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September 29, 2009
The Polanski case is troubling.
In 1978 he had pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, who drugged a 13-year-old girl with quaaludes and champagne; lured her to pose for naked photographs; ignoring her protests, had sex with her; and then anally raped her. The offence he pleaded guilty to is often described as "statutory rape", but more precisely as "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor". The other charges were dropped.
That is the starting point. Some of the responses take the form of vindictive justice.
Polanski spent 42 days in prison in Chino, California, and was due to be sentenced to time served when it became clear that the deal his lawyers had negotiated with the prosecution was not to be honoured – and he would have had to spend much more time in jail than had been agreed. He fled the United States in 1978 and has never returned. His victim has moved on and wants this all dropped.
Poor Roman say his defenders when Polanksi was arrested by the Swiss police on an international arrest warrant. Remember, he survived the Holocaust, his wife Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969 by the Charles Manson gang, and Hollywood's celebrity culture was "Babylonic".
What is erased by the Polanski's life is a tragedy defence is the sexual politics of having non-consenting sex with an underage girl.
Marina Zenovich's Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired argues that the American press--the media circus--- has traditionally viewed Polanski as "a man of darkness" and has always confused the man with his movies. He made The Tenant so must therefore be a transvestite. He made Chinatown and is therefore a paedophile. He made Rosemary's Baby and is thus in league with Satan. And so on. He's now seen as a predatory sex offender.
However, Zenovich's documentary suggests that Polanski, an irrepressible European, had been naughty during a colorful time, and that he has been toyed with by a monstrous legal system. Being naughty during a colourful time refers to Polanski drugging and raping a minor.
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I am a little skeptical that a man with the ability to have the best legal advice in the world available at any time would wander into this situation blindly.
Most likely what we are seeing is a carefully orchestrated "Coming Home" for Polanski.
Things in his favor are the rape was 31 years ago (which factors in U.S law no doubt) The girl involved has publically forgiven him and he has a large ground swell of support of powerful and connected people.
Against him is the way the media choose to play it.
Obviously he is guilty and should be imprisoned for a long period but will most likely not.