My Love Letter to Woody Allen,

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"If you're not failing every now and then, it's a sign you're not doing anything innovative." ― Woody Allen

My blog is essentially a love letter to my lover Woody Allen. No, he's not really my lover. I'm not his mistress, but maybe intellectually, we connect. There is some cosmic trajectory that links him to me. It's magnetic, it's intense, it's hypnotic, but sadly, he doesn't know I exist. He will never know of my existence, but at least, I can indirectly pick his brains through his movies, the very few interviews with him available online and his books (currently reading Mere Anarchy).

My love for him is still young, but it almost seems so long ago when I first came upon this brilliant human being. I can't even remember which was my first Woody Allen movie. I really want to say Love and Death, because I recall my first viewing of that movie vividly, but I could be wrong. If not Love and Death, then Annie Hall or Manhattan. Whichever Woody Allen film made me fall crazy in love with him doesn't matter, all that matters is that his humor, witty bantering, deep philosophical ways swayed my heart and made my sappy heart melt into a puddle of goo.

I think my love or rather obsession with Woody Allen is quite frightening and outrageous, considering he's probably like any other human being. Or not. I'm sure he's on an entirely different level. I sincerely believe it. I may be putting him on a high and humanely unreachable pedestal, but no matter what controversy he was or is in, I still hugely admire him as a filmmaker and artist. My admiration and adoration for him are beyond words, but I try to verbalize them as frequently as possible. It's probably somewhat borderline obnoxious, but I don't care. But seriously, stop me whenever my overbearing obsession becomes, well, unbearable.

I realized that since I started my blog on February 11th, 2011, I haven't written a post on my love for Woody Allen, which is quite shocking considering the name of my blog was inspired by Annie Hall.

Did you know Diane Keaton's birth name is Diane Hall and she changed her last name to her mother's maiden name as a result of a Diane Hall already being in the Actors Guild. According to her, Michael Keaton had a similar problem with his natural name when entering the Guild (his birth name is Michael Douglas!), though he picked "Keaton" because he liked Diane's name.

So this is my measly attempt at declaring my love for Woody Allen to the whole world. Without him, yesterday's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's. And without him, I'm nothing. And in all seriousness, if I had never come across Woody Allen films, I'd probably be a completely different person. He has really influenced me in a spiritual, metaphysical and philosophical way.

Judgment of any system, or a priori relationship or phenomenon exists in an irrational, or metaphysical, or at least epistemological contradiction to an abstract empirical concept such as being, or to be, or to occur in the thing itself, or of the thing itself. ― Love and Death (1975)

The quote above is why I'm head over heels in love with Woody Allen. Other reasons? Well, firstly, this man is incredibly modest, humorous, intellectual, smart and basically a credit to the human race. Seriously, this man doesn't go to award shows and rarely does and did any video interviews. But the few interviews I've seen made my life. There's a video of him on a game show and someone in the audiences asks him to do a push up. It was awesome. Usually, I'm attracted to men who are modest and slightly introverted and shy, but Woody is both modest and unabashedly direct and forward about sex. "When I see a girl that beautiful, I want to cry, write a poem... jump on her. I'm very sensitive." And "Let's catch up, take off our clothes and stare at each other." Seriously, if Woody Allen wanted to jump on me, I wouldn't resist and I'd probably enjoy it very much. Excuse my inappropriateness. I love that about him and his characters and his jokes. His aggressiveness is quite charming and endearing, because he pulls it off.

My love for him hasn't faded after all these years, in fact it has strengthened and blossomed. Even though his best movies are from the '70s and his movies from the 2000s aren't as strong, I still think he's a consistently great writer director who should be admired by all, since he comes out with a movie once a year. His motivated and passionate work ethic inspires me to be the best filmmaker I can be. Thank you, Woody, for your beautiful films and witty and life-changing jokes. You have taught me how to embrace my existential despair. You will always inspire me to be the best possible version of myself. You are my hero, you are my God, you are the love of my life. To Woody Allen, may you continue to make more inspirational and heartbreaking and beautiful films.

“If Woody Allen called me, I'd be there straight away. Who wouldn't? Truly.” ― Julie Delpy.

Are you serious? Julie Delpy loves Woody Allen too? She's my favorite female filmmaker. This is too amazing!

Has Woody Allen inspired you in any way? Who's the love of your life?

Much Love Always and Forever,
Avalonne