Late last year, a who’s who of Manhattan’s literary elite attended an event for the kink-positive sex and dating app Feeld – and there in the corner of a room, between the canapés and the erotica, was none other than Woody Allen. The society pages of the New York Post offered little more on this surreal public appearance than the fact that it had happened, that Allen had been invited by his friend, the writer Daphne Merkin, and that he “didn’t stay for long”. Still, does it matter? “Woody Allen shocks by showing up at sex app party” is the sort of scoop that warrants applause, a slap on the back, and a free drink at the bar.
Today, Allen is 89, not really working, and not really cancelled. The #MeToo moment in 2017 did lead to the resurfacing of sexual abuse allegations made in 1992 by his daughter Dylan Farrow (which he’s repeatedly denied, while several investigations into the claim have brought no charges), but it’s tricky to spot any long-term effects, despite critics of the #MeToo movement often describing Allen as one of its “victims”. If anything, the filmmaker has become a bit of a cultural jump-scare. He’s never particularly asked after, but still has a tendency to pop up in places where you’d least expect him – podcasts, festivals, cinema listings if you’re travelling on the continent. Ironically, considering Allen spoke last week about once having worked with Donald Trump on a film, it’s similar to the effect of seeing the man who would later become US president in Home Alone 2, or walking by in an episode of Sex and the City. How on earth did that happen, you find yourself asking.
