Over the weekend Oscar winning director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland and now faces extradition to the United States for fleeing to France back in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13 year old girl.
This is not the first time Roman has left France over the past 30 years but it is the first time he has been arrested. For almost the entire 30 years he has been living in France he has taken an annual vacation to Switzerland to go skiing. He also famously traveled to Germany a couple of years ago but was not arrested at that time. Most of the time though he stays in France and fights with the US court system or other courts from his base in France. In a civil trial a few years ago he testified by video feed because he knew that if he were to show up in the UK he would be arrested.
OK, so now that the background is out of the way, why is he being arrested now? I agree he deserves to be arrested. Do I think there were problems in the way the case was handled? Absolutely. Do I think his sentence was fair? Nope. 44 days for having sex with a 13 year old girl seems very light. Yes, I know she didn't look 13 and all of that, but the fact is she was 13 and he knew she was 13 and he had sex with her. He was 44 or 45 at the time. Over the course of the past 30 years, the woman he raped reached a financial settlement with him and thinks California should just drop the matter. I think this is more because she has to relive the entire episode everytime this comes up in the news. If you were in her position you would probably want this to all go away as well.
Last year Polanski tried to get his case dismissed and I actually think he will probably succeed, but he needs to come to California and do it in person. As for why they arrested him now and chose to ignore him all of those other times? The Swiss say it was because they never knew where he was when he went on vacation all the time. That's a bunch of crap. Until last year, the Swiss had passport checks at their borders and if they missed him there I don't think it would take much effort to find out where he was staying. I think he got arrested because he was receiving an award in Switzerland and was basically telling them to shove it by announcing he was coming in person to collect the award. They were not amused and arrested him.
Polanski intends to fight his extradition to the United States.
He deserves to rot in jail. Better late than never.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense why the victim doesn't want to relive it, but he shouldn't get to walk away from his mistakes just because he was lucky to leave the country.
A bunch of celebs are signing a petition for Polanski to be left alone. It's being lead by one of the Weinsteins.
ReplyDeleteI don't really care what happens to him b/c the matter has been settled between him and the victim, HOWEVER, it's a little gross to see that celebrities think they can all sign their names on a piece of paper in protest to a rapist being extradited and have to serve time for his crime.
Once again, they are all better than us and completely unaccountable for their mistakes. They probably adopt kids just to make them their maids and butlers.
He didn't have sex with a 13 year old girl.
ReplyDeleteHe drugged, performed an oral act upon, raped, and sodomized a 13 year old girl...and she looked 13 to me! Pic posted at link below.
And is 13 in 1977 the same as 13 today? You know, post-cable, post-Reality TV, post-Brittany?
The gory details are posted at the Smoking Gun.
http://indenturedservantgirl.blogspot.com/2009/09/roman-polanski-is-total-sleeze.html
That poor woman. I don't feel bad for Polanski one bit. This could have been settled many years ago if he did not think he was above the law. Creep.
ReplyDeleteWhat??!! Wow, okay, well, now that changes my opinion a bit. Bring him back and throw him in the clink, then get the list of petitioners and publicly humiliate them all somehow.
ReplyDeleteMaybe rotten fruit throwing in the Universal lot? I don't know.
Uuugh...that is awful.
Ent, you left out the part where France is complaining that the US is treating him unfairly, going so far as to call us two-faced in the press. (too lazy to look up the exact quote) WTF? People are really defending him? Entire COUNTRIES are defending him?
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to ask people this question: When Rihanna got the shit beaten out of her and then tried to get the charges dropped, Ent (and many of us) felt that the scumbag still needed to stand trial, regardless of the victim's new stance. How is this different? I understand reliving the details can be painful, but how does that somehow translate into no legal justice?
This is beyond disgusting. Can you post the petition, so I know never to support those celebrities again?
I think it does too. So does most of the media, which is why you keep hearing "sex with 13 year old" not "drugged, raped and sodomized 13 year old"...he plead guilty to "sex with a minor" in order to avoid the trial, and possible conviction of 8 felony counts.
ReplyDeleteWhen he found out that the judge (who may have acted inappropriately by discussing the case outside the courtroom) intended to reject the sentence he agreed to with the prosecutor as part of his plea...he jumped bail. But he plead guilty to a lesser charge for a reason...and he was getting a pretty sweet deal.
treat him like a regular person.
ReplyDeleteIt probably IS crap that they didn't know he was in Switzerland, but I'll just throw in that when I was living in Italy and crossed the border to Switzerland, there was no passport check. There wasn't a passport check when I crossed the border from Italy to France, either.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know what to think about this situation. After what happened to his wife and after suffering through the Holocaust...I just don't know.
hbo's doc on roman polanski was very good. really, i recommend it. however, there is no excuse to taking advantage of an underage child.
ReplyDeleteI believe his original plea deal was a joke for what he did to his victim, but this is what she said about it a few years ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/la-oe-samantha-geimer23-2003feb23,0,4716430.story
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHaving a tragic incident in your life (hell, even several) does not exclude a person from being able to incite harm on another. I hate what happened to him with his early childhood and the death of his wife, however, that does NOT mean he should be able to run around and do what he wants without consequences. The woman he inflicted this on now has to live with her OWN tragic incident. If they let him go it is telling the world that they can go ahead and rape anyone they choose as long as they leave the country for 30 years, and maybe win an oscar, they can be forgiven of it. It is disgusting and wouldn't happen in the normal world.....thank God!
ReplyDeleteWhy now?
ReplyDeletePerhaps he has an account with UBS...
I probably shouldn't be commenting, because I don't remember where I read some of the info I seem to recall reading and can't locate it now, but...
ReplyDeletePolanski was not convicted, because it didn't go to trial. He plead (pleaded? pled?) guilty to having sex with a minor, which for some reason is a lesser charge than rape. As part of the plea he was required to be detained for psychiatric evaluation, and that is the 40-some days -- that was *not* the sentence. He didn't return for the sentencing phase, and thus was sentenced in absentia. I believe I read somewhere that before Polanski went into the psych eval, both prosecutor and defense attorneys were pretty much gonna agree that the psych eval time would be his sentence, but the judge was p.o'd that he didn't return to the country.
Polanski admitted to it, it was a crime, he didn't live up to his end of the plea agreement in not appearing for sentencing. I don't care that the victim has forgiven him. He thumbed his nose at the legal system. He's a scofflaw and a pervert. The horrible deaths of his mother and wife don't give him any free passes.
Katy - I love your idea of having the petition posted. I'm with you. If members of the Hollywood brain trust are supporting this lowlife pervert, they no longer get my support or viewership or dollars spend on movies, music, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd Adventurous Kate - just a comment. A LOT of other people have lost parents in concentration camps and never raped children. A LOT of other people have had spouses murdered, and never raped children. You don't know what to think about this situation? How can it be any more clear that this man needs to be punished for what he's done?
And to France - get over yourselves and ship this bastard back to the U.S.
Thank you Enty for the post.
ReplyDeleteMy former in laws were Holocaust survivors, but both their children managed to avoid becoming rapists. And certainly having his wife and unborn child murdered was traumatic, but I don't think that means it's ok for him to go and drug and rape a child.
You would think the States and France would have an extradition treaty between them. Maybe they do, but it stands to reason if they did he would have been back in the States sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteyep, they covered that in the hbo doc, whole lotto love.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably going to get me flamed, but here it goes. If he did this thing with premeditation and forethought, then the @sshole should rot in jail and then rot in he!!.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself to be a feminist, I really do.
But in some cases like these, you don't always have one victim, you might have 2 victims. He!!, you might even have 2 offenders.
Angelica Houston (who doesn't strike me as a wallflower) who was in the same house when it happened, has come out and said that the girl didn't look 13.
I can't say that I know anything about the case (I was born in 1988), but I can tell you that as a female, I've lied about my age in the past to get into clubs. Heck, I've even lied to men about my age just so I might get some action. I've had girlfriends do the Gabrielle Solis-thing and go out to Hollywood, lie to a photographer about their age, have sex with them, and then are shocked when their seduction didn't work.
I really have no idea what the case is here. Maybe the petition from celebrities shouldn't immediately be villianized. There is so much we don't know about the situation.
I'm really sorry if I offended anyone, I really am. I'm just thinking there might be a lot more to this ONE PATRICULAR CASE than we know.
All I know
'bout damn time. France and Poland and Hollywood types are saying that this should all be dropped because he an artiste.
ReplyDeleteHe is ick, nast.
Sue Ellen - they do have an agreement, but it doesnt cover ALL crimes. And apparently sex with a minor is not on the list.
ReplyDeleteami, i am not sure that i buy any of that. i have been around females that wear more make-up than steet hookers, but my 'instinct' tells me that they are 'young'. very young.
ReplyDeleteif i am not mistaken, wasn't the woman's mother around? she knew how old her daughter was. piss ass poor parenting. her daughter had no business being in the company of adults like that.
Ami, he knew she was 13. I don't care if she looked like Bo Derek at her prime, she was still 13. I don't even care if she was dancing around on top of a table singing "Come on Baby Light my Fire" while stripping....she was still 13. I simply can NOT find a reasonable excuse for a man to drug, and rape a 13 year old CHILD. Yes, child. Is he talented? Yes. Did he suffer tragedy in his life? Yes. So are and do alot of other people, it does not make it right.
ReplyDeletelinnea:
ReplyDeleteThanks. I figured they must have one of those, but it didn't compute as to why they hadn't excercized it.
The more you know...
*shooting star*
What I would like to know is if he drugged her for real, or was there just drugs available to her and she took them by choice? That being said, what was a 13 year old doing hanging around with people old enough to be her parents? Where were HER parents? I missed this the first time 'round since I wasn't born yet.
ReplyDeleteAmi, he had to drug her. There's your answer, honey, isn't it? That she was drugged so he could sodomise her is covered above and, if you're going to comment on this ONE PARTICULAR CASE, as you put it, you should, if not read the flipping articles on the subject, at least read the posts above yours... sigh...
ReplyDeleteI think he picked her up at her house and told her mother that he was going to take pictures. Bad judgment on mom's part. He returned at another time to take more pictures and that's when they went to Jack's house.
ReplyDeleteIf you read the transcript of her testimony, she certainly sounds like a 13 year old girl. She used the word cuddliness instead of cunnilingus and repeatedly asked to go home and said she was afraid.
I might have been wrong, Sue! Here is another explanation for it, from Slate:
ReplyDeleteQ: Why haven't we brought him back before?
A: Since defecting from Poland, Polanski has held French citizenship and France's extradition treaty with the US forbids sending us their own citizens. Since fleeing, he has been careful not to venture to countries which might send him back. According to the LA Times, U.S. Marshalls have come close to nabbing Polanski half a dozen times when he traveled in recent years, but "for one reason or another, it just didn't work out."
The bottom line is he raped her. Even if she LOOKED 13 and he BELIEVED she was 13...he still drugged a girl/woman and raped her. Either way, 13 or 30, he's a rapist. And it should NOT be dropped. How many other girls/women has he raped since then? And the reason Hollywood is signing a petition is b/c THEY are having sex with underage girls. The minute Hollywood endorses anyone or anything, huge red flags begin whipping in the wind.
ReplyDeletelinnea:
ReplyDeleteI heard that last bit about the failed attempts to catch him on the news last night. Apparently, he had planned vacations and whatnot over the years, but had cancelled them last minute a few times. I guess he was tipped off about it by someone. I also heard that Polanski said that his deal was accepted by the judge at first and then denied later. How he got let go, I have no idea.
Also, on a side note, I wouldn't be suprised if France refused to send their citizens to the States for punishment. There's some bad blood between those two countries.
I don't care if she looked 18, 25 or 50. The fact is, she was 13. To me, that says "end of discussion" right there.
ReplyDeletedrugging and raping a child is serious and deserves serious time. making an exception because of his fame and/or talent is unforgivable. how many more children did he rape then pay off?
ReplyDeleteI am old enough to remember this story when it first broke. Even back then Hollywood was defending him. Take the time to read the Smoking Gun. Then you can make a better decision as to what he did. I believe he knowingly and willingly planned the entire photo shoot opportunity with the intent to get in her pants, one way or another.
ReplyDeleteTotally different angle... Do you think the Swiss agreed to arrest him in exchange for NOT having to reveal names in most the UBS secret accounts?
ReplyDeleteI must say, the "moral confusion" that people have about this case is baffling to me. He truly raped a drugged child. No two ways about it. No finesse, no mitigating facts, and no allegations that he was railroaded or prosecuted wrongly. Why this man has been free for so long is beyond me. If he had gone to jail, he would have been released long ago and back to work in Hollywood. His absconding was not the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm getting off my soap box now. Thanks for listening.
The Swiss authorities have probably known for years that he's been in the country, but Switzerland has been the U.S.'s bitch with regard to legal matters this past year -- the whole big thing with UBS and the Swiss government releasing the names of Americans with numbered accounts, and now this. I'd love to know what went on behind the scenes that got the Swiss cooperation ball rolling after they fought for banking secrecy all these years and also allowed Polanski in, though he was wanted on a U.S. warrant.
ReplyDeleteThe whole notion of strict liability in criminal law is simply wrong. Naturally we reserve it for a sex crime. There should be a rebuttable presumption in underage cases that a defendant can use to defend himself. In any event, it's irrelevant here since IIRC Polanski knew she was 13 or at least underage.
ReplyDelete“ . . .you read the transcript of her testimony, she certainly sounds like a 13 year old girl. She used the word cuddliness instead of cunnilingus and repeatedly asked to go home and said she was afraid.”
Please. Accepting this at face value is beyond naive. Her history is hardly one of an innocent little tweener. I am sure the prosecutor made sure she used that term to make her seem innocent. Her testimony was structured to sound as salacious as possible. Stop using the Smoking Gun docs as gospel. They are one side of a story recited by someone coached by the government and trying to recall events that occurred while she was under the influence. It was never subject to cross examination and until it is you have no idea how much is true.
This was a sexually experienced teenager with a history of substance abuse. And there was doubt whether he drugged her or she took them herself.
Yes, he committed a crime by having sex with a minor and he pled guilty to it. Yes, he was scummy and sleazy. That isn’t excusing him or saying it was okay. It wasn’t okay. It was a crime. But stop acting like a bunch of hysterical drama queens. It was sex - they did not rob a bank at gunpoint or steal the retirement funds of the teacher’s association or kill anyone. Sex crimes are almost always way overcharged because we have such hang-ups about sex in the U.S. and they are rooted in sexism.
France does extradite fugitives to the U.S. but will not extradite on such grounds as Polanski's nor in a capital case unless the requesting country waives the death penalty. I cannot believe the posters thinking this is the crime of the century. Don’t you think there was a reason the prosecutor gave him this plea offer in the first place - usually it is because the defendant accepts responsibility plus experienced eyes can see problems with the victim’s credibility. This is probably the only count the government thought they‘d win at trial.
Thirty one years of not reoffending tells me that the initial plea agreement was sound. I don't agree with the holding that Polanski must be in California to argue for dismissal. I think the judge was wrong to dismiss his suit. It is akin to an appeal and will only involve legal arguments. This could have been resolved a long time ago if the prosecution had agreed to allow Polanski to surrender himself upon return which defense attorneys had been long requesting.
Even the prosecutors understood why he fled. Staying and subjecting yourself to a miscarriage of justice? Well, let's just say Polanski learned from his life lessons for survival.
Obviously this case really bothers me. Sorry for the harangue.
jaymac
ReplyDelete" But stop acting like a bunch of hysterical drama queens. It was sex - they did not rob a bank at gunpoint or steal the retirement funds of the teacher’s association or kill anyone. "
really?
" Her history is hardly one of an innocent little tweener."
seriously?
in all seriousness here, have you actually known a teen or even an adult female who got raped? you appear to think sex crimes are no big deal. I am puzzled by this. I get that you are being very PC with your comments about how it was a crime, but you seem to also be saying that it isn't a big deal cause the kid was a trampy drug addict. Am I getting that right?
I agree with jaymac on a lot of points.
ReplyDeleteI love how a person can be permanently exiled to obscurity for uttering a racial slur, but win an Academy Award after drugging and sodomizing a child...and Hollywood is still defending him!
ReplyDeleteDebra Winger needs to drink a nice tall glass of STFU!
And to the poster who said she didn't look 13, take a look at the photo I posted on my blog...I also have links to her testimony on the Smoking Gun...where she describes how he sodomized her, etc.
Please, the guy is a perv and should go to jail for a long, long time...
indenturedservantgirl.blogspot.com/2009/09/roman-polanski-is-total-sleeze.html
I don't care if she was running around naked in front of him, she was still 13! He knew how old she was and was the adult in the situation and took advantage of her. I can't believe anyone would try and justify letting him off.
ReplyDeleteTo Caroline--my sentiments EXACTLY!
ReplyDeleteI'm appalled as a Pole that they're trying to get the case dismissed. Drugging, sodomising, and raping a 13 year old girl (FFS!!!) isn't something that can or should be swept aside because Hollyweird thinks it is acceptable.
ReplyDeleteWhether the victim - because that is what she is - doesn't want it to hashed over again or not, he's been running from the law for the last 30+ years and deserved to be brought to book for it.
As for using his history in Krakow, and his family loss, get real. Loads of people, including my own family, through WW2 and survived without attacking people afterwards. What a load of shit.
I am once again shocked by the vitriol being directed at the *VICTIM*.
ReplyDeleteFact #1: She was 13. He knew she was 13.
Fact #2: She was unconscious. Even if she'd been 23, it's rape when a person doesn't consent to sex.
Fact #3: He fled the country because he didn't like his punishment.
Fact #4: The judge was wrong to discuss the case outside the courtroom, but this doesn't change the fact that he's guilty.
Yes, I know that girls lie about their age. Yes, I know some girls mature faster than others. But anyone who stands by while a child is raped should also be punished (I'm talking to you Angelica Houston).
Talented and famous people shouldn't get a pass because of their abilities, ESPECIALLY after they confess to the fucking crime.
HE HAD TO DRUG HER and HE RAN AWAY to avoid going to jail. He knew he was guilty.
ReplyDeleteIf this were anyone else but a Hollywood type he would have been jailed and out by now.
I don't care who signs that freaking petition he needs to know that he is not above the law.
Go to jail..do not pass go...do not collect $200 just go do the slow rot you pervert.
for those of you who are uninformed enough to believe he should not be further prosecuted for the drugging and raping of a CHILD:
ReplyDeletehow about this? he left the country before sentencing.
we would have had a cow if parasite had fled the country after being sentenced to her lousy 40 days for DUI or what ever the hell it was.
this alone is an offense worthy of jail time. evading, fleeing, i don't even know what it's called, but as screwed up as the law can sometimes be, i'll bet it comes with a longer jail term than forcible rape.
i wasn't raped by him, but i was molested repeatedly by an uncle before the age of 13, and it's fucked up my entire life. he's dead now, so i feel safer, but i've had to live with it, and continue to have to live with it. why shouldn't he have had to suffer for what he did to me, my mom, my aunts, and all the various other women he came in contact with??? just because of the time period and the fact that he was a cop?
bullshit.
JayMac....I read it the same way you did.
ReplyDeleteHe was wrong. YES. He needs to be punished. YES YES YES. But I don't believe for a second that she was telling the 100% god's honest truth, nor do I believe that she was an innocent little lamb. Does that make it okay? Absolutely NOT--he was the "adult" and completely took advantage of the situation. Creepy, pervy, and WRONG.
But that "little girl" was not innocent.
Flame me if need be.
Jeffrey Epstein needed more friends in Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteThe timing of this, you gotta admit, is surreal.
ReplyDeleteWithin a matter of what, 24? 48? hours after Susan Atkins died, Polanski gets caught up short in Switzerland.
Atkins, aka "Sadie Mae Glutz" was the person who actually stabbed Sharon Tate and her unborn baby to death.
The prosecutors swore that she and her cohorts would never be freed, and it appears they are making good on that promise.
Even getting terminal brain cancer cut no ice for Atkins.
She, in essence, gave up her life for the lives she took.
Why should Polanski be given a pass for his crime?
Obviously his Hollywood buddies believe that all the dinners he missed at The Ivy over the years was punishment enough.
ReplyDeleteElle Kay, This is the list of Polanski supporters:
ReplyDeleteGerman producer Henning Molfenter, who was scheduled to attend the film festival, says he is boycotting it in protest of Polanski's arrest. "There is no way I'd go to Switzerland now -- you can't watch films knowing Roman Polanski is sitting in a cell 5 km away," Molfenter told The Hollywood Reporter. Others from the film world, including Italian actress Monica Bellucci, French actress Fanny Ardant, president of the Cannes film festival Gilles Jacob and Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, issued a petition demanding his immediate release.
<3 <3 HUGS <3 <3 to you Bunny.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the long post, but this is Harvey Weinstein crying about his "friend" Roman Polanski:
ReplyDeleteFrom british newspaper The Independent:
"Roman Polanski is a man who cares deeply about his art and its place in this world. What happened to him on his incredible path is filled with tragedy, and most men would have collapsed. Instead, he became a great artist and continues to make great films. I was with him the day he won the Legion of Honour in France, which was a spectacular day. I remember the incredible love and affection that people have for him.
Now Thierry Frémaux, the director of the Cannes film festival, and I are calling on every US filmmaker to lobby against any move to bring Polanski back to the US, where he could face life in jail.
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 honoured. The theory going around is that the reason Switzerland cooperated and acted on a longstanding extradition order with the United States this time was because of their own troubles in the financial crisis.
I hope the US government acts swiftly because because film makers are looking for justice to be properly served. I will be organising the effort myself by emailing everybody I know to sign the petition. And I know that Thierry Fremaux has got hold of Nicolas Sarkozy.
We will have to speak to our leaders as well – particularly in California. I'm not too shy to go and talk to the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and to ask him once and for all to look at this. The problem is to do with the legal situation in the state. They are doing this because they want a circus, to make their toughness overt – and that is where I draw the line. 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.
It is a shocking way to treat such a man. Polanski went through the Holocaust and the murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson family. How do you go from the Holocaust to the Manson family with any sort of dignity? In those circumstances, most people could not contribute to art and make the kind of beautiful movies he continues to make.
I remember when I took Quentin Tarantino with me to a very private screening of the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which shows some of the legal irregularities of his case.
I was involved by the film, and it was an amazing experience to see people weep at the end of it. Warren Beatty and Robert Evans were there, too, and you could feel the sense of injustice from these people who are part of Polanski's life. They know that, at heart, he is a humanist.
When Martin Scorsese was up to win best director for Gangs of New York, we faced Polanski and The Pianist. We were campaigning hard for Marty because he had never won best director, but when Marty lost to Roman, he turned to me and said: "I'm so happy right now. Of all the people in the world that I'd want to lose to, it's Roman. You have to understand that Polanski's films have influenced me as an artist all these years and his terrible political situation has been something we have all had to suffer through. We won because Roman won."
I think the reason we can all be on Polanski's side over this is not to do with what happened in 1977. It's to do with the fact that the punishment for what happened so many years ago had already been decided.
The deal was that if he spent time in prison, which he did pre-sentencing, his sentence would be commuted but when he came back to sentencing the judge went back on the deal. Forget about the Seventies era and whether this is excusable – this is a miscarriage of justice, and the government is making him a scapegoat."
What a VILE statement.
An impassioned defence of a child abuser and dismissal of his abuse as a "so-called crime" all in one.
@JayMac et al:
ReplyDeleteThis sums up the issue pretty well. However you try to slander the 13 year old girl by saying she was "experienced" and a "substance abuser", Polanski still drugged a 13 year old, had sex her despite her saying "no" repeatedly and asking to stop, then because he hadn't managed to come yet, sodomised her, despite her continuing to say no and asking him to stop. He only stopped after he came.
Being a "great artist" should not be a "get out of jail free" card. He raped and sodomised a child, and must do the time that crime requires under American law.
Pardon my French...but Harvey Weinstein is a big fat effing pig.
ReplyDeleteMiscarriage of justice? Puh-leeze...it is completely within the judge's discretion whether or not he accepts the plea agreement or not.
F**** You Weinstein.
Thanks for the list, Ells. They won't be hard to boycott. I did always enjoy the Weinstein movies but I don't think it will be hard to boycott those, either. He comes across as sick and twisted as Polanski.
ReplyDeleteThose two pigs probably ate all day during Yom Kippur, too. If man's law doesn't apply to them I doubt God's does, either.
I hope the people who are crucifying him here weren't the same people who were busted up about Michael Jackson's death. 'Cause, you know, that would be hypocritical.
ReplyDeleteWhatever is going here sickens me, this trying to blame the victim. She is not innocent? SHE WAS 13!!! As Caroline said, she should have been able to do whatever the hell she wants and she is still innocent when someone rapes her.
ReplyDeleteyes, and if a 13-year old isn't 'innocent' - always a word different people put very different connotations on - the parents are almost always to blame. In this case the mother delivered her daughter up to a man with a very bad reputation indeed. It isn't the girl I'd blame here for any sexual precociousness she might have developed while her mother pimped her out.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, have any of you slagging off the victim spent any time with 13-year olds? They're babies.
Alright, from todays times -
ReplyDelete"Nearly 100 entertainment industry professionals, including the movie directors Pedro Almodovar, Wong Kar Wai and Wim Wenders, urged in a petition that Mr. Polanski be released, saying: “Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision.”
Ronald Harwood, who won an Oscar as screenwriter of “The Pianist,” which Mr. Polanski directed, said: “It’s really disgraceful. Both the Americans and the Swiss have miscalculated.”
@Sue Ellen:
ReplyDeleteAt least Michael stayed around for the trial. He was willing to have his day in court. Roman fled like the total ass that he is.
Link from "indieWire" showing all those who had signed the petition as of 9/28:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indiewire.com/article/over_100_in_film_community_sign_polanski_petition/P1/
Big Momma:
ReplyDeleteIf he was so willing then why did he settle out of court for millions of dollars?
Also, off this topic and back to the one at hand. As far as villifying the 13 year old, I'm not sure if that's what people are doing. I think they are attempting to look at the whole case and not just the part that tugs at your heart strings.
I don't care if she was a 13 year old Traci Lords...she said "NO" and he drugged her.
ReplyDeleteEnd of Story.
an amazing article in gawker today about this:
ReplyDeletehttp://jezebel.com/5370356/letters-from-hollywood-roman-polanskis-rape-of-child-no-big-thing
The Swiss authorities probably knew where he was staying in Switzerland all these years since he apparently has a house there. But as a Swiss I have to add that in 95 % of the cases, you can cross borders without being checked. I have had to show my passport or ID card only at the airport so far but never when crossing the border with a car or in a train / bus etc.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine works at customs and he told me that if you don't look suspicious, you will be let in without even having to stop the car. Sometimes, there's even no one around at all. I used to live like 15 miles from the German and French border and crossed over on a regular basis - like once a month or so - but I still haven't had to show my passport yet. All they did so far is ask me whether or not I had bought anything and if yes, what I had bought while outside of Switzerland.
He's an arrogant, aging chester.
ReplyDeletewith the risk of sounding like i am totally obsessed with this case (alright, i find if fascinating), here are a couple more people who signed the petition- I couple of them we saw before: Pedro Almodovar. Wes Anderson. Natalie Portman. Kristin Scott Thomas. Darren Aronofsky. Diane von Furstenberg. Julian Schnabel. Martin Scorsese. Tilda Swinton. Gael Garcia Bernal. Penelope Cruz.
ReplyDeleteWow.
with the risk of sounding like i am totally obsessed with this case (alright, i find if fascinating), here are a couple more people who signed the petition- I couple of them we saw before: Pedro Almodovar. Wes Anderson. Natalie Portman. Kristin Scott Thomas. Darren Aronofsky. Diane von Furstenberg. Julian Schnabel. Martin Scorsese. Tilda Swinton. Gael Garcia Bernal. Penelope Cruz.
ReplyDeleteWow.
with the risk of sounding like i am totally obsessed with this case (alright, i find if fascinating), here are a couple more people who signed the petition- I couple of them we saw before: Pedro Almodovar. Wes Anderson. Natalie Portman. Kristin Scott Thomas. Darren Aronofsky. Diane von Furstenberg. Julian Schnabel. Martin Scorsese. Tilda Swinton. Gael Garcia Bernal. Penelope Cruz.
ReplyDeleteWow.
with the risk of sounding like i am totally obsessed with this case (alright, i find if fascinating), here are a couple more people who signed the petition- I couple of them we saw before: Pedro Almodovar. Wes Anderson. Natalie Portman. Kristin Scott Thomas. Darren Aronofsky. Diane von Furstenberg. Julian Schnabel. Martin Scorsese. Tilda Swinton. Gael Garcia Bernal. Penelope Cruz.
ReplyDeleteWow.
with the risk of sounding like i am totally obsessed with this case (alright, i find if fascinating), here are a couple more people who signed the petition- I couple of them we saw before: Pedro Almodovar. Wes Anderson. Natalie Portman. Kristin Scott Thomas. Darren Aronofsky. Diane von Furstenberg. Julian Schnabel. Martin Scorsese. Tilda Swinton. Gael Garcia Bernal. Penelope Cruz.
ReplyDeleteWow.
I dont know what happened! Sorry about that
ReplyDeleteI'm going to clear up some misconceptions people have.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, the mom had arranged for a chaperone. When Polanski arrived at the house he suggested the chaperone not come along. The mom wasn't there at that point so didn't know that had happened. He forced her to take drugs (I forget which one, some sedative). She said no many times but he continued and sodomized her. Read the transcript from her testimony.
She god damn looks thirteen, so don't anyone say she doesn't.
He deserves to rot in jail. And everyone on this forum like everyone online is full of talk but never do shit. Look at everyone who signed that petition to have him released and do not buy their DVDs or go to their movies. Teach them a lesson. I dont care if the movie has a 100% on rotten tomatoes. Download it illegally.