Roman Polanski detained in Zurich

[Fontenrose]

For those who don't know Roman Polanski, check his biography for 1 sec on wikipedia . His life is absolutely horrendous . (his mother died in the auschwitz concentration camp, he's a survivor of the war! - then his beloved wife who was pregnant of 8 months was murdered by the charles manson gang...,..

and despite all of that, he's a fantastic filmmaker . who didnt see "the pianist", "Chinatown" ?

Everybody knows this. Having been hurt does not give you free license to hurt others. Being "famous" does not give you free license to drug and r*pe.

 

[CharlottefromCA]

t-rex, about luc besson, he's a poor man .

He was 35 when he dated Maiwenn Le Besco (15 Years OLD) , one year later they married, and at 17, she had a baby with him . and now he critisizes polanski because he likes teenagers . stupid .

well there is a key difference.. uhmm the drugging and r*ping part..

 

[kokobombon]

I wonder why so many people try to find excuses to justify what he did...?
Being talented and/or having a horrible past doesn´t give ANYONE permission to do whatever they want and not face the consequences!
One question: if he hadn´t fled the country, how much jail time was he supposed to have?

 

[Harumi]

OK, I intended to stay away from the thread as I have said all I wanted to say but I have just received the best karma ever. I know it's a bit naughty to share as it's supposed to be private so I won't tell who it's from. Here we go:

I like how you don't think Polanski should go to jail for r*ping a 13yo girl, but tore apart a douchebag rapper for making a 13yo girl cry. Bravo!

I literally laughed out loud. I think this is a new step-stone in missing the point by several light-years and completely perverting an argument.

The correct analogy would be not only if I required Kanye to go to jail now, which would mean I put verbally humiliating someone on the same level as r*ping someone, but if 30 years later, I would come back to Kayne's thread and rant about what a huge douche he is and how I don't understand why he is still free even though he hasn't pulled any stunt like that in 30 years.

Also to be perfectly clear, I have put in bold that I think Polanski deserved then to go to jail for the r*pe, and that I nether defend nor his actions nor give him any absolution. This is written in bold, to make sure people don't miss that part. What more can I do?
My argument isn't based any belief of his innocence of the crime. It is based on what I believe the purpose of the justice system is.

But please, if you have any golden interpretation like that, keep sending.

Roman lives a very private life, and how do you know what goes on in it? Just because he isn't photographed abusing children doesn't mean he is a perfect law-abiding citizen.

Totally irrelevant since there is no evidence he isn't. We can only judge from elements known. If there is new evidence then of course my position would shift according to the new available information.
If we are going to throw away presumption of innocence, not only in the court room but even in everyday life, we might actually give up on the idea of justice at all.

Jail isn't simply meant to be a rehabilitation facility, it is also a punishment. And the fact is, Roman has never been punished for the crime he committed.

Then we simply disagree on a ideological plan.
Like I have said in my earlier post, you are one of those people who want 'punishment for the sake of punishment', and who think 'no evil deed should go unpunished' no matter the circumstances.
I respect your position but simply disagree with it.

 

[Label Basher]

Wow have you guys seen the list of people supporting him.

People on the net are going apesh*t that their favourite director/writer/actor is on there.

People like - Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Jonatham Demme, Terry Gilliam, Stephen Frears, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, Mike Nichols, Tilda Swinton, and even Diane von Furstenberg who's mission statement is "The mission behind Diane von Furstenberg's clothes is to celebrate women's strength and confidence".

At present Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford and Jack Nicholson have NOT signed. Spielberg, Coppola, Lucas or Tarantino haven't either. If Meryl Streep signs then the internet will explode.

Kevin Smith said this - "Look, I dig ROSEMARY'S BABY; but r*pe's r*pe. Do the crime, do the time".

Here is a link to the petition list - http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/39618660.html

 

[Music]

why im not surprised that woody allen signed...

 

[Working Girl]

I am glad people are upset about this. Isn't interesting that more men seemed to have signed the petition. Just a quick scanning of the names.

Kind of sad all the female names on there.

 

[Caroliiine]

That petition is ridiculous. He is a fugitive AND a child r*pist.

And this sentence?

Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom.

Well, if his freedom was so important, then maybe he shouldn't have drugged and raped a child in the first place.

And from what I have read on the case, he has shown no remorse for what he did. He hasn't apologized or acknowledged what he did was wrong. That indicates he hasn't changed and is still a threat.

 

[auxt]

One question: if he hadn´t fled the country, how much jail time was he supposed to have?

He spent about 45 days, the judge had second thoughts on the plea bargain (because that seemed very lenient) and was going to send him back for a total of 90.

 

[Ryan Weld]

OK, I intended to stay away from the thread as I have said all I wanted to say but I have just received the best karma ever. I know it's a bit naughty to share as it's supposed to be private so I won't tell who it's from. Here we go:

I like how you don't think Polanski should go to jail for r*ping a 13yo girl, but tore apart a douchebag rapper for making a 13yo girl cry. Bravo!

I literally laughed out loud. I think this is a new step-stone in missing the point by several light-years and completely perverting an argument.

The correct analogy would be not only if I required Kanye to go to jail now, which would mean I put verbally humiliating someone on the same level as r*ping someone, but if 30 years later, I would come back to Kayne's thread and rant about what a huge douche he is and how I don't understand why he is still free even though he hasn't pulled any stunt like that in 30 years.

Also to be perfectly clear, I have put in bold that I think Polanski deserved then to go to jail for the r*pe, and that I nether defend nor his actions nor give him any absolution. This is written in bold, to make sure people don't miss that part. What more can I do?
My argument isn't based any belief of his innocence of the crime. It is based on what I believe the purpose of the justice system is.

But please, if you have any golden interpretation like that, keep sending.

Ah yes, that karma was from me. What I meant to say was "I like how you don't think Polanski should go to jail now for r*ping a 13yo girl, but tore apart a douchebag rapper for making a 13yo girl cry. Bravo!"

It's not a golden interpretation. I simply thought that your post was incongruous and somewhat amusing, so I left you a karma message. You clearly said that you thought Polanski shouldn't go to jail now for something he did 30 years ago. I personally think that he should go to jail because he raped a 13yo girl, I don't care if he's a really good director and whether he's become a good person in the 30 years since.

You are very good at arguing so I'll just admit defeat now because I know how long winded you can be. I don't want to fall asleep so early in the day, I still have some errands to run.

Carry on.

 

[fashionista-ta]

why im not surprised that woody allen signed...

My thoughts exactly ...

 

[fashionista-ta]

Everybody knows this. Having been hurt does not give you free license to hurt others. Being "famous" does not give you free license to drug and r*pe.

Just exactly so.

If everyone who'd been hurt got a 'get out of jail free' card, there would be very, very few people left on the inside.

 

[fashionista-ta]

David Lynch, Mike Nichols, Salman Rushdie???

 

[Fontenrose]

mirror.co.uk

So much for any claims that Polanski's victim looked mature.

She made the following comment when Polanski won a libel suit against Vanity Fair magazine in 2005.

"Polanski is a very arrogant, self-important, creepy old man," says xxx, now a married mum-of-three who lives with husband xxx.


Speaking exclusively to the Mirror at her home in Hawaii, the 39-year-old continues: "The libel case makes no sense. I really couldn't understand why he took out the lawsuit in the first place. Surely a man like this hasn't got a reputation to tarnish?"

 

[BerlinRocks]

I don't know how are things told in other countries than France ...
But here, all intelligenzia is supporting him - except Luc Besson and Daniel Cohn-Bendit - and I don't understand why. Even the politicians are supporting him when they punish rapism. that makes NO sense to me. and another proves that things in our society are sooooo wrong. sometimes i wanna vomit.

I'm reading some stuff about how weird it is Luc Besson is not signing, whereas he has dated Maiween when she was 15yrs old ... What's the point exactly ?
(and for yr information, legal age of girl making love is i think 15yrs old in France).

I may suggest to some people to read a definition of r*pe and then one about paedophily. That old man loves young girls is nothing new (who here doesn't love Nabakov's Lolita ? who here doesn't love the David Hamilton work of the 1970s ?) ... We are not talking here about paedophily, I think it's disturbing to mix those things. We are talking about r*ping a young girl (r*pe+Paedophily - not only paedophily). The girl obviously had sex before, but HE did r*pe her and didn't make love with her.

I know a lot of people (most people) hate paedophily. But, imo, there's always been a difference btw r*ping a child and loving young kid. And things have changed since the 1970s (see again David Hamilton who wasn't that much scandalous around that time and now makes a scandal when some of his pictures are shown). We have become moralist about loving young people.

And as Baudrillard said : adults made children powerfull (read Françoise Dolto etc.) which means they had to have a sexuality. and because the children didn't agree on this, they are fortunate to have this power of just being child and innocent, so adults are punished of what they did to them. (cannot quote Baudrillard in french ... But I tried to translate with my poor english).

And now, because the case is 30 yrs ago he shouldn't face JUSTICE ? IMO he should go and face the court. Or things are totally biased. Our society is sick and this is just another one of the millions of sick cases we have to face everyday. I just cannot trust anylonger any power ... This is just b***s***. I'm seriously sick and am crying !

 

[*Bianca*]

I've lost respect for so many actors/directors today. I just can't comprehend how people can excuse this guy.

 

[Echoes]

I don't believe anyone is excusing anything.

I believe they're addressing that facts that it was 30 years ago, the Judge screwed up, the victim doesn't want anything more to do with this, and there are more pressing issues for the system to be dealing with.

 

[kissmesweet]

Whether it has been 30 days or 30 years, a criminal should still be punished for what he has done. I'm appalled at people defending him.

 

[sedirea]

Hopefully he can actually be brought to justice and he wont weasel his way out of it somehow.

 

[kokobombon]

He spent about 45 days, the judge had second thoughts on the plea bargain (because that seemed very lenient) and was going to send him back for a total of 90.

So he chose to fled the country and live as a fugitive than to spend 90 days in a VIP cell (I´m sure that even back then he wasn´t going to spend time with regular inmates)?