Swiss Dis
Posted on September 28th, 2009 in Uncategorized | 20 Comments »
The Times reports that the arrest of Roman Polanski isn’t going over very well on the big island.
The reaction in Europe on Monday appeared to be one of astonishment. Nearly 100 entertainment industry professionals, including the movie directors Pedro Almodovar, Wong Kar Wai and Wim Wenders called in a petition for Mr. Polanski’s release, saying: “Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.”
Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, said that for Europeans the development showed that the American system of justice had run amok….
I am inclined to agree. Who wants to prosecute this? The girl involved doesn’t. Her mother doesn’t. What is the point?
20 Responses
9/28/2009 5:41 pm
yup….and to any dissenters….. see the movie.
9/28/2009 6:19 pm
The survivor surely won’t be forced to testify, so her opinion is immaterial. The DOJ serves society, and having famous people exempt from facing the music doesn’t serve society.
If I wasn’t on the iPhone I’d some Googling, but from here the case for letting things slide looks worse even than the Marc Rich case (which us pretty bad).
9/28/2009 6:29 pm
You don’t know what you are talking about, SE.
You are just blah blah blah blah.
9/28/2009 6:42 pm
I’m happy to be briefed. My point was just that the preference of Polanski’s victim doesn’t enter into the question of whether he should get away with fleeing the country instead of being sentenced.
I’ve read a fair bit about the movie online and am not overly impressed with any director who claims that guilt is in a practical sense unknowable. Contrast the great American Errol Morris, in The Thin Blue Line.
But give us specifics maybe. Is RP in any significant sense not guilty?
9/28/2009 7:53 pm
Good point SE.
9/28/2009 8:26 pm
No, he isn’t in any significant sense not guilty. And if he wasn’t famous, the LA Police department wouldn’t care nearly as much, like they don’t care about a lot of other 13 year old victims in the last 30 years who haven’t received “justice”. Like the innocent victims of gang violence. And why wouldn’t he be more than ready to flee a known haven for loonies like LA? Who would know more about LA’s loonies than Roman Polanski? This would certainly make up for LAPD’s failure on behalf of countless other victims whose perps are not as easily tracked. Think of the ratings! And the publicity! I’ll bet it’s the most important case they have on the books!
9/28/2009 8:43 pm
“Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, said that for Europeans the development showed that the American system of justice had run amok”
Yes Jack. Tell us about the French system of (in) justice that has run amok over and over. Tell us about the Velodrome d’Hiver. Tell us about the Memorial de la Deportation on the Quai de l’ Archeceche’. Tell us about French justice. Tell us!
9/28/2009 8:46 pm
Since Jack Lang is Jewish, Sam, I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you about those things.
9/28/2009 9:10 pm
In defense of the director, the court transcripts of the victim’s testimony were not released until recently. AND RP has NEVER said he was not guilty. It was the handling of the case that caused him to flee and if you saw the movie, you would understand.
Impaulsen you are going off on a tangent and sound ridiculous. He’s guilty. But just watch the movie. And then talk about it.
9/28/2009 9:19 pm
Every country’s justice system runs amok from time to time. After all it is conducted by humans. I don’t think anybody can argue the point, however, that in no other country than America will it become as big a circus.
9/28/2009 9:53 pm
Anon 8:46
Who cares if Jack Lang is Jewish. I wasn’t talking about Jack Lang.
I was talking about Jack Lang talking about the “American system of justice run amok.” Perhaps Jack, but what about the Velodrome, about Dreyfus, about Algeria.
9/28/2009 10:25 pm
“I don’t think anybody can argue the point, however, that in no other country than America will it become as big a circus.”
Oh please look at Britian’s media! Shut up, Impaulsen.
9/29/2009 9:01 am
We’re discussing the actual case, Anonymous, not the movie you keep urging us to see. I’m very surprised, by the way, that you seem to imagine that only Jews care about the injustices of the Vichy government. We can discuss the Polanski case, or we can get all worked up and start shushing other contributors to the conversation. I’d prefer to do the former.
9/29/2009 9:06 am
Judith, how bizarre. Where do you get that line about Jews and Vichy, and what does that (introduced by Sam) have to do with Polanski case?
9/29/2009 9:11 am
http://gawker.com/5369615/enter-the-rape-tunnel-for-art?skyline=true&s=x
9/29/2009 9:32 am
Thank you, Judith, you are kind as usual. If I’m criticized for something, however, I’m willing to do some research. Anon is right. The British media is considerably worse…I wouldn’t have thought that possible. Right or wrong, my sympathy is for the victim, whose wishes are being totally disregarded. Everybody else involved in this has their own agenda and I suspect justice has very little to do with it. And with that, I bow out of this discussion because my original feeling was that there are child rapists on the loose, released by the justice system who are far more likely to reoffend than a 76 year old man. America has enough on its plate that is far more important.
9/29/2009 9:38 am
Well, Anonymous 8.46, I think it was you who wrote: “Since Jack Lang is Jewish, Sam, I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you about those things.” I suppose I misunderstood what you meant. If so, my apologies.
9/29/2009 9:52 am
Although slightly hypocritical coming from a European, I like the way Lang puts his words together in this one: “Sometimes, the American justice system shows an excess of formalism,” Mr. Lang said, “like an infernal machine that advances inexorably and blindly.”
9/29/2009 11:45 am
Polanski plead guilty and fled. If he knowingly with malice of forethought, druged and raped a 13 year old girl, he should be
shot at sunrise!
9/29/2009 12:21 pm
Well, Ben Jefferson, that’s what he’s admitted he did. Though summary execution does seem a bit harsh. Ha.