neverwhere: On Roman Polanski:

On Roman Polanski:

I actually knew nothing about this until about 3 hours ago. I never thought to look into the criminal history of Roman Polanski, quite honestly. I never really thought about him at all. I certainly didn’t know any of the details, but I am not famous, and didn’t put my name on a petition saying rich people are above the law.

So… I don’t know if an “I didn’t know the details” would do it for me…. They all must at least know that he had “sex” with a 13 year old. How that could be okay with anyone, or laughably forgivable, I don’t know. To lack the forethought to look into the details of what you’re endorsing when you’re a celebrity and publicly signing a controversial petition is kind of ridiculous. I’m sure just about everyone will try to distance themselves from this as soon as they realize what an idiot move it was. Whatever happens, I can’t imagine I’ll ever quite respect any of them again. And yeah, to all those that worked with him while he was in exile, and knew exactly why he was in exile, that’s clearly an endorsement of his criminal activity and cowardice, as you all PROFITED from it.

I don’t know why I’m so shocked at how much humanity disappoints. But it hurts. It just makes me wonder if they’re all just sympathetic because the poor guy got caught, and boy are they glad they didn’t…

theconceptlibrarian:

My guess is that as soon as the signatory directors (and studios that support them) realize that this gross miscalculation of public opinion is going to cost them, they’ll probably reverse their positions. That, or distance themselves like Luc Besson, who says freely that “I have a lot of affection for him, he is a man that I like very much …… but nobody should be above the law. I don’t know the details of this case, but I think that when you don’t show up for trial, you put yourself in the wrong.” (Emphasis is mine, to show people like Wes Anderson and Wim Wenders the quickest way to dig themselves out of this hole. Woody, you’re on your own.) Besson adds that he has a thirteen year old daughter and (gasp!) wouldn’t like it if she were raped.

What, is that cold? That people in the public spotlight would shift their opinions to keep in good standing and stay employed?

Well, you didn’t see anybody saying “uh, he’s a freaky child molester” when they feted the corpse of Michael Jackson, did you? No celebrity outcry, no public backlash. In fact, my tumblr dashboard was full of fucking Jackson Five songs for days. Oh, but that was when he was a kid, before the Neverland weirdness. And he was smart enough to flee the country (to Bahrain) before there was a trial, if memory serves. And we didn’t exactly know that’s how Jackson got down when we were all out buying Thriller. Point taken.

We’ve known for 32 years about Polanski. Four decades. People still watch Harrison Ford movies, and he worked with Polanski-in-exile. People still watch Johnny Depp movies, and he worked with Polanski-in-exile. I don’t see anybody lambasting them, and I don’t see any reason why they’d be exempt. Working with someone is, I think, a little bit bigger than sitting in a chair and suggesting that this person should be set free; this is active support of a criminal’s career, wouldn’t you say? Crap; now it’s a witch hunt.

Polanski’s a rapist. That’s a fact. (Hi, Whoopi!) The real question, despite the opinion of wacky teevee people, is not whether it is correct to arrest him now — he’s a fugitive, ergo it is correct — but rather why now is when it happened. He hasn’t exactly been underground. The bigger question is whether money and influence grants you immunity from punishment for violent crime. In this case, yes, but only for 32 years. Perhaps instead of worrying about moronic comments (again, hi Whoopi!), who said what (and seriously, Wes, use that “I had no idea what he did” thing, because we all know you didn’t), or whether I should feel bad about liking some of his work (should I spit on a Caravaggio because he was a murderer and used young boys like Michael Jackson did? I dunno), I’m just going to be glad that a fugitive is in custody and will likely serve his time, thus completing the legal process — the process that is the only real defense we have against heinous crimes like this.

bluenemesis:

What the crap arsehole celebrities! Rape is RAPE. Drugging a 13-year-old and then calling the ‘sex’ consensual doesn’t make it so. I don’t care that the creep directed Chinatown and The Pianist; he plead guilty for chrissake! Seriously? This is the stand you want to take? Is this what’s going through their tiny brains that lack any sense of morality: Since you did so well making that movie, and have millions of dollars, it’s ok that you raped a child. That’s ok. We think this whole arrest thing is totally bogus and unfair. Plus we all want free passes too, and if you don’t get one, we certainly won’t.

Seriously. I can’t believe it. And DAVID LYNCH! I must now abandon watching twin peaks! Nor can I go see Fantastic Mr. Fox. (Suck it Wes Anderson.) Rushdie… Kundera… Swinton? Ladies? Really? Were you tricked into sleeping your way to the top at 13 and now you’re brainwashed?

I think I’m going to cry. All of you amoral rich people think rape is OKAY???? Honestly? Have we made no progress AT ALL??? What if this guy drugged your thirteen year old daughter, or sister, and pompously paraded around claiming no moral responsibility? That would be okay with you? No worse stealing five bucks from a 7/11? OH wait. People go to JAIL for that. So stealing pocket change is actually WORSE than raping a child. Fantastic.

I am sick. SICK SICK SICK. With rage and disgust and horror and unfathomable sadness. It’s as if all those horrible people signed a petition to legalize rape — because, effectively, that’s what they are saying should happen.

Statutory rape is an iffy subject, but if the kid was drugged, that’s flat out rape even if she was 25.

This would be the only time I could ever support book-burning.

wellrespected:

yogisarah:

Damn, this is depressing. Pedro Almodovar?!? I loved that guy. Emphasis on loveD. And Woody Allen supports Roman’s release too. Gross. You might just want to sit this one out, Woody. I mean, considering….

I guess I’ll just go home and watch my well used copy of Cliffhanger. As far as I know Renny Harlin has yet to take a position on the child rapist.

oldauntamy:

Also included on the list are Wim Wenders and John Landis so between Anderson, Wenders, and Landis (fucking LANDIS[!!], director of “Three Amigos” and “Spies Like Us”, two of my very favorite movies EVER), I’ll never see a movie again.

Crap. I’m stuck with Bay, Bruckheimer, and the Scotts. Guess I’d better start loving shitty camera tricks and CGI.

(The best part of the stuff below is the link to a Jezebel post that is genius in it’s repeated insistence that he’s a fugitive.child.rapist. It’s a great read I’d recommend clicking.)

britticisms:

As long as Pedro Almodovar, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Monica Bellucci, Alfonso Cuaron, Jonathan Demme, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Wong Kar Wai, Alexander Payne, Jeanne Moreau, Julian Schnabel, and Tilda Swinton continue to show their support for fugitive child rapist Roman Polanski, I will continue to not show my support for their own work.

I am not biased because I am a survivor. I am “biased” because I don’t understand how anyone can support a fugitive child rapist.

This petition has bad news written all over it. On the one hand, you’ve got Wes Anderson about to release a movie based on a popular children’s story. On the other hand, Wes Anderson is now publicly supporting a child rapist. This is not a brilliant marketing move.

At least Carl Reiner didn’t sign the list, because otherwise I would be feeling incredibly guilty for watching and enjoying this movie last night.

And Woody… yeah, sorry. Gee.

30 September 2009 • via: britticisms

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neverwhere

On Roman Polanski:

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