Roman Polanski is a brilliant artist who once raped a drugged-up (but not so drugged that she couldn't and didn't say "keep away" and "no") 13 year old kid. His many apologists, ranging from the likes of Mia Farrow, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg to anonymous internet users fall over themselves with excuses for his decades-old behavior. "But she looked so much older." "But she was no stranger to drugs." "Minors are still sexual beings." "She wasn't a virgin." "Her mother wanted to make her a movie star." "But he's been through so much."
Roman Polanski is 76 years old. Samantha Geimer, who outed herself as his rape victim ages ago, wants the whole drama over with so she can get on with her life. What judge is going to put Polanski behind bars when he can still make so much money for so many people in Hollywood, and when Samantha Geimer refuses to testify against him? "Oh but the stigma ..." Deal with it, Hollywood. The longer you drag this out, the more people can go to The Smoking Gun and read the grand jury testimony, and realize you're sending your women out to defend a man who raped a scared 13 year old kid, and you don't look too good when you do this.
Hollywood, I know you want to welcome him back, and that's understandable. You need him to make art more than he needs you to make money (as long as we aren't talking gobs of it).
Roman Polanski is a brilliant artist, whose work I admire and think anyone who cares about such things should see, as much of it as possible. But even brilliant artists have to grow up eventually, and you can only make excuses for what's in that testimony for so long before you drive away what's left of the demo that bothers to see the films you promote to a select group of people in January, February, and March, in the first place.
Roman Polanski needs to man up and deal with this, if only because Hollywood is making a major asshole of itself in defending him.
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