There is an odd illness going through Hollywood right now. It isn’t swine flu, or bird flu, or Obama fever. A lot of major Hollywood players are feverishly supporting a famed director, signing petitions and voicing their calls to “Free Polanski!” in hopes he will not be extradited to the US, and will not serve time for a crime he committed and admitted to more than thirty years ago.
The crime: He drugged and raped, under unambiguous legal terms, a 13 year-old girl. He admitted to the crime. When in the middle of a plea bargain that was quickly unraveling, he fled the country. He’s been a critically-acclaimed and innovative director ever since then–he even won an Oscar for “The Pianist,” which he couldn’t come to the US to receive out of fear of being incarcerated. Last week, while on his way to a film festival where he would be honored, he was apprehended by Swiss police, and is now in the process of being sent back to the US to continue his trial.
Hollywood was quick in voicing its undiscriminating support of Polanski.
A bit too quick, and a bit too undiscriminating.
They claim that Polanski’s crime, while heinous, is ancient history, the victim forgave him, and that the persecution of this very talented man is all about a DA trying to make a name for himself. And that is probably all true. The Polanski case has legal holes and an overly zealous judge. But despite the less-than perfect legal process, there is one obvious fact: he fled before any justice was done, and his celebrity is in large part why people are supporting him.
If Hollywood wants to take on this cause, if you can even call it that, they can’t be black and white about it. He is not a martyr, or a framed man, or someone who just committed a “youthful error,” in the words of French intellectual, Bernard Levy (Polanski was 43 at the time of the incident). He raped and drugged a very young girl, he admitted to the crime, he fled rather than pursuing an appeal, he did not serve any time in jail, he enjoyed success for more than 30 years, and his case has never been closed. Those are facts.
Other facts: The judge in charge of this case did not conduct himself appropriately while on it, and the victim forgave Polanski later on. Be that as they may, he could have attempted an appeal. Even if the victim showed mercy for this man, justice was never served. No doubt, he was a refugee who was trying to avoid being punished more than he should, but this is not about why he fled. This is about his crime, which he has never paid.
I think Hollywood needs to ask itself a few important questions about the implications a free Polanski has on society.
What kind of message does this send to women of all ages who are raped and told they should tell the authorities about it, since only one in ten ever does? The point would lack any backing, since they will see that all the rapist has to do is be successful and liked.
Why, exactly, should Polanski’s case be thrown out? Because he is talented? That would excuse almost every single crime committed by an artist, athlete, or CEO.
Because the money being spent on it would be better used solving other pertinent California problems, like murder, poverty, and unemployment? That would set a precedent of picking and choosing which crimes to pursue, prioritizing the worst (and what a subjective term that is!) over the tolerable. Who would be worth our dime once we are rationing justice.
Because he has done so much good in the arts in the last 30 years? True, but one does not absolve the other, but compliment a case arguing for his release. And a release from what? He’s been free his entire life, enjoying success during, essentially, stolen time.
What people like Martin Scorcese, Wes Anderson, Tilda Swinton, and Woody Allen are doing is perpetuating a stereotype: Hollywood is a parallel universe where the prettiest people can do the ugliest things, and they will get away with it as long as we love their gifted faces. With the Polanski case, Hollywood is showing its ugliest side. It is telling America and the world that it IS an elite club, and they take care of their own. I think it is time for them to question their loyalty to each other a bit more.
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