Roman Polanski Arrest Controversy

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"][url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_arrest_of_Roman_Polanski[/url]

Noticed we didn't have a thread on this so I figured I'd create one.

Honestly it's an open and shut case for me, Polanski's "contributions" to the world via his cinematic work do not, and should not in any way prevent him from being properly tried over a crime as horrific as drugging and raping a 13 year old girl three decades ago. The fact that up until very recently the French and Polish governments, as well as numerous celebrities (so what is "rape-rape" Whoppi ?) supported his release is equally heinous. The simple fact is if he was not a celebrity there would be no controversy surrounding his arrest and extradition. [/SIZE]

[Rachmaninoff]

I went and found something a little more recent article wise:

[URL="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574448033489885784.html"][U]Hollywood versus Justice[/U][/URL]

Considering that he was tried, convicted and then fled instead of serving his time in prison, as the article states at the very end:[quote][FONT="Arial"]It's time for him to come home to Hollywood?voluntarily or not?and pay the price for what he did.[/FONT][/quote]Seems fair to me.

[eleanor]

[font=trebuchet ms]I've actually been keeping up very closely with the stituation, and it's a hot mess.

1. I believe Polanski should be extradited to the US and serve his time. Being a famous movie director does not make him above the law. And I'm sorry Hollywood but a petition of 100something industry figures probably doesn't mean **** to Switzerland, so **** off. Just because someone is a great director doesn't mean he can escape his crimes.

Also Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and Guillermo Del Toro are on my **** list. (Woody Allen was always weird to me anyways.) As well as every other celebrity on that petition. On the other hand Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Edgar Wright, and Brad Bird are awesome.

2. Lol @ France for retracting their support for Polanski.

3. I also believe Polanski raped that girl.

3a. But formally he's charged/pled guilty to sex with a minor, aka statutory rape, and in California that doesn't always mean it was non-consensual. But I don't feel like looking into the California legal technicalities. And yeah, 50 years is way above the norm for that charge. The judge was biased, there's no doubt about that. Is it ****** up that Polanski was able to plea-bargain his way out of the five other charges he faced witht the DA? Yes, but that's another debate.

4. I see Polanski as a tragic figure and not some cold-hearted rapist. Yes, what he did was disgusting and vile. But he experienced trauma in his life (living through Holocaust, losing his mom to it, and having his wife/unborn child brutally murdered). I'm not trying to say it's an excuse, but it is tragic. [/font]

[SunfallE]

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][quote name='Gavin][SIZE="1"']The simple fact is if he was not a celebrity there would be no controversy surrounding his arrest and extradition. [/SIZE][/quote][CENTER][IMG]http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3374/qfty.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]
All joking aside, if you did the crime, you should have to pay for it. No matter who you are.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[chibi-master]

That creep needs to serve his time, whatever profession he's in. I don't understand why ANYONE would think that he should be overlooked simply for being "famous".

[Rachmaninoff]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][quote name='chibi-master']I don't understand why ANYONE would think that he should be overlooked simply for being "famous".[/quote]Because some people think that being artistic or having money, makes you somehow exempt from the law. Why? Because they're stupid, in my opinion.[/FONT]

[eleanor]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]The simple fact is if he was not a celebrity there would be no controversy surrounding his arrest and extradition. [/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[font=trebuchet ms] Hate to play the Devil's Advocate, and I'm disgusted with the entire ordeal, but the simple fact is if Polanski was not a celebrity the judge would not have been so biased and given a 50-year sentence.

As much as I want Polanski to be in jail, it's very clear that the judge was letting the media get to his head. He was heard saying something along the lines of "I'm going to make sure he pays for this" before the trial.

So I mean we can all sit here and agree that Polanski should be in jail, but it's not a black-and-white issue.

And yeah, I don't think we really need to worry about Switzerland succumbing to a petition. They refused to join the goddamn EU, I don't think a list of celebrities will do anything.

Although it does annoy me that people have actually bothered Hilary Clinton about this. [/font]

[quote name='chibi-master']That creep needs to serve his time, whatever profession he's in. I don't understand why ANYONE would think that he should be overlooked simply for being "famous".[/QUOTE]

[font=trebuchet ms] Because Hollywood is a self-contained, narcissistic industry built upon connections and they're deluded about the grandeur of their own work. [/font]

[chibi-master]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff'][FONT="Trebuchet MS"]Because some people think that being artistic or having money, makes you somehow exempt from the law.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

ERROR! DOES NOT COMPUTE!

[vegeta rocker]

There is one major factor that you guys haven't mentioned and that is the fact that the girl he actually raped wants this to go away.


Her saying she wants the case dropped is probably why people are seeing it as being alright to be in his corner. If she was still adamant about the charges I don't think so much of Hollywood would be so inclined to be in his favor.


As for France retracting their support of Polanski they haven't. They were pretty ticked off when Switzerland extradited him. Especially since he has a home there and has spent plenty of time in Switzerland without hassle. Thats a mark of the times; Switzerland has been coming to the realization that it can't stay neutral anymore.


The Swiss have taken pride in their neutrality for quite some time, and they credit this same position in the world as to why they were left alone in WWII. But they have slowly been cooperating more and more with foreign countries over legal matters. The cliche Swiss bank account for Tax Evasion and so forth no longer holds true since they received so much pressure from America and have since been releasing documentation that they never would have in the past.


A large majority of the Swiss believe that extraditing Polanski was a political move to show the US that they were willing to play ball and cooperate in future legal matters.
A lot of citizens were complaining that they were "ashamed to be Swiss", and that in itself is reprehensible. For someone to be ashamed of their citizenship because a convicted rapist was extradited? Thats more than just ridiculous, it's borderline lunacy.


Roman Polanski is guilty of a crime; but until his victim actually steps up and asks for justice the legal system and Hollywood will continue to drag their feet.