so, what do we think about roman polanski?

As anyone who has been a careful reader of this blog (or anyone who is a friend of mine and listens to a damn thing I say) is probably aware, Mr Polanski is the director of my favorite movie of all time. And I was sorta vaguely aware that he had had sex with a very young teenage girl and that was why he couldn't come back into the US. But, really, I wasn't all that up to speed on the details: I figured it was "statutory rape", not "rape." Not that I'm excusing anyone for having sex with a thirteen year old, mind, but I guess my (again vague) thoughts about the matter were more along the lines of "oh, those wacky Europeans and their dissolute ways" and "oh, the 70s, such a weird and different time."

[I think it's very hard for people significantly younger than me, people who weren't teenagers in the mid to late 70s, to understand how much more adult we were allowed to be. I lost my virginity when I was 15 and, at the time, I felt like, yeah, I was a young adult, not a child. I had a job. I'd been basically getting myself anywhere I needed to go the vast majority of time, alone or with friends, on foot or by public transportation since I was 13. With both my parents working, I took myself to my dental and medical appointments. When my grandmother was ill and recuperating from surgery, I was expected to help take care of her, and I did. When I was fifteen, I was treated like I was smart and responsible enough to be...smart and responsible. And so I was. (For the most part.) And with the being expected to act like a young adult, came the perks of being treated like a young adult, both societally (easily able to obtain birth control without parental permission, frex) and personally (like my future in/ex-laws, without a second thought, buying me mixed drinks when I was 16 and we all went out for dinner.) None of that was unusual. It really was a different time with different attitudes. So, what I'm saying is, my vague impression of the Polanski situation was, well, if she was 13 but he thought she was 15, no one in 1976 was denying that 15 year olds had sexual feelings, and while I personally would have thought the idea of having sex with a 40 year old guy was absolutely vomitous when I was fifteen, that doesn't mean everyone felt that way...]

Except! Except now, in reading the facts, I realize that my understanding of the case was totally wrong. It doesn't matter how old she was or how old he thought she was. He drugged her. He forced her, even though she repeatedly told him no and asked him to stop. It doesn't matter if she was 13 or 16 or 25 or 45. He raped her. He's a rapist. Case closed. No excuse for that. Throw him in jail.

Except! Except I find myself deeply conflicted on what I feel about putting these old men in jail proves or solves or accomplishes. I feel the same way about the FBI and Whitey Bulger...I mean, I *know* he's murderous scum, but really? Really? We still want to expend all that time and effort and money to catch him and put him away, knowing if we do, he'll die, sooner rather than later? I dunno. I guess I don't feel the need to exact revenge and punish people as much as I feel the need to protect society by putting away people who are still actually a threat. Do I think Roman or Whitey is gonna do anything anyone needs to be worried about at this point in life? No, not really.

But in any case? The fact that the guy made good movies doesn't enter into it. That he shouldn't go to prison because he's an important artist? WTF?

Okay. That's all I've got to say about that. for now.

xoxo