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drewkittyRoman Polanski did nothing that doesn't happen in Hollywood every day.
Armed with alcohol, drugs, prestige and ruthlessness and shielded by reputation and the support of their peers, sordid moguls take advantage of innocent children. They know they are doing wrong, there is no excuse.
I am not outraged by what he did, if only because it is so sadly commonplace. I am outraged by two other factors.
1) It continues to happen every day, and somehow the Hollywood celebrities think that this is somehow OK because money and power washes away sin. (I'm not big on mortal sin, but nonconsenusal sex and child molestation certainly count in my book, and this was both.) Hollywood Boulevard is full of the human wreckage that results. If you are local to L.A., you can see the pimps and players working the runaways that arrive at the Greyhound bus stations.
2) In our eagerness to give Polanski either an undeserved free pass or a drive-by drubbing, we bring our own prejudices and life experiences to the situation. We blame Polanski, who is a tired old director with issues who needs a short stay in prison and the rest of his life in probation and community service -- but we let our cultural leaders off the hook, who create and condone this sort of thing not just in Hollywood but around the world.
From Oakland to Thailand, from San Francisco to New Orleans, *rape is not supposed to be OK*. Yet we have a petition going around that says it is.
"His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals."
Where are the celebrities speaking out and saying clearly, "No, this is not OK?" Where are the billboards with 800 numbers, the celebrities who spend their time in the Hollywood bus station and on the streets where their stars are, the community outreach and the financial support? Where are the detectives knocking on doors? The social workers?
Where is the outrage?
Links:
http://www.rainn.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Polanski
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/roman-polanski/story?id=8705958
http://www.indiewire.com/article/2009/09/29/over_100_in_film_community_sign_polanski_petition/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090613132146AAoIB5m
http://www.covenanthouse.org/ 1-800-999-9999 and http://www.nineline.org/
http://www.covenanthouse.org/houses/california
Armed with alcohol, drugs, prestige and ruthlessness and shielded by reputation and the support of their peers, sordid moguls take advantage of innocent children. They know they are doing wrong, there is no excuse.
I am not outraged by what he did, if only because it is so sadly commonplace. I am outraged by two other factors.
1) It continues to happen every day, and somehow the Hollywood celebrities think that this is somehow OK because money and power washes away sin. (I'm not big on mortal sin, but nonconsenusal sex and child molestation certainly count in my book, and this was both.) Hollywood Boulevard is full of the human wreckage that results. If you are local to L.A., you can see the pimps and players working the runaways that arrive at the Greyhound bus stations.
2) In our eagerness to give Polanski either an undeserved free pass or a drive-by drubbing, we bring our own prejudices and life experiences to the situation. We blame Polanski, who is a tired old director with issues who needs a short stay in prison and the rest of his life in probation and community service -- but we let our cultural leaders off the hook, who create and condone this sort of thing not just in Hollywood but around the world.
From Oakland to Thailand, from San Francisco to New Orleans, *rape is not supposed to be OK*. Yet we have a petition going around that says it is.
"His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals."
Where are the celebrities speaking out and saying clearly, "No, this is not OK?" Where are the billboards with 800 numbers, the celebrities who spend their time in the Hollywood bus station and on the streets where their stars are, the community outreach and the financial support? Where are the detectives knocking on doors? The social workers?
Where is the outrage?
Links:
http://www.rainn.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Polanski
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/roman-polanski/story?id=8705958
http://www.indiewire.com/article/2009/09/29/over_100_in_film_community_sign_polanski_petition/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090613132146AAoIB5m
http://www.covenanthouse.org/ 1-800-999-9999 and http://www.nineline.org/
http://www.covenanthouse.org/houses/california
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 10:51 pm (UTC)http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskia1.html
You can read 11 through 15 if you have a strong stomach.
I think you have reason to be an excellent judge in this matter. While I respect the victim's preferences, the guilty plea to statutory rape is not in question -- he pled guilty before the unlawful flight to avoid sentencing.