Oh, Roger. Which Jews Is It “Not Good” For?

by Little Miss Attila on September 29, 2009

But, seriously: R.L. Simon on the utter sadness and desolation one feels about the Polanski case.

For my money, The Pianist was the best movie made about the holocaust; my husband tells me I cried more during it than I did during Schindler’s List. More, even, than I did during The Passion of the Christ.

Like I said, it can be quite a short stay. But at some point the man has to be in something that can be called a “prison.” Something other than the prison of his days, or the desert of his heart, or anything metaphorical like that. It must have bars on the windows, or wire on the perimeter. Otherwise, we are saying that young girls mean nothing to us as a society, and are simply prey for powerful men.

Please, please do not say that. Please. Europe is lost, but America has yet to say that. Please do not say it.

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

Darrell September 30, 2009 at 1:09 am

And please paste the following over the next political opininion this person offers–

In an open letter, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein called on “every U.S. filmmaker to lobby against any move to bring Polanski back to the U.S.,” arguing that “whatever you think of the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time.”

The time he spent with 15-year old Nastassja Kinski when he fled to Europe?
I guess he learned his lesson.

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Peter September 30, 2009 at 2:53 am

The “so called crime”. Getting a 13 year old girl drunk, giving her Qualudes. Then, although the 13 year old girl begged him to stop raped her. Then anally raped her.

Yes, let’s make the prison sentence short, after all the man is an artist. Artists are special so they deserve a special kind of justice, not available to us lumpen proletariat. An

Anyone ellse who would commit such a crime would get a very long sentence. Anyone else who would commit such a crime and then jump bail after pleading it down to a lesser but still serious charge could plan on spending twenty+ years Inside. But Polanski is an artist. Whater happened to equal justice?

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richard mcenroe September 30, 2009 at 7:08 am

OK, I see where I screwed up. I just think dirty thioughts and live a clean(ish) life, not the other way around.

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matt September 30, 2009 at 8:38 am

I agree. He must go to prison or it sends the message that if you’re rich enough or have the right connections you can get away with anything.

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Little Miss Attila September 30, 2009 at 9:07 am

I don’t know how equal we can make it. But the Hollywood crowd is arguing for no justice at all–that L.A. law enforcement/its judicial system should let the matter drop, and that the Swiss should simply let Polanski go.

That’s flat-out wrong.

On the other side, the agreement he thought they were about to renege on had to do, as I understand it, with limiting him to the time served in psychiatric evaluation. That’s also wrong, and too light. The man must go to prison.

“The quality of mercy is not strained.” Justice and mercy live in tension with each other, always. We need both. But exile to Europe doesn’t cut it: that’s not justice, by any stretch of the imagination.

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