With the possible exception of the O.J. Read the full post.
Sep 28
2009
04:37 PM ET
The Roman Polanski case: How one movie explains it all
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No issues since then? His flight to avoid sentencing was and continues to be a felony. The situation hasn’t resolved because of his further crimes. Sentence him for rape, then prosecute him for leaving the country.
what he did was wrong nuff said
Maybe Los Angeles thinks another Polanski trial will help bail it out financially. Typical cowboy justice from the world’s leading “democracy.”
A trial would cost Los Angles county a ton of money, not bail them out. It’s not “cowboy” justice to want to apprehend a fugative who pled guilty to raping a child and then fled before sentencing. It’s just justice. It would only be an insult to democracy if we let Polanski go because he’s a rich, famous “artist”.
The 13 year old was gussied up by her Mom to look at least 18(still statutory but not so heinous), and it was the 70′s – taking drugs was almost mandatory. You are all looking at this incident from a perspective that didn’t exist back then. Yes, it was wrong; yes, it was technically rape; but the mother should have been arrested along with Mr Polanski. Also, if anyone remembers – Mr Polanski’s wife and child had recently been brutally slaughtered by the Manson clan. Sharon Tate was pregnant when murdered. I don’t think it’s a stretch for Polanski to claim PTSD. There are very few absolutes in this life, and all human interactions include shades of gray.
you are just ridiculous
“yes, it was technically rape”
ya think? the fact she screamed “No No NO” over and over while he continued to ram her from behind? TECHNICALLY????
“Also, if anyone remembers – Mr Polanski’s wife and child had recently been brutally slaughtered by the Manson clan. Sharon Tate was pregnant when murdered. I don’t think it’s a stretch for Polanski to claim PTSD”
Will you defend anyone who has recently suffered from a horrific crime on their family if they decide to use criminal acts of violence against other human beings as a form of venting?
You are really sad. Go away with your nonsensical logic.
I categorically do not believe anyone was screaming NO NO NO. I’ve never even heard her claim such a thing. “Technically” rape implies STATUTORY versus forcible and I utterly believe that is accurate. *Thank you* e2verne for being one person who understands that we don’t all wake up one day when we’re sixteen and turn from angels into devils. This situation was so complex, full of so many subtleties, so many factors of import. It is not the simple black&white horror show you all want it to be. I’d think you’d all be GLAD to hear that. But you want your salacious witchhunt.
He drugged her, and it has been stated many times that she begged him to stop. What you’re doing is defending a man who forced a CHILD to have sex with him.
If that’s the kind of person you are, then so be it.
e2verne – It does not matter if she was walking around in his house naked! He DRUGGED and RAPED a 13 year old girl. Her mom did not make her into a rape victim. It is twisted people like you that make rape victims feel ashamed of what happened to them.
“The 13 year old was gussied up by her Mom to look at least 18(still statutory but not so heinous)”
Wrong on both counts. Polanski was their neighbor, and knew she was 13. He asked her mom for permission to take pictures of her for French Vogue.
It was not statutory as he drugged and raped her against her will. Evelyn, you may not believe that she was saying no, but it is a fact that your beliefs can’t alter. Read the court documents at the smoking gun.
“The 13 year old was gussied up by her Mom to look at least 18″
e2verne, Read the court documents. Polanski admitted under oath he knew she was 13. Also, Polanski went to the girl’s room with her mom and he picked out the clothes for the photo shoot. Her mom didn’t “gussy her up”. Why should the mother be arrested too?
Polanski’s wife hadn’t been “recently” killed, it was 8 years earlier.
PTSD could’ve been diagnosed–if Polansky chose to go through his full stay of psychiatric evaluation. He was given 90 days. Served 45. Then allowed out to finish a movie. Then the judge wanted to give him a full 90 days.
Polansky chose to flee.
No matter what the judge did. No matter what the media did. He raped a little girl. Once he chose to travel down that road, all bets are off. If he gets a judge who lies to him….. Roman caused it. If the media indicts him…… Roman caused it. He is the cause and therefore no one else is to blame Mr. Gleiberman. Your cause celeb has no excuse and should have no recourse. If Roman were a real man, he wouldn’t have done the deed and wouldn’t have to face any of this. Unfortunately for the little girl, Roman isn’t a real man and should face his future like she faces hers every day….. with fear….. with uncertainty…… with pain…… with scars….. he deserves no less.
I am with Ralph Christensen. A) I will NEVER visit France. B) I will never visit Poland. C) I want to find out all of the people in this country who think this pedophile and disgusting rapist deserves a break and NEVER spend a dime on their brand again. I hope President Obama pushes to bring this pathetic excuse for a human being back to the country and sticks his butt in jail for the sodomites to have their way with.
i’m sure they give a rats ascot.
Maybe he should have pled not guilty by reason of insanity (PTSD). He didn’t, though. He pled guilty. What shade of gray in your life makes drugging and raping a 13 year old OK?
How about the shade of grey that he didn’t “drug” her, she did drugs with him. How about the shade of grey that LOTS AND LOTS of 13 year olds have consensual sex every single day, and that the 13 year old in question had had consensual sex previously? Why didn’t the FIRST man to “rape” her get prosecuted? Why aren’t you all screaming and yelling for the men she’d had sex with previously to be sought out and prosecuted? They are at home eating dinner right now, right here in the USA, and none of you seem to care.
She did NOT have consensual sex. She BEGGED him to stop. You should get all the facts before you ramble on about a case you know nothing about.
She begged him to stop, and he didn’t.
Shame on you for defending that.
Evelyn, did this happen to you when you were 13? Were you doing drugs with older men and dressing trashy and things just went a little too far? Then the guy tells you, it’s not a big deal, it was just fun and that’s how you rationalize it for everyone else? How old does a person have to be to say NO to sex and be listened to? There should be no age limit! If I say NO, it means NO! I don’t care how many times the person has had sex, if you don’t want to do it, you shouldn’t be forced to!
Evelyn, before you keep making these inacurate comments, read the court documents at the smoking gun.
evelyn, read the court documents before you write anymore of your “facts”
Evelyn, the first “man” to “rape” her was a boy one year older than her.
In other words, she wasn’t a virgin. She had sexually experimented with a boy around her own age. That was all.
Do you actually believe that only virgins can be raped? Are you that stupid and evil? As for why people are saying she repeatedly said no, it’s because in her testimony she said that she kept telling him to stop, tried to resist, but was too frightened to fight too hard. That’s rape. Rape. You don’t like the word? Well I don’t care, rape is rape!
People like you make me weep for the world. I pray you don’t have a daugther and if you do, I pray for her.
I saw the documentary. Never thought Polanski was a victim. A 40 something man gave a 13 year old girl alcohol and drugs and then raped her. One can’t do anything more disgusting, vile, and deserving of severe punishment than that. This article and the idiots that let Polanski’s celebrity status and supposed film genius cloud their judgment in wanting to give him a pass are ridiculous. The guy pleaded guilty and there is no question he did it. He ran because he was afraid he would get a stiffer penalty than the 43 days served in jail while waiting sentencing. He should face his sentencing for the crime and sentencing for being a fugitive. Even if somehow you can justify drugged rape, you got to admit that a criminal who pleaded guilty and then ran before sentencing should be brought in for sentencing. It is ridiculous and an indictment of our celebrity focused and corrupted culture that we are even debating it.
Owen – your column just reflects how easily morality and societal norms can sway because of the media. A 40 year old man DRUGGED and RAPED a 13 year old girl. I don’t care how he was mishandled by the justice system. In the good ole days, he would have suffered capital punishment. Which would he prefer? Oh, I forgot, he escaped justice and suffered living like a prince in France. Come on! If any other Joe Schmo committed this heinous act on any of our daughters, we would demand justice. He deserves no less. And the fact that this woman forgives him (after receiving a large settlement) should in no way sway the hammer.
kind of funny you bring up the “good ole days” because societal norms have certainly become far more restrictive about the age of consent in the last 150 years not the other way around. Rape was barely a crime a 100 years ago.She would have suffered ridicule, he would have walked. Thank god we don’t back to those “ole” days.
The “good ole” Bible days (Deuteronomy 22:25)
For you Polanski apologists, try to understand how the law works. I dont care if you think the age of consent should be 6. The point is that we in the US have laws passed that we all agree to support, and in this case Polanski broke them so he must submit to the penalty. Running out is a new crime and should increase the penalty. Or perhaps it would be ok for me to seriously injure some random Frenchman I run into on 5th Avenue because I think that the law should allow it, and when I get convicted of the crime, with the court rejecting my arguments, I run off to Mexico. Is that ok?
Idiots.
I do understand how the law works. He was convicted of a crime and should be in prison. But this isn’t just about legal responsibility, which the article is not denying, but moral responsibility. The fact is there is no proof that Polanski “drugged and raped” her, or that she cried “no, no, no”. This is a child that had consentual sex before. You may appeal to emotion all you like, but you’d be the idiot for rejecting logic.
Some people’s arguments shock me.
He drugged her, and raped her. It’s been stated many times that she begged him to stop.
You’ve accused others of rejecting “logic” in favor of emotion, when it’s you whose rejecting morality and ethics in favor of the legal system.
Good Lord, even Polanski doesn’t deny that he put drugs in her drink and had sex with the girl without her consent.
e2verne – The mother has nothing to do with this. This is child rape. If this happened to you would say the same thing? Seriously think about it… imagine that you have been drugged and immobilized, you can hardly lift your head and are begging for mercy. Or worse yet imagine that this is happening to someone you know and love. I’m sorry to be so graphic but if you cannot imagine the horror of this moment you are a sociopath or a child predator.
Do you really think that the legal system is equal for all? If so, you must be living on another planet.
Whether or not Polanski may have been “victimized” by the legal system in the 70s does not change the fact that he committed a terrible crime. There is no excuse! He should be brought to justice. As for Americans needing to “grow up” on our views that adults should not rape children, I am scared of where the world at large is headed in terms of sexuality. I’m so thankful that our justice system is pursuing this case. It is a dark day for all children when we refuse to bring child rapists to justice.
It’s not a question whether or not a 13-year old can make the decision to have sex. The issue at hand is an adult choosing to have sex with a minor. Which by law – is illegal. Don’t confuse the issue Pete. As an ‘adult’, this distinction (not opinion) should be pretty clear to you.
EW needs to seriously think about whether or not they really want to be associated with Owen Gleiberman and continue to have him on staff.