Woody Allen

Started by Pedro, March 20, 2003, 11:46:16 PM

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Alexandro

Quote from: Drenk on March 24, 2020, 11:50:58 PM
I don't believe Allen is cancelled. He's treated as a king in France. He can self-publish all his thoughts.The workers at Hachette made a strike, they're in their rights to be against publishing Allen, especially when the person has a contract based on his fame. We don't know the names of all the cancelled writers.

Mmmm yeah. Woody Allen is too big a name and powerful to be cancelled. But that's not the point. If those employees didn't believe it possible to cancel the book, why would they walk out in protest? Not only are they certain they can accomplish that, they actually did. Is it censorship, like pure old school government censorship? Certainly not. But if a film doesn't get exhibited or a book doesn't get published here and there not by the judgement of an overwhelming majority but because of the outcries of a very small group of humans all things considered, these are happenings that should be called out somehow.

And yeah, they have the right to not publish him, and they can cite any reason they want for it, business reasons, principle reasons if you like. We can reason it like that, but it would be naive, at the least. You know, those were the reasons Hollywood gave, back when they started blacklisting artists without real evidence of any wrong doing. Just because someone is wealthy and powerful doesn't make the deed, by itself, less wrong.

It's also hypocritical. Is Hachette going to stop publishing books by Condoleezza Rice? Or their book by Anthony Kiedis where he talks about having sex with a 14 yr old while in his 20's? Let's wait. Are those employees going to walk out again and make a difference? Maybe. I think it would do zero. I think Hachette caved in to appease Ronan Farrow, who will keep writing best sellers for a while, and they don't want to lose him. So this is not some gesture of solidarity with anyone except their own pockets.

And what about Farrow? This guy won the Pulitzer Price? Shouldn't a JOURNALIST have the backbone to defend basic principles of journalism like freedom of speech and the right to reply at all costs? He's just another hypocrite.