Sep 29, 2009

Has the world gone mad?

Top US directors Woody Allen, David Lynch and Martin Scorsese have signed a petition protesting the detention of Roman Polanski in Switzerland. I'm having a tough time understanding why Hollywood actors and directors think why ANY person, talented, gifted, artistic or not, should be exonerated after admitting to drugging, raping and sodomizing a 13 year old child while she begged him to stop. And here's the wording of the petition from Europe's artistic set: As members of the European Film Academy and the European film community we protest at the arbitrary treatment of one of the world’s most outstanding film directors. We declare our deep respect for our colleague and friend Roman Polanski and we demand his immediate release. We declare our deep respect for our colleague... Are you kidding me? How deeply can you respect a man who confessed to raping a child? I don't care if it was 5 years ago, 50 years ago or 5 minutes ago, this man raped a child. THIS MAN RAPED A CHILD. Woody Allen signed the petition. Big surprise. Woody Allen married his adopted daughter. Michael Moore signed the petition. No surprise there either. He thinks it's a huge deal for the government to screw people, but he doesn't think it's at least equally or even far more serious for a man to do the same to a child. Give me a break. Artistic license does not include a license to break the law. Whether it's drugs, sex with minors, hit and run accidents, murder, or domestic violence. This is a lesson Hollywood and cohorts need to learn and learn quickly. Every woman in the world should be up in arms about this.

5 comments:

RoeH said...

This is the second time I have heard this today and it makes me furious. I get so tired of those pathetic celebrities who have never learned the difference between right and wrong and have NO CONCEPT of any moral value. None of them should get any press. And Woody Allen? Why is he still living????!

I shouldn't get myself started on this.

Unknown said...

I agree with above...I wish this kind of stuff would not get media attention. And in this case, several sources state that the victim, now in her 40s, wishes this would all just go away. Something like this - such an old case, no that doesn't make it right -- but it is too bad the victim and victim's family have to suffer again.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/28/roman-polanski-arrested-ignores-victim

These filmmakers are real weirdos.

The Calico Quilter said...

On the www.guardian.co.uk article, the columnist added this chilling paragraph after discussing why this case should be dropped: "Many commenters have simply used the term 'rape' in relation to Roman Polanski's 1977 conviction. The offence he pleaded guilty to is often described as 'statutory rape' but more precisely as 'unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor'." Furious does not begin to describe my reaction when I read this. A 13 year old minor who was drugged and drunk and unwilling! A child that Polanski knew was only 13. It's bad enough that she was underage, but there are mitigating circumstances to make this particularly heinous. It's like if we don't call it rape everyone won't be so upset. Good Lord!

Joan J said...

I read a (female) editor's opinion (wish I'd written down the web site) that said because the MOTHER had "forced" the child on Polanski, he shouldn't be held accountable. Huh? The biggest problem with these celebrities (who contribute to the artistic value of the world or not) are they do not feel they are accountable for their actions... even to a child.

Lisa said...

I absolutely agree that Polanski needs to come back to the States and face his criminal charges and serve his sentence. He should NOT be exonerated. However, the time to have been outraged was at the time the incident happened. Whether we like it not, he was tried under the CA law of the 70s and given a very light sentence. Why weren't we upset in 1977, instead of sympathizing with Polanski over Sharon Tate's murder and accusing the victim and her mother of gold-digging?