People I Have Suddenly Lost Respect For (Assuming I Respected Them In the First Place)
Just a few of the names who have signed the Free Roman Polanski Petition:
Woody Allen (ok, no shocker here), David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Julian Schnabel, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Demme, Stephen Frears, Wes Anderson (sniff), Pedro Almodovar (sniff sniff), Wong Kar Wai, Adrien Brody (no!), Tilda Swinton (no no no!), Monica Bellucci, Gael Garcia Bernal, Penelope Cruz … and many, many others.
Some excerpts from the document itself:
“Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him … Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom … Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians – everyone involved in international filmmaking – want him to know that he has their support and friendship … If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski.”
(And let’s not forget Harvey Weinstein, who wrote his own opinion piece in The Independent, claiming that “Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time. A deal was made with the judge, and the deal is not being honored . . . This is the government of the United States not giving its word and recanting on a deal, and it is the government acting irresponsibly and criminally.”) (OK, we always knew Harvey was a bastard to begin with.)
WTF???
I’m not going to get into all the sordid details again, but let me just say this:
So what if she looked 18 and has a terrible mother. So what if the judge made a deal, and went back on it. So what if the victim, now-fully-grown with children of her own, has moved on with her life. So what if the case was “mishandled”, and so what if Mr. Polanski has spent the last 30 years suffering from guilt and international travel restrictions. And most of all, SO WHAT if he’s a great director, if he’s famous, if he’s powerful, if he’s made some good movies, if he’s a kind and charming man, SO WHAT????
Are people crazy?
To paraphrase Chris Rock – this is like saying – Yeah, but did you see O.J. play against New England?
If Clive Owen’s name pops up on this petition I will really cry.
Seriously, did it not occur to Woody Allen how that was going to look? Of all people…
Regardless of who he is, he drugged and raped a child and then skipped out on the consequences once he realized that pleading guilty (and whatever else deal he made) was not going to save him from said consequences. Boo-effing-hoo. Cry me a river old man. She was too young to have ever comprehended the element of consent with an adult no matter what her upbringing or environment may have been, no matter how old she looked, no matter how old she acted. Her cognitive abilities does not allow her to give consent and pretty much all adults know that. Disregarding that is a choice to knowingly hurt or damage someone – possibly for life – in order to satisfy your own needs / wants / desires. That’s one of the reasons why we have laws in the first place. Anyone famous that thinks that their fame allows them to by-pass the law and do as they please (as in evidenced by the list of famous people that wish to support him in his plea to avoid the consequences of his actions) are not worthy of the respect they think they deserve.
Regardless of how old he is now or how he may arguably have suffered, I have a lot of trouble respecting anyone who signs a petition that is effectively encouraging another country to help someone evade our justice system. This is not the sort of thing that anyone is granted asylum for — he’s not being persecuted here. If they think the sentencing should be lenient, isn’t that a discussion that should happen here? There’s a big difference between arguing that justice should be kind and that justice should be evaded.
And really, how disgusting is a 44 year old who feeds a 13 year old quaaludes to get her into bed?