The HBO Original Programming Thread

[falafel]

I finished Lovecraft County, btw. It was really good, if anyone cares.

[tooblue]

Even better. If only that were the world we live in.

Likewise, it is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick.

So, we have a well-fed middle aged white guy calling out another well-fed middle aged white guy for being a well-fed middle aged white guy who has taken a morally authoritative stance that runs contrary to the first well-fed middle age white guy's morally authoritative stance in defence of Woody Allen ... ... Sounds like the plot of a movie. But not one Woody Allen could direct, least of all because he is massively overrated as a film maker.

To be clear, this is an issue of power (power dynamics):

"But there are some things almost all survivors want, Bedera said. "They want space from their perpetrator and they want their perpetrators to change their behavior so they cannot do this again easily, and if they're unwilling to change, they want them stripped of power."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...nt/6800198002/

[Commando]

I like Woody Allen movies.

[falafel]

Here comes a third well-fed white guy to set numbers one and two straight!

[tooblue]

Here comes a third well-fed white guy to set numbers one and two straight!

We are all well fed

[Northwestcoug]

I finished Lovecraft County, btw. It was really good, if anyone cares.

really? I stopped at the third episode. Do I have your word it gets better?

[falafel]

really? I stopped at the third episode. Do I have your word it gets better?

Yes.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Watched the second episode of Allen vs. Farrow last night. Some interesting tidbits:

1. Soon Yi had never dated or kissed a boy prior to having sex with Allen.
2. Strong evidence (testimony from apartment building staff, etc) that Allen was taking Soon Yi to his apartment for sex while she was still in HS. Consistent with the affair he had with another teenager near the same time.
3. After getting caught, both Soon Yi and Allen begged Mia for forgiveness for several months and swore it would never happen again. Allen did everything he could to prevent the information from going public. But a few months later, Allen picked up Soon Yi from a summer camp and restarted the affair.
4. Allen's movies feature a surprisingly large number of plots with an older man having an affair with a teenage girl (Manhattan being the most well known of course). In almost all cases, the older male (often played by Allen) appears to be a reluctant partner in the affair that is driven largely by an eager, voracious young girl. Perusal of Allen's memoirs that include dozens of un-filmed scripts show that he was obsessed with this young girl theme.
5. Quite a bit of circumstantial evidence surrounding the incident with Dylan.

[clackamascoug]

Can we also include Showtime? My son tells me I need to watch Your Honor. Anybody see it?

[SeattleUte]

Watched the second episode of Allen vs. Farrow last night. Some interesting tidbits:

1. Soon Yi had never dated or kissed a boy prior to having sex with Allen.
2. Strong evidence (testimony from apartment building staff, etc) that Allen was taking Soon Yi to his apartment for sex while she was still in HS. Consistent with the affair he had with another teenager near the same time.
3. After getting caught, both Soon Yi and Allen begged Mia for forgiveness for several months and swore it would never happen again. Allen did everything he could to prevent the information from going public. But a few months later, Allen picked up Soon Yi from a summer camp and restarted the affair.
4. Allen's movies feature a surprisingly large number of plots with an older man having an affair with a teenage girl (Manhattan being the most well known of course). In almost all cases, the older male (often played by Allen) appears to be a reluctant partner in the affair that is driven largely by an eager, voracious young girl. Perusal of Allen's memoirs that include dozens of un-filmed scripts show that he was obsessed with this young girl theme.
5. Quite a bit of circumstantial evidence surrounding the incident with Dylan.

Allen and Soon Yi went to Knicks games together and did other things for a long time. They didn't hide the fact that she went to his apartment not infrequently. That busybody porters or whatever saw them go in and out together isn't proof.

Still, what does this have to do with the issue at hand? Allen has had sex with a HS girl, and dramatized this in his film Manhattan. Ergo, he molested Dylan when she was 7 and in a house full of Mia's family and friends while Allen was there for a visitation negotiated by the lawyers?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Allen and Soon Yi went to Knicks games together and did other things for a long time. They didn't hide the fact that she went to his apartment not infrequently. That busybody porters or whatever saw them go in and out together isn't proof.

It was sworn testimony, under oath in court. Soon Yi and Allen went to his apartment many times and the maid would almost always find empty condom wrappers the next morning.

I am not sure why you would find this hard to believe. Allen was having sex with another teenager at about the same time.

Still, what does this have to do with the issue at hand? Allen has had sex with a HS girl, and dramatized this in his film Manhattan. Ergo, he molested Dylan when she was 7 and in a house full of Mia's family and friends while Allen was there for a visitation negotiated by the lawyers?

For starters, I mentioned it because I was reporting on E2 and 80% of the episode was about the Soon Yi affair. When it comes to the greek tragedy of Allen vs Farrow, it would be ridiculous to not cover the affair. It certainly isn't proof that he molested Dylan but it speaks to his character and judgment. And it certainly is a huge factor in their history/relationship/split.

Yes, family and friends were there and they had been told not to let Allen be alone with Dylan and for an extended period of time nobody could find them because he had taken her to the attic.

[SeattleUte]

Sorry, I thought the show was trying to prove that Allen molested Dylan.

[Northwestcoug]

Can we also include Showtime? My son tells me I need to watch Your Honor. Anybody see it?

I heard good things about it also. But before I shell out money to binge watch it, I need to know how much nudity there is.

[UVACoug]

Can we also include Showtime? My son tells me I need to watch Your Honor. Anybody see it?

It's terrible ... but in a trainwreck kind of way. If you enjoy laughing at bad TV, then it might be worth watching.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Allen v. Farrow, episode 3

-- yale-new haven report exonerating Allen was a joke. All the notes relating to the interviews were destroyed (this is against standard protocol) and the staff who conducted it refused to testify about it later. They released results directly to Allen before they even notified the Conn. states prosecutor who ordered it. Numerous factual errors in the report. State prosecutor was furious with how it was done. Judge Wilks (judge for custody case) rejected it. Highly criticized by many experts.

-- baby-sitter reported walking in on Allen with his face buried in Dylan's crotch on the day in question. She was naked from the waist down.

-- Allen's story of what happened on the day in question changed over time.

-- Conn state prosecutor was 100% in favor of arresting Allen.

-- NY state child services agent assigned to the case was 100% convinced that Allen was guilty of molesting Dylan. He was told to back off and refused. He was then fired and had to sue to get his job back, but was never allowed to continue the case.

-- Mia did not report case to the police. She took Dylan to a doctor who later reported it to the police. She did not aggressively push the case in the public. By contrast, Allen pursued an all-out media blitz to discredit Mia and accuse her of coaching Dylan on the story out of jealousy. He was basically NYC royalty and almost all of the media sources repeated his claims with sympathetic coverage. He even hired private detectives to follow Mia and her friends and they dug into the background of the Conn prosecutors on the case. Basically the same strategy used by Harvey Weinstein (my observation).

-- Women who accuse men of abuse in divorce proceedings are often lying for advantage. But academic studies have shown that in cases like this where the child is interviewed and repeats the claim to child services staff are telling the truth 90% of the time.

-- Numerous experts have reviewed the videotape of Dylan recounting the abuse and say it doesn't show any sign of coaching.

-- Judge in custody trial trashed Allen in his ruling.