Roman Polanski Arrested!- Page 10

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 5:51pm

Katha Pollitt in the Nation looks at the women who are supporting Polanski.

===

It's enraging that literary superstars who go on and on about human dignity, and human rights, and even women's rights (at least when the women are Muslim) either don't see what Polanski did as rape, or don't care, because he is, after all, Polanski--an artist like themselves. That some of his defenders are women is particularly disappointing
Roman Polanski Has a Lot of Friends

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 6:17pm

Namo,

Did you just bring Hitler into this?

:P

[NYadgal]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 6:25pm

Thank you for posting that link, PalJoey!

In addition to the paragraph you copied, I think the conclusion is absolutely accurate. And the comments support it.

The widespread support for Polanski shows the liberal cultural elite at its preening, fatuous worst. They may make great movies, write great books, and design beautiful things, they may have lots of noble humanitarian ideas and care, in the abstract, about all the right principles: equality under the law, for example. But in this case, they're just the white culture-class counterpart of hip-hop fans who stood by R. Kelly and Chris Brown and of sports fans who automatically support their favorite athletes when they're accused of beating their wives and raping hotel workers.

No wonder Middle America hates them.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 8:33pm

Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monlogues, posted this blog on Huffington Post:
Does the Brotherhood of Fame Endow You With a Lifetime Exemption From Accountability?

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 8:38pm

Wow I love Ensler's article. She cut right to the heart of it and those men and women who signed that petition should be ashamed of themselves.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 9:20pm

I suspect some of those signatories are being influenced by personal encounters w Mr Polanski who by many accounts has a charming and affable personality. ( well as long as he gets what he wants!)
Also the way children are treated in the entertainment industry
has also allowed these individuals a certain indifference to what most of us would term as abuse. Even w parents ansd guardians on set it is difficult to protect young people from this enviorment. Everyone wants their kid to be a success and if that means fudging the start times on a film or birth dates to allow more extended working hours well, that's the price to be paid.
I remember Rita Wilson( married to Tom Hanks) telling a story of going to an audtion as a young teen w her parents and meeting the casting director and a senior studio executive . She was called back latter for a 2nd interview and went in a cab
as her parents were unable to accompany her and she was an experienced performer. She said she knew something was up when there was just the executive ther no casting director. He asked her if she was still a virgin and when she answered yes he asked if he could be first! ( she said no and w out being too clear how got out of the room)
THAT is the kind of enviorment and indifference I'm talking about where some individuals w power use it to indulge themselves w out fear of repercusions because well, they're them!
In the end, people must be held responsible for their actions.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 9:27pm

But of course this was rape-rape-

Maybe he and Polanski can discuss thecniques
Elizabeth Smart testifies against rapist

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 12:38am

"No wonder Middle America hates them."

At this point, I think probably all of America hates them.

And deservedly so.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 3:52am

I don't know why everyone is so upset.

Okay, he raped a 13-year-old girl, but she's grown up to be a well-adjusted adult, so no harm done! It's not like she's been traumatized or affected in any long-term way. It's not like this event has been haunting her for over 30 years. It's not like she's "damaged goods." She's fine, so let's just let the whole thing drop.

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 5:20am

"Okay, he raped a 13-year-old girl..."

Wow, you make it sound so simple like, okay he went out to buy a loaf of bread...

I wonder if you would feel the same if this had happened to your mother, your sister, your daughter or another close relative.

"I don't know why everyone is so upset..."

He broke the law. He plied a young 13 year old girl with alcohol and drugs and then raped her...I don't know what part of that you are not understanding. He broke THE LAW.

"no harm done..."

How do you know this? Just because she has chosen to forgive him now? Do you even know what she went through in the intervening years since the rape? If you know something we don't please clue us in because I refuse to believe this young girl and her mother were "okay" with all of this when this initially happened.

If she forgives him now is besides the point and has no bearing whatsoever. He broke THE LAW not only by raping a 13 year old girl but also by fleeing the country.

HE BROKE THE LAW. Pure and simple.

Your non chalant attitude is disturbing to say the least and a disservice to every woman who has been the unfortunate victim of rape.
Updated On: 10/2/09 at 05:20 AM

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 5:32am

I assume (and desperately hope) that Ms. Pennywise's comment was made sarcastically. As the mother of a 13 year old girl she would be the last to say something like that seriously. (Of course she's been in California for a couple of weeks and it could have affected her brain....)

It's quite simple. ANYONE who messes with a child or a mentally or physically handicapped adult should be immediately castrated and forced into a lifetime of public service. I think that's a perfectly reasonable response.

Updated On: 10/2/09 at 05:32 AM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 8:47am

and this story is devastating to the "he was worried he'd be railroaded" defense. he knew. he was warned and warned and warned and the judge only started thinking about longer sentence after seeing pics of polanski and nastassja kinski. another young girl.
the lost polanski transcripts

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 8:58am

Jesus, justice is justice no matter the perceived harm or lack thereof.

[mominator]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 9:39am

It REALLY bewilders me how some people can defend this man

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 9:43am

Arnold says "No pardon."
No special treatment for Polanski: Schwarzenegger

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 9:44am

Has Hair changed the lyric in "Manchester England"?

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 9:59am

PJ, I read Arnold's words far less definitively than you do. To me, they're very ambiguous. He's saying no special treatment, not no pardon. Might a governor pardon a seventysomething man for a thirty year-old crime, regardless of the man's celebrity?

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 10:06am

Might a governor pardon a seventysomething man for a thirty year-old crime, regardless of the man's celebrity?

I can't remember the story exactly, but wasn't there a man in his 80s or so arrested not too long ago for something done during the 60s in the South -- burning a church I think?

[NYadgal]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 10:11am

Eve Ensler's article is brilliantly written and very powerful:

When I saw the petition protesting the recent arrest of Roman Polanski in Switzerland was signed by some of my most cherished artists -- the likes of Pedro Almodovar, Ariel Dorfman, Costa Gavras, Jonathan Demme, Sam Mendes -- men who I believed to be champions of women's and human rights, frankly, I was shocked. It made it distressingly clear to me that all our years of work have not yet penetrated or changed the culture so that it understands that rape is a legal crime and a crime against the soul. As a survivor, I can attest to the fact that rape forever changes your life, robbing you of dignity, self-worth, agency over your body, and comfortability with intimacy and trust, while also escalating a pervasive sense of isolation and shame.

After 11 years of traveling the world and meeting with rape survivors across the planet I can say that the long-term consequences are multiple and far-reaching, ranging from homelessness, drug abuse, and eating disorders, to imprisonment, suicide, and early death.

The petition defending Polanski doesn't even address his crime. Instead, it calls it a "case of morals." That expression -- a "case of morals" -- takes the anti-violence movement back about a hundred years. Rape is not a question of morals. In fact it's not even a question.


Rape is not a question of morals. In fact it's not even a question.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 11:11am

I was being ironic.

My feelings about Polanski pretty much run along the lines of what Mominator said.

The entire thing disgusts me...HE has disgusted me ever since it happened. The event has haunted ME all these years; just the thought of it makes my stomach turn.

How anyone can look at something like this and even suggest that it be "waived" is beyond my ability to reason. Everyone has been so articulate in this thread (well, most people), and the articles you've linked have said it all. There was little more to be said, but after reading through the thread from beginning to end, I wanted to add something because I am so appalled by the situation I can hardly breathe.

As a woman, as a mother, and as someone who, as a minor, was sexually assaulted by a much older man, I find it very hard to be unbiased in this case. That's why I've tried to avoid commenting on it. But sometimes it's important to take the personal to the public to show that things like this are more common than we want to accept and more devastating than we want to admit.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 12:20pm

Thank you Miss Pennywise.

[LaurenB]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 12:41pm

Has Polanski ever expressed regret or remorse, regarding his actions?

I am reminded of the recent Michael Vick press conference when he was released from prison. He did the crime, did the time, and then admitted to wrongdoing, was remorseful, and announced that he would be working with the Humane Society. That may be all BS, time will tell. But I do hope he has learned his lesson.

But back to Polanski, the only thing I really hear about is how he is convinced that he was justified in fleeing the US. He seems so self-centered. It's all about me. I guess I would feel "better" if he was on record as having denounced his own actions that got him into trouble in the first place, and show some remorse and humility.

I too remember his affair with the young Nastasia Kinski a few years later, and I remember thinking at the time that the leopard hasn't changed his spots. So I would be very curious if he ever expressed real remorse at his actions (and not remorse because he got caught).

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 11:10pm

Vicki Iovine, the author of The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregancy, posted this blog on Huff Post:
Let me see if I have this right...

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/3/09 at 10:30am

The NY Times has a fascinating contemporary take on the case, from Polanski's probation officer.

Particularly fascinating is that among the signers of letters of support at the time was Mia Farrow.
How Polanski's probation officer saw his crime

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/3/09 at 10:49am

That's a very well-written article. It manages to discuss the context of the times while avoiding the trap of minimizing the crime.

Mia Farrow, of course, turned out to have lousy radar when it came to men who liked young girls.

This paragraph struck me:

“He is not a pedophile,” Dr. Davis is quoted as saying. “The offense occurred as an isolated instance of transient poor judgement and loss of normal inhibitions in circumstances of intimacy and collaboration in creative work, and with some coincidental alcohol and drug intoxication.”

Did Dr. Davis still say that after Polanski took up with 15-year-old Nastassja Kinski?

And will the Polanski proceedings take us back to the pedophile/ephebophile distinction?

Thanks for posting.