Polanski is an Unrepentant Pig

Harsh words? Hardly.

First it must be said, Roman Polanski did endure unspeakable tragedies in his life. Forced into the Krakow ghetto under Nazi persecution, he and his father survived, but his mother died at Auschwitz. And years later, both his wife, Sharon Tate, and their unborn child were brutally murdered in an incomprehensible rampage. 

AND the miscarriage of justice for his own unspeakable act, and the sympathetic support he is receiving from a certain sector, are just as incomprehensible to me.

For those who may have heard some vague account, it should be made clear --  Polanski was charged at the age of 44 with forcible rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts upon and furnishing a controlled substance to a 13-year-old girl. He got a 13-year-old girl drunk, gave her half a quaalude (the "date rape" drug of the time) to further sedate her, and then raped her. (I think everyone who has taken interest in this case should know exactly what he did, so all the lurid details are recounted by the victim here.)

I would also add something I have not seen in most of the recent accounts of this case. He allegedly was disgusted when he asked if the 13-year-old girl was on birth control, and she said no. So he stopped regular intercourse and sodomized her so that he wouldn't risk getting her pregnant. How thoughtful. What genius.

The charges were dismissed under the terms of his plea bargain. The transcript shows that the sole reason the prosecutors agreed to the arrangement was that the 13-year-old girl and her parents were desperate to avoid the publicity of a trial. Polanski pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, and expected to be given probation. The maximum sentence he could have faced was 50 years, although prosecutors had said at the time that the typical sentence was 16 months to three years in prison.

Now, there has been a determination of wrong-doing by the now-deceased judge originally assigned to the case, who it seemed was dazzled by the limelight, and may have been set on handing down an unusually harsh sentence. (Of course, this would have been compared to the above-mentioned "typical sentence" -- which was far too lenient in my opinion.)

So fearing he faced the rest of his life in jail, Polanski fled. Now I don't have a total run-down of his appeals in this case, but I have found no story recounting that his lawyers tried at the time to have the judge dismissed in order to receive a more fair sentencing. It seems at various times all they have sought is probation, dismissal of all charges, or clemency.

Polanski unfathomably believes that the time he served -- about 45 days in jail -- was enough punishment for what he did. Actually, he probably thinks it was too much. He has never expressed any kind of remorse.  And in his autobiography, he defiantly claimed that the 13-year-old girl was a willing participant. To this day the woman who was 13 at the time, although she has said she wants an end to all this and that he should not serve any jail time, categorically denies it was consensual.

And still there are throngs that cry for clemency. They believe he was a victim of a stage mom and an ambitious Lolita intent on fame, a judge looking for his own distinction, and (most laughably) a puritanical American society that just doesn't understand the looser mores of Europeans. He is an artistic genius, they say -- so that means we should excuse his criminal behavior?!

Even though psychiatric evaluations back then determined he was not a pedophile and not a danger, I beg to differ. He soon afterward had an affair with a 15-year old Nastassja Kinski, so this cannot be called a one-time indiscretion. (And who knows if there were other victims who never stepped forward?) Though maybe he wasn't a hard-core predator, he certainly did not see anything wrong with sexual relations with minors.

So yes, he may have directed some impressive movies -- I begrudgingly watched The Pianist because I wanted to see Adrien Brody's performance. I had to separate the director from the criminal, and I have to say it was an outstanding movie. But when I watched the Oscars, and Polanski won -- well, I was not standing up and emphatically applauding like Scorcese and his ilk.

So while Polanski's victim had to face inconceivable circumstances -- first his attack, the grand jury testimony, and then decades later an occasional return to this horrific spotlight -- her attacker fled and lived a life of luxury in France. Though thankfully she seems to have come to peace with what happened to her, that does not mean that Polanski should avert his long overdue punishment. 

Not directing a masterpiece -- nor enduring terrible tragedies in life -- excuses despicable acts.

Comments

[Coleen M.]

If only there were a stronger word than despicable or unspeakable! Blaming this "persecution" on "puritanical American society" as some of his defenders have done is ridiculous. Seriously, in Europe, 40-year-old men drug and rape 13-year-old girls on a regular basis and nobody bats an eye?!? Think for a minute of an actual 13-year-old girl you may know. My son is 12 and the idea that any of his classmates a year from now would be capable of consenting to sex with a man in his 40s is unthinkable. They are *children.*

[ChunLing]

The failure of words alone is pretty much the point of resorting to force. As for what happens in Europe...yes, things like this are somewhat more common there. As long as the right gratuities are paid and homeschooling isn't involved, no official eyes are batted.

Europe is...not the worst place in the world, but it isn't America either. I should think that your interest in fighting child sex-slavery would have made you more aware of the pertinent facts, but most of the world does not really have a problem with this sort of thing. Polanski paid the girl's family and refrained from actually killing her...according to the general standards of decency common to most of the world, he did nothing remotely criminal or even embarrassing.

It's something worth considering next time you're having an argument about whether America should bring it's laws more into line with 'international standards'. Actually, given that the current debate is essentially over whether American law-enforcement is justified in such an outre assault on an internationally acclaimed artist, I suppose it's worth considering now.

[Colette Moran]

Please tell me Chun ling that the way the above comment should be read is that it is a despicable state of affairs in Europe, but you are speaking of it matter-of-factly out of despair that it will never change.

[jessica johnson]

I would hope so, too. ChunLing, I read your posts and it's as if you exist on the outside of human living. Unfeeling. Analytical beyond reason and understanding. You're Yoda's evil doppleganger, except what you say rarely makes sense even after careful thought.

[ChunLing]

Tell me, when you refer to a "despicable state of affairs in Europe", are you talking about the fact that the arrest of this man was protested, or permitted in the first place? Do you think it unfair for me to question which you meant?

If you can't understand what I'm saying, perhaps it's because you haven't seriously tried. What about my previous post is remotely unclear? Where have I ever made any comment that could be construed as support for 'international standards' or the mass media's worldview? When have I expressed the least tolerance for...tolerance?

Actually, the real point is summed up very succinctly in the first sentence of my post. "The failure of words alone is pretty much the point of resorting to force." At some point, you have to go beyond just talking about how much this kind of thing offends or disgusts you. You must find someone willing to take action.

I know, you hate that such people exist at all, and you hate even more that you cannot live in security or freedom without them. You like to pretend that your expressions of how things ought to be are sufficient to make them so. And perhaps in a better world they would be.

But that world will only exist because of those willing to do what is necessary.

[Pat]

LOL! Yoda's evil doppleganger!!

guffaw...*gasp*...snort...guffaw...(water out the nose).

Agreed!

[Colette Moran]

Okay Chun Ling -- settle down. I had to re-read your first post -- you write eloquently at times, but sometimes you are quite unclear.

Maybe if you made simpler, more direct points... I don't know maybe I'm too much a plain-folk.

But you're last point is correct -- we have to do something to fight this. I'm writing these posts and writing in threads that FB friends have started.

If I have to, I intend to participate in boycotting certain films by certain directors, etc who have signed that petition for RP's release.

I also feel I try to educate people about the dangers that lurk in the shadows for young girls everywhere.

We can't just sit back and hope for the best for young women -- we must work to protect them.

[ChunLing]

I suppose that I should be more tolerant of the fact that your idea of "doing something" is so far from my interpretation of that term. I usually do make an effort, but I'm a reciprocal sort. In my view, those who are not willing to tolerate me have no reason to expect me to tolerate them. So when someone deliberately insults me to a certain degree, I tend to be less concerned about remaining polite.

Sadly, your worldview demands that I be...somewhat obscure, in order to avoid offending your sensibilities. I'm used to it, but the fact that I can't speak plainly without giving offense does play its part. I don't mind being hated, but that's rather a selfish way of looking at things.

On the other hand...those that hate me are free to not do themselves the injury.