Comments on Movietone News: Roman Polanski falls foul of law intended for ordi...

Thanks to all of you for commenting. Interesting t...

2009-10-17T10:03:20.278+01:00

Thanks to all of you for commenting. Interesting to see not one defence of the little creep. Shows how far - how arrogantly far - Hollywood's pulse is from those it supposedly serves.

An excellent, and powerful post, Matthew. I agree...

2009-10-16T13:26:00.760+01:00

An excellent, and powerful post, Matthew. I agree.

I've given you the Kreativ Blogger award! Read...

2009-10-07T12:03:38.924+01:00

I've given you the Kreativ Blogger award! Read more here! Love //Lolita

panavia999: I think I was the one who said that he...

2009-10-06T12:13:04.340+01:00

panavia999:
I think I was the one who said that he maybe didn't know her age - then it's completely inexcusable! Jesus. No, I have nothing further more to say on the subject, except that I hope he has had a lot of regret in the 30 years that has passed since, and that he is disgusted with himself.

And I hope too South Park will do something about it, haha! They are great with reflecting people's worries of today, great satirists.

I've never seen Chinatown, based on the commen...

2009-10-06T02:55:37.508+01:00

I've never seen Chinatown, based on the comments here - from people whose movie tastes seem a lot like mine - I'll give it a pass. Thanks!

Bravo Matthew x

2009-10-04T23:08:00.547+01:00

Bravo Matthew x

I hope the Southpark folks do something on Polansk...

2009-10-03T01:31:05.050+01:00

I hope the Southpark folks do something on Polanski!
Someone mentioned that he may not have known the girl was only 13. It's true that many 13 yo girls look older, and some are even sluts. But he acknowledged that he knew her age. Even if it was completely consentual it's statuatory rape.

www.thesmokinggun.com has all the pleas and depositions in disturbing detail. Just use their search button for "polanski". BTW, the site has court documents on Michael Jackson too - stomach churning details there.

NoirGirl: Hollywood sure could use some new ideas!...

2009-10-03T00:38:17.825+01:00

NoirGirl:
Hollywood sure could use some new ideas! I'm not even interested in the new films coming from there anymore, haven't been for years.
I was disappointed in Chinatown when I watched it too, actually. It's almost like you don't dare to say it, being such a classic, but it didn't impress me. Frankly, I can't even recall one scene from it looking back, I must have let it slide out of my memory unintentionally.

Fabulous post and amazingly good points, Matthew. ...

2009-10-02T23:23:47.365+01:00

Fabulous post and amazingly good points, Matthew. It is hilarious, as Millie and Lolita have already beat me to saying. (I can never beat Millie at anything! I don't know why I even try anymore. ;)

This whole spotlight Hollywood has decided to shine on itself with the defense of Polanski is going to backfire big time. Here in the US we are really tired of the mindless, recycled, preposterous excuses for films coming out of HWood. Even in my out-of-touch small town, everyone realizes HWood hasn't had an original idea in 40 years and a day. Defending the actions of this disgusting pervert are only going to make the American people hate HWood all the more. I can't wait for their downfall. The whole place needs a good clean out. Is there a petition for a stronger sentence for Polanski? I'll sign it, if it exists!

And I totally agree with you about Chinatown! I heard so many great comments about it that I finally watched it a couple months ago. What a bizarre, horrible film! And, child molesting is huge theme, don't forget. Doesn't that seem like convenient coincidence in light of Polanski's past?

"I think he's sorry," she explained....

2009-10-02T17:20:56.338+01:00

"I think he's sorry," she explained. "I think he knows it was wrong."
Haha, what wonderfully stupid quotes you managed to dig up!

I agree with Millie, this post was hilarious.

Do they seriously motivate his crime with the fact that he has had a hell of a life and traumas? Jesus, that couldn't even have sound reasonable in their heads. And him being an artist and should have different rules, yikes! It's Nietzsche's Übermensch all over!

I agree with everything here. And I think you're a real wild card daring to write about this on your blog, taking such a strong opinion, hurrah!

The only thing I could have sympathy for (if one can call it that) is the chance that it perhaps wasn't a rape - who knows? Yes, she was really young and it was illegal. But there is still a chance that he actually DIDN'T KNOW that she was only 13. When I was 15 people thought I was 25, girls have a tendency of looking older than they are.

But of course, if it wasn't a rape he shouldn't have left the country - that looks REALLY bad. I'm just saying that there is a little chance that it may be more or less false accusations.

But I still think that this should have been cleared up 30 years ago. Just calling in some secret agents to kidnap him and bring him back to America for a real trial. Now the girl must be 45 and still not having had any justice in this case. That's just terrible.

Again - superb post!

Much applause to both you and the folks who've...

2009-10-02T16:09:41.976+01:00

Much applause to both you and the folks who've commented here. I simply can't fathom how Polanski's defenders have forgotten the simple fact that HE RAPED A CHILD.

I completely agree with you all. Mykal, your refer...

2009-10-02T07:29:51.136+01:00

I completely agree with you all. Mykal, your reference to Mailer and Abbot was particularly thought-provoking: yes, there is a definite pattern there, it's the exact same mind-set; the bubble mentality...
Panavia; yes, I love it when these pampered buffoons start praising their own heroism!

I think the Hollywood glitterati live in a bubble ...

2009-10-02T04:44:42.801+01:00

I think the Hollywood glitterati live in a bubble where they (those living in the bubble together) can convince themselves of many erroneous concepts - mostly about their own worth. They really begin to believe the are good and noble, strong or tough; better and somehow very special.

The next step in this bubble life is they begin to imagine the rules established by cretins and commoners shouldn't apply to them. In this land it is ok, somehow, for a grown man to sodomize /rape a 13 year old.

The last and final step - where Ms. Winger and Mr. Weinstein now call home -- is that they imagine that, surely, everyone thinks like them.

Maybe that's why I love b film makers so much. They haven't stepped into the bubble yet. -- Mykal

Here is another quotation from Weinstien who is &q...

2009-10-02T04:30:04.217+01:00

Here is another quotation from Weinstien who is "not convinced public opinion is running against the [Polanski] and dismisses the categorization of Hollywood as amoral." 'Hollywood has the best moral compass because it has compassion' Weinstein said. 'We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11. We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe.'"

I thought the Salvation Army and the Red Cross raised more money than Hollywood for 9/11 and Katrina. I thought it was several Navies, the Red Cross, missionary groups, Green Crescent and UN who rushed to aid of the Boxing Day Tsunami..etc etc. You know, the people who slogged through the mud picking up debris, slinging rations ashore and tending to the injured. But Hollywood had telethons! I think the celebrity class who chatters like this is so absorbed in their own industry they forgot how the rest of the world thinks about things.
It all reminds me why I ignore the celebrity news!

QUOTE "What if Roman Polanski were wearing a ...

2009-10-02T03:59:12.329+01:00

QUOTE "What if Roman Polanski were wearing a Roman collar? Would 'Monsignor Polanski' receive the same considerations? As Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit, writes . . . 'Imagine if the Knights of Columbus decided to give an award to a pedophile priest who had fled the country to avoid prison. The outcry would be universal' . . . But Polanski gets an Oscar in absentia in 2003 and earns sympathy because he can't receive it in person. The church's on-going child sex abuse and cover-up scandal should have taught us that when authorities give excessive deference and favoritism to some predators, because of their occupation, more children end up being devastated and more adults stop trusting and cooperating with law enforcement" -- columnist David Gibson, writing at PoliticsDaily.com. UNQUOTE

What has always bothered me about this case is why that girl had no chaperone? Who lets a girl go to a photo shoot without an escort? She's raped, told to keep it a secret, goes home and tells her mother who calls the police. Why didn't her mother go with her or arrange a trusty chaperone? Makes me wonder how many haven't been caught....

Matthew: Chalk up another agreement. So Polanski, ...

2009-10-01T21:22:29.852+01:00

Matthew: Chalk up another agreement. So Polanski, a known pedophile, has suffered "soul-wrenching " costs of his crime, which amount to not being allowed to live the life of the Jet-Setting artistic elite of the world (He has been barred from returning to the U.S. and prevented from traveling to other countries, including England, because of extradition issues). I can’t imagine how Mr. Polanski has survived such horrors. Court costs? Please. When a felon flees from justice, he should really expect some expenses, don’t you think?

This all smacks of Norman Mailer's pathetic support of homicidal maniac and sometime novelist, Jack Abbot - (the artistic soul deserves special consideration - above and beyond what normal mortals must abide to).

Served his time? How, exactly? By being the bad-boy toast of Paris? I can think of a few prime correctional institutions here in the good ol' US of A where Mr. Polanski should have spent some time; the inmates of which are known to take a very, very, very dim view of child rapists. I believe the term is "short eyes."

For such individuals, serving your time involves an "eye for and eye" style of retribution. -- Mykal

Hurrah!!! Thanks to you both! I really had no idea...

2009-10-01T20:21:33.879+01:00

Hurrah!!!
Thanks to you both! I really had no idea what kind of a response this would get.

I totally agree with you, Matthew. Straight to the...

2009-10-01T20:17:31.691+01:00

I totally agree with you, Matthew. Straight to the point.

First of all, this post was hilarious! Second,I r...

2009-10-01T19:34:33.358+01:00

First of all, this post was hilarious!

Second,I reacted in much the same way with the recent news about him! I mean seriously! How can people even try to rationalize his crime????

Just look at other recent celebrities, um, Michael Vick for instance. He was convicted of Dog-fighting (very awful) and went to prison (as he should have). But, here we have Polanski with a much more horrible crime (and on top of that he fled the country), but that's not worthy of going to prison for?

Strange!