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Hollywood Loves Rapists
29 Comments | Posted by Dharma in rape, roman polanski
The publicity surrounding the Roman Polanski story grows more maddening by the second. We wrote about it here; but now, CNN has come out with a story about Hollywood’s “online petition” in favor of Polanski. CNN leaves it completely unclear what exactly the petition is intended to accomplish; to me it provides a list of people who obviously do not respect women.
Among those to sign are: Woody Allen (no surprise there) and Martin Scorsese. Hollywood must unite to remedy this “terrible” situation, Harvey Weinstein told CNN.
This CNN story is shockingly imbalanced, citing person after person on Polanski’s side in the issue. I can’t tell whether this is because of media slant or because no one in Hollywood has the courage to stand up and say RAPE IS WRONG NO MATTER WHO DID IT.
CNN quotes the victim in the case as saying she no longer wants to see Polanski punished. I would venture to guess this may be true in many violent crimes involving sex acts; a victim of incest may not want to see the father she loves put away. But it is not for a victim — or any witness, for that matter — to decide the punishment. That’s what the judge and jury do. That’s how the justice system is supposed to work.
One of the sources in the CNN story likens Polanski to Michael Vick. Since we forgave Vick, we should forgive Polanski. So now rape victims are like dogs? If I were Vick, I would be pretty angry about that comparison.
This story makes me livid. Where is the voice of reason and justice here? I don’t care what Polanski’s life has been like, I don’t care how good his movies are, I don’t care about any excuses that make him sympathetic. He is a rapist. The fact that Hollywood and mainstream media are unwilling to defend the justice system that seeks punishment for a rapist tells you exactly where women stand in our culture these days.
It’s a bleak picture.
Thankfully, Salon.com this week presented a case against Polanski. Helpful, though graphic, information from that article:
Let’s keep in mind that Roman Polanski gave a 13-year-old girl a Quaalude and champagne, then raped her… Before we discuss how awesome his movies are or what the now-deceased judge did wrong at his trial, let’s take a moment to recall that according to the victim’s grand jury testimony, Roman Polanski instructed her to get into a jacuzzi naked, refused to take her home when she begged to go, began kissing her even though she said no and asked him to stop; performed cunnilingus on her as she said no and asked him to stop; put his penis in her vagina as she said no and asked him to stop; asked if he could penetrate her anally, to which she replied, “No,” then went ahead and did it anyway, until he had an orgasm.
Can we do that? Can we take a moment to think about all that, and about the fact that Polanski pled guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, before we start talking about what a victim he is? Because that would be great, and not nearly enough people seem to be doing it.
I’m certain that Polanski is not the only rapist with other redeeming qualities. In fact, most criminals likely do have redeeming qualities. Being a rich old white man with connections in Hollywood is no defense to rape. A “petition” on Polanski’s behalf should not purport to replace justice.
I wish that people with such strong public voices would use their power to exclaim their outrage on behalf of rape victims, not rapists.
Hollywood entitlement on display yet again. Marginally talented people with huge egos and too much money think they are above the rest of us peons. Polanski, Kanye, Randy Quaid, Ryan O’Neil, ect, behave like complete douchebags and yet people still lick their asses. Time to start blacklisting again IMO…..
My roommate was just like, “Adolf Hitler was a great public speaker…” No matter how good of a director he is, what he did was wrong and he should be punished. Fuck hollywood.
Agreed. Everybody’s good at something–I myself can make a fantastic chocolate-chip chai cake. But If I go on a killing spree, I oughta be locked up no matter how heavenly my baked goods may be. Having a talent is not an excuse or justification.
Even Nazis like their dogs….
Honestly, your roommate give a great example. I could give you a laundry list of good qualities that Hitler possessed….which doesn’t mean that he’s allowed to get away with killing 10 million innocent people
Michael Vick faced up to his sentence.
Did you hear Whoopi Goldberg’s opinion? “It wasn’t rape-rape”. WTF???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIOE6-9nQ0o&feature=player_embedded
Oh yeah, Whoopi Goldberg, voice of reason. I guess the Hollywood liberals believe the law applies to the rest of the population only, not the elite.
The sad thing is that the stars are the first ones to demand special treatment, just like athletes. And they get it because they can afford top notch lawyers who game the system.
Hey now, don’t slap this idiocy on liberals (or conservatives for that matter). This isn’t politics, it’s a group of rich people with severe entitlement issues (although I suppose that could describe politicians as well…)
why does EVERYONE turn every non-relevant issue into liberals vs. conservatives? it’s so fucking annoying.
I’m very liberal and think he should go to jail. I am so sorry if I disagree with Whoopi freakin’ Goldberg.
any way, what kind of pussy flees the country because they don’t want to go to jail for like 30 days? I guess the same kind that would rape a 13 year-old.
gross.
and of course the victim wants it done with. she’s been living thru this shit for 30 years.
It’s about time you showed some common sense.
thanks, mom
I mean, a NO is a NO, and that is what polanski got from a 13 year old girl
and rape is rape, i would have never expected that from w. goldberg :(
What Whoopi is saying is “that he wasn’t charged with rape. So to debate this let’s debate the facts.”
I think where this entire case got out of hand was with the judge and the prosecution of the case. Some shady things happened there.
The case will now snowball into a million dollar prosecution to fix a passed wrong. Yeah, he raped her. She doesn’t want him prosecuted 30 years later. He’s already lived the life of leasure. He doesn’t appear to be a threat to society. Why not use the million or so dollars for say helping current rape victims or another potential current use that would help rape victims then beat a dead horse. He’s labeled a “rapist” already, people are aware of it, and he still has supporters! Fucked up yeah…but why waste the millions when it should be used for more pro active support of victims.
And to compare this case to Vick or other rape cases is like comparing apples to oranges.
Dont’ get me wrong. Poanski is a dirt bag rapist in my opinion. I just don’t know if prosucuting him to the cost of what it’s going to take is the right thing to do at this point. He already paid off his victim, she doesn’t want this to go on further…see the point?
The point is that just because he ran successfully for 30 years doesn’t mean that the case goes away. Using that logic, if a serial killer pleads guilty and escapes before sentencing, successfully eludes capture for 30 years, and lives a quiet, law abiding life, we should just forget about it?
The victim’s wishes have no bearing on this issue right now. The case is State of California vs Roman Polanski. The state has the interest, on ALL of our behalf, in persuing this criminal.
Finally, the costs will be incurred no matter what cases the State of California decides to proceed with. All the prosecutors, police and court personnel are getting paid, whether working on this case or some other case.
I really had to think if I wanted to post what I did above due to the debate that can continue. With interest about a serial killer compairson, again, it’s not comparing apples to apples. And I do understand that the victim’s wishes have no bearing on the issue.
The only point I was trying to get it is……The State of CA can’t pay it’s employees salaries right now. The have been cutting spending in schools, tourism, etc.
Spending so damn much money at extraditing him and then the cost of trial and such just seems more of a “Fuck you, you rich bastard. You are no better than anyone.” (which is true). So Chuck, I don’t disagree with you about Polanski. My point is that if the victim isn’t in distress about this situation, could we (the taxpayers) find a better use for this enormous amount of money that’s going to be spent.
I’m really on the fence about this. On one hand, I’m like sure “let him burn” for what he did, and then fleeing to another country on top of that just compounds the issue of him being a scumbag and thinking he’s above the law. I just don’t know what is going to be served by continuing with this case. Justice will be served? I would just like to see that amount of money being spent on other cases as you commented. Ughhhh….
Again, I think I’m basing my logic on the victim’s wishes here. And I do realize that our justice system cannot be decided on what the victim wants. I’m trying to sway my opinion here….
I was just reading the other thread on this subject and another good point was brought up. Precedent. If Polanski isn’t prosecuted we would be setting up legal precedent for other similiar cases. Enough said. That right there is enough to sway my opinion.
Vchilds, your last comment was very succinct and what I was clumsily trying to point out. Precedent and principle. He runs, we don’t stop going after him. It’s unfortunate it’s taken this long to catch this criminal.
@Chuck It’s nice to be able to discuss or debate a topic without some of the nasty crap that goes on here. I’ve always tried to keep an open mind and gather information to make informed decisions. Thank you for sharing your opinion and points in a healthy manner.
Yes, it is unfortunate we can’t prosecute him for free…but look at how many people have come out in support of him…like WTF.
Oh, and he was already prosecuted and convicted, he actually just has to serve his sentence. Which, because of his elusion of justice, will probably be extended.
The fact that people seem to think its okay for a famous and talented man to rape children and get away with it is one of the primary reasons we have to extradite him.
I agree with Chuck. Just because he managed to evade prosecution for so long doesn’t mean we should forget about it. That would send a horrible message. And if you think the money spent would be better spent helping rape victims, why not carry that to the logical conclusion and not prosecute any drug dealers (spend the money on rehab), not prosecute child molesters (spend the money on therapy)- where do you draw the line?
The other thing is that he has been able to evade prosecution precisely because he is a well off movie director and has the money to live wherever and people who gave him work in other countries so he didn’t have to chance getting caught.
totally agree!
thanks for giving a straightforward opinion on this disturbing subject
because the guy is extremely talented, rich and survived the holocaust, he should be forgiven?? NO!!
Errrr! This douchebag needs to pay! Why is it that Hollywood is so fucking special?? I guess it’s cool to drug and rape people now. I am so sick of this shit. I’d like to know how he felt if he was the one getting raped. Cause it fucking sucks and it fucks you up so much and I hate hate hate all of you idiots that forgive these kind of people so easily. The victim probably went through years of hell while this asshole was dancing around making movies. Rapists are scum and they should be treated like it. They take innocent happy people and fuck them up just so they can get off.
God. Not much turns my stomach, as not much CAN with one of my favorite movies being ‘Funny Games’ and one of my favorite books being ‘The True Story of Hansel and Gretel.’ And this makes me want to throw up. It was rape. She was THIRTEEN. He drugged her. She was THIRTEEN YEARS OLD. Did I mention that he DRUGGED AND RAPED A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD??? As for Whoopi Goldburg saying ‘it wasn’t rape-rape?’ No, ‘not rape-rape’ is having consentual sex with a sober seventeen year old. I am going to say doing every possible sex act to a drugged 13 year old isn’t ‘rape-rape,’ because it is SUPER RAPE! This is just about as bad on the rape scale as you can get without killing or permanently injuring the victim. And comparing it to Michael Vick? Come on, Vick was an asshole and very mean to dogs, but that’s not comparable. Those dogs either died and are out of their misery, or were given to good homes and helped to recover. Vick did his time, and was punished, and was truly sorry for what he did. He is STILL facing the consequences (I think he is now back in football but being paid the lowest possible salary for the NFL), and of course, he didn’t drug and rape the dogs. Or their puppies. Ugh. Polanski DRUGGED AND RAPED A LITTLE GIRL, then escaped any punishment, and now has all kinds of powerful people on his side. It disgusts me when people get away with these things.
It is super-rape.
How can a woman like Whoopi say or think something like that?
All these shenanigans have totally eroded any small measure of respect I may have had for those individuals who are speaking out on his behalf.
Hiiiiiiii Jeremy!
Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law — yes, that includes a Haulocast survivor, man who had his wife murdered by the Manson family, and “genius” director. I’m not saying he lived a charmed life beforehand. But just because he’s talented or had shit happen in his life SHOULDN’T mean he should get away with his crime. If this was the average person’s neighbor or acquaintance he’d be an appalling individual. But no, fame downplays the severity of his crime. Let’s discuss the psychological affects that FORCED SODOMY has on a young teenage girl.
Polanski was drunk with power at the time. Probably thought he was invincible. I understand why the victim would want this to go away — poor woman, look what happened to her. However, I believe he needs to go to jail. He was wrong, needs to be an example that this is NOT okay, and it’s up to the laws of the US to prove him guilty.
He’d have been at least the slightest bit more respectable if he had simply owned up to what he had done and served his sentence in the first place.
Yes, I do think that Roman Polanski deserves the stigma of a RAPIST. I hope Hollywood comes to agree, but I doubt it.
He’s 76 years old so it’s not like any judge will give him hard time anyway, he’ll get community service or some such bull. Why doesn’t he just man up and take it? Even Martha Stewart did her time without this much fuss and she came out a less arrogant person for it. Seems like jail would do this douche some good.