Sunday, September 27, 2009

... this transcript from The Smoking Gun should make it clear. Warning: NSFW, graphic testimony from a thirteen-year-old who was raped. Polanski jumped bail after being convicted because he felt 42 days was quite enough for this particular offense.

I don't think being an artist entitles you to behave any worse than anyone else. Be a human being first. What's pernicious about Hollywood is it tells you that the rules don't apply in general, because many specific rules do have to be bent. And so a lot of people get lost along the way.

UPDATE: This Salon article demolishes the recent documentary that paints Polanski as some sort of victim.

2:47 PM

14 Comments:

You might want to read THIS.

It seems like there was alot going on that changes the circumstances.

1st: That the victim was fine with the original sentence, a product of a plea bargain between the prosecution and the defense.

2nd: That the judge was apparently in collusion with the media and decided to ignore the plea bargain for the benefit of his career.

3rd: That the judge basically told him to flee (self-deport) the country or he'd get 50 years. The judge also was telling the prosecution and defense on what to say and do.

I'm not saying what he did wasn't wrong, or that he shouldn't have probably gotten more time, just that people have overlooked wrongdoing on the part of the judge.

By  Hugo Fuchs, at 12:01 AM  

It's pretty clear, and Polanksi did plead guilty to having sex with a minor. Whether or not the victim is "fine" with what transpired between Polanski and the court has nothing to do with justice.

And because we have an independent judiciary in the United States, as enshrined in the Constitution, judges are given latitude as to sentencing. Some are worse than others, and given the nature of the crime -- rape and sodomy of a minor -- lots of judges probably wanted to throw the book at him, regardless of his accomplishments. The bench is often a political position and judges are not beyond their own ambitions. Such is the system.

But more importantly, people have been incarcerated in the United States for FAR LONGER for lesser, victimless crimes -- like narcotics possession -- because the judge was quite strict. And many of these people didn't have a house in London or cozy villa in France to flee to.

It's a blessing that the girl seemingly has moved on with her life. I'm sure it's been hell for years, and a lot worse could have transpired because of what he did to her.

By  daveed, at 11:17 AM  

Postscript: Here's a review of the pro-Polanski documentary about the case called Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, in which the reviewer says the film is essentially a whitewash.

By  daveed, at 11:27 AM  

Even if the victim is "fine" with a plea bargain, a man who drugs and rapes an 8th grader will likely do it again if there are no serious consequences. The judge had to consider future potential victims too.

Fear of a long sentence, plus a life in exile, probably scared Polanski into good behavior in a way that 42 days in jail would not have.

By  Unknown, at 1:27 PM  

Thanks for posting this. Couldn't agree more.

By  Norma Desmond, at 3:17 PM  

The 42 days Polanksi got was just for a psych evaluation. It might have counted as time served, but it wasn't exactly incarceration.

By  daveed, at 4:23 PM  

What does "NSFW" stand for? I know it means R-rated material, more or less. But what does the acronym literally mean?

By  David, at 7:41 PM  

NSFW = "not safe for work," i.e. you really don't want your co-workers to see you reading it.

By  Unknown, at 10:06 PM  

Awww, and I was going to give him the "letmegooglethatforyou" link. Well, here it is: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=nsfw.

By  Alex Epstein, at 10:08 PM  

How about this:

[ filmmakers(Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar and Martin Scorsese) have "demanded the immediate release" of fellow filmmaker Roman Polanski, who was arrested in Switzerland on a U.S. arrest warrant related to a 1977 child sex charge.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/29/polanski.filmmakers.protest/index.html
]

Also:

[
"The arrest of Roman Polanski in a neutral country, where he assumed he could travel without hindrance ... opens the way for actions of which no one can know the effects," said the signatories, who also included actresses Monica Bellucci and Tilda Swinton and directors David Lynch, Jonathan Demme, John Landis, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Wim Wenders.

In the United States, powerhouse movie producer Harvey Weinstein is trying to recruit more supporters for Polanksi.

"We are calling every filmmaker we can to help fix this terrible situation," his company told CNN in a statement. ]


Interesting, no? Nice to have such powerful friends with questionable morals...

By  JamaicanInToronto, at 3:59 AM  

@Jamaican: "How about this" indeed. The guy drugged and raped a child. He didn't do any time for it. He fled the country. The DA is trying to get him back. Who cares whether he made some good movies or not? Does an Oscar entitle you to one free child rape?

By  Alex Epstein, at 12:13 PM  

Alex,

When I googled "nsfw," I just got links to your days in porn films.

At the end, the "letmegoogle" site asked, "Was that so hard?" The answer is "yes;" please make links actual hyperlinks instead of just text URL's.

By  David, at 1:25 PM  

The really infuriating thing is that Polanski only got a plea bargain because the girl wanted to avoid a media frenzy. By fleeing, he subjected her to three decades of just that.

By  Unknown, at 12:36 PM  

Well Lisa, now his supporters point to the fact that she's now married with children(which they'd claim points to her being well adjusted)and says she's forgiven him.
It bothers me that hollywood gets to determine what's right and moral these days. They do it because they have the platform. Time to make a documentary!

By  JamaicanInToronto, at 2:03 AM  

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