcott’s piece on JFK, Lisa Robinson’s astute cover story on Jay Z, and the excerpt from Anjelica Huston’s terrific memoir. It’s quite an issue!
