Jeff Goldblum, 50% America’s heartthrob and 50% crazy uncle, has been quoted recently as feeling comfortable working with controversy-covered director, Woody Allen. This has been in response to a resurgence of accusations made against Allen by his stepdaughter, Dylan Farrow.
This comes as a surprise to most fans, as Jeff Goldblum seemed infallible to them. Known for his eccentric characteristics on and off the stage, the 65-year-old actor’s popularity has continued to rise despite decades of fame. How could it not? Jeff Goldblum breathes easy authenticity. That level of self-assuredness, when paired with emphatic hand gestures and an iconic speaking structure, makes a person memorable. It seems as if the world’s opinion of Goldblum couldn’t be more pristine. However, recent comments about considering working alongside Woody Allen, a controversy-ridden director, have placed him in hot water.
Jeff Goldblum does not believe an accusation alone deserves full condemnation. “I think there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” he stated in regards to Allen. Woody Allen pleads innocent on the charges presented to him, which are allegations of sexual assault from his daughter in her childhood.
“Even though I feel like this cultural shift (referring to the #MeToo movement) is very, very positive and long overdue and I support it wholeheartedly and take it very seriously, I also admire his body of work. So I would consider working with him again, until I learned something more negative,” he said.
Jeff Goldblum is not the only big–name actor that has publicly mentioned consideration working with him when he decides to resurface in the directing world. Scarlett Johansen, primarily known for her roles where she’s just Scarlett Johansen with different names, has added her name to the list of Allen forgivers.
Jeff Goldblum has worked with Woody Allen on several projects in the past. Notably, he attributes Allen’s influence as a jazz enthusiast with his own burgeoned love of jazz music. Goldblum sat in on Woody Allen’s jazz band in the past. Connections created through events such as these have netted Woody Allen an array of supporters.
However, there are plenty of A-list celebrities that denounce Woody Allen amongst these accusations concerning his daughter. Most notably, Natalie Portman has gone on record stating her support of Dylan Farrow. “We know that women are systematically not listened to,” she said on the subject.
While the accusations might not be enough for Scarlett Johansen and Jeff Goldblum, they are certainly enough for Natalie Portman and a wide array of Hollywood figures.
Woody Allen is a figure whose name has been scrutinized since 1992 when the first accusations from his daughter, Dylan Farrow, who was 7 at the time. This was viewed as a public attempt for revenge from Mia Farrow, Dylan’s mother. This came out shortly after it was discovered Woody Allen was cheating on his partner with their adoptive step-daughter, Soon-Yi Previn.
So, this is just a bag of yikes no matter which way you spin it. The worst case scenario in this whole debacle is the accusations towards Woody Allen are proven, which would plummet the noted figure into unescapable infamy with all the other deservedly fallen figures. I don’t mean “worst” in terms of Woody’s perspective, but “worst” in terms of giving me the most dismay of sharing genes with these cretins.
Sadly, the “best” case scenario is not much prettier of a picture. If Dylan’s accusations towards Woody Allen truly are contrived, then that means he did not abuse his daughter. It does still indicate, however, that Woody Allen started a relationship with his adoptive step daughter. If reports are accurate, it means he started the relationship when she was 17. It means that Woody Allen is a weird, weird guy. And not the good weird, like Jeff Goldblum sort. More like the weird uncle that you don’t want talking to your son’s girlfriend. A predatory sort of weird.
An argument can be made that Woody Allen fell in love with Soon-Yi. Love may be blind, but society isn’t. It’s impossible to spin that situation in a way that doesn’t spell out a social taboo. So while Woody Allen might not be too weird for Jeff Goldblum, that does not mean he can’t be too weird for the public.