I had not planned to comment on the ongoing Roman Polanski mess. That's because for me, the story was over long ago. The man raped a 13 year-old girl. He even pled guilty to it in court. The fact that he then ran and avoided justice for many years changes nothing. He is a rapist and probably a pedophile.
But then a few idiots in Hollywood signed a letter supporting Polanski and asking for his release. I don't know why they did that -- probably because they are his friends. Others in Hollywood are speaking out against him. None of this matters, because he pled guilty to his crime.
If he were a plumber, farmer, teacher, policeman or even a clergyman, no one would be asking for his release. Everyone would be demanding he serve his time for his crime, and that's as it should be. Just because he has the ability to make good movies doesn't excuse his criminal act.
But then one Hollywood nut made a stupid statement, and I feel like I need to reply to it. Paul Peterson, a former child actor on the Donna Reed show, said there were many who would like to speak up but "They are afraid of the Hollywood power structure that is tilted distinctly to the left and plays favorites." What a load of crap!
Whether or not Polanski's supporters are leftists has nothing to do with their support of the man. I am a leftist, and so are many of my friends and acquaintances. I can assure you it is not a political principle of the left to be soft on rapists and molesters. If anything, it is just the opposite since most on the left believe in and support women's and children's rights.
Peterson's shot at the left was uncalled for and totally ridiculous. He should be ashamed of himself. Opposition to rape and child abuse and molestation is truly a bipartisan issue. Good people from both sides of the political spectrum can agree that these kinds of criminals should be severely punished.
Polanski raped a child. Now he needs to serve his time. This leftist has no problem with that at all.
First of all, I totally agree with you that Polanski should do the time for his crime. That being said, I see the support of many in Hollywood as a fairly complicated mixture of phenomena.
ReplyDeleteFirst, there's what I would call the "Jack Abbott effect." (For those who don't know or remember who Jack Abbott was, here's the Wikipedia article on him.) People like Norman Mailer and Susan Sarandon (among others) basicly decided that because this thug was a talented writer, the rules didn't apply to him. As a result, Abbott was paroled early, only to kill again within weeks of his release. This is essentially the view of many in Hollywood: Polanski is a great director; the rules don't apply to him either. This attitude has everything to do with Hollywood and the arts community in particular, and virtually nothing to do with the Left at large.
But I think there's something else at play too, namely, the permissive attitude about underage sex. There are some on the Left who would argue that a 13-year-old is perfectly capable of consenting to sex. I don't know how those people get around the fact that Polanski drugged his victim. Maybe they think that Polanski was doing her a favor by helping her to overcome her inhibitions (I'm playing devil's advocate here, lest you think I could possibly agree with such an outrageous idea.)
Along that same line, one of the most outrageous statement I've heard about this came from Whoopi Goldberg, who aruged that it wasn't "rape rape" - as if somehow the fact that it wasn't violent makes it OK.
As the stepfather of two twenty-somethings and the grandfather (my stepdaughter says I don't have to call myself a "step-grandfather) of a precious 2-year-old little girl, I find any justification of Polanski's crime particularly heinous.
I don't care if he's a great director, I don't care if he's 76 years old, I don't if his victim was unusually attractive for a 13-year-old, I don't care if he may not have been violent about it - rape is rape. You do the crime, you pay the time.
There are some on both the left and right who think a 13 year-old is old enough to consent. They are sick and depraved people. I hope we can agree though that most people - the decent people - on both the left and right do not believe that.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDelete