Why I just can't with Woody Allen anymore

I've made no secret about the fact that I've been a lifelong Woody Allen fan, but it's become increasingly hard over the last several years to say that in a public space with even a modicum of dignity. At a certain point, how can you defend the indefensible?

Like a lot of artists whose personal lives range from problematic to preposterously offensive, I have managed to separate the work from the individual and appreciate the art for what it is.

Movies like Annie Hall, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Hannah and Her Sisters meant a lot to me as a burgeoning film addict, and I still love them, even if they almost all show glimmers of the most toxic aspects of Allen's personality.

And a few of his recent outings like, Blue Jasmine and Midnight in Paris, have shown a spark of the savage wit and comic insight that made Allen such a special, welcome voice at the movies. But for every winning return to form there have been at least two or three tired May-December romances, or cliched nostalgia trips, or purely self-indulgent exercises from an unapologetically narcissistic, now 81-year-old man, who has consistently used self-deprecation to mask an unbelievable ego and who seems to see filmmaking as not so much a labor of love, but a force of habit.

I have plenty of people I am close to who boycott his films, especially in the wake of decades-old child abuse allegations which resurfaced a few years ago (which he has vehemently denied). I haven't gone to see any of his recent movies myself but admittedly more because the work didn't interest me -- but I also felt guilty for indulging this man, who didn't seem cowed by the criticisms, and who also seemed to flaunt his creepy inclinations.

Then this year he not only had the audacity to suggest that the outrage of Harvey Weinstein's transgressions was overheated (he has since clarified his remarks, and called the embattled mogul a "sad, sick man."), but he is also rumored to be shooting a film which portrays a sexual 'relationship' between an adult male and a 15-year-old girl. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

Now, Allen defenders (and I am sad to say I used to be one of them) would argue that as unsavory and unorthodox as his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn was (and some say, still is) they have been together now for 25 years, have children together, and this Oscar-winning legend has never been formally charged with any crime.

My thoughts exactly

That all feels like some of defenses I've heard over the years of another filmmaker whose work I revere but as a human being is pretty reprehensible -- Roman Polanski -- who has just been accused yet again of a 1970s-era sexual assault.

It's as if time and distance are supposed to erase what we all know he did.

At the very least, Allen could have kept quiet and stayed away from a subject where he clearly has a lot of detractors and an unpleasant reputation, but instead he seems keen to revel in it, and that for me has become a bridge too far. It's like he's pulling an R Kelly, daring us to look at how sleazy he can be so he can get off on the fact that he continues to get away with it.

The new movie in question will likely be a flop -- the great irony is that most Allen movies are -- but because of his historically great reputation as a filmmaker he will probably continue to attract A-list actors (his latest not-so-well-reviewed movie stars Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake) and be treated as events by critics who want to believe that this very old dog has some new tricks.

But this former fan is convinced he doesn't. For me, his unpleasantness as a human being has eclipsed what talent he had and maybe still has. I simply cannot countenance his brand of self-aggrandizement anymore. He was a brilliant filmmaker and comedian, nothing is going to change that. And he's directed women like Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Diane Weist and Cate Blanchett in some of the best performances of their careers, and I appreciate him for that too. And we may never truly know if he is a child molester or not, and to a certain extent that is beyond the point for me now.

He is someone who doesn't seem to appreciate boundaries, women's autonomy and modern standards of fair play -- and I can't support him with my dollars anymore.

More men -- who let's face it, probably comprise most of his small but fervent fanbase -- need to start questioning why they keep supporting him and whether its worth it anymore.