we've all heard that roman polanksi is being extradited to the united states for a crime he's been on the run from. fair enough. you rape a 13 year old girl, eventually you get your comeuppance.
well, not according to joan z. shore over at huffington post.
in her article "polanki's arrest: shame on the swiss" shore, the cofounder of a women's equality group, says that americans should protest his extradition by "smashing [their] cuckoo clocks, pawning... Swiss watches, and banning Swiss cheese and chocolate. and let them yodel all they like."
oh my god, so witty. rape is SO funny and an opportunity to be hillaaaaaarious.
shore goes on to say that there is more to this "story":
"the 13-year old model "seduced" by Polanski had been thrust onto him by her mother, who wanted her in the movies. the girl was just a few weeks short of her 14th birthday, which was the age of consent in California. (it's probably 13 by now!) polanski was demonized by the press, convicted, and managed to flee, fearing a heavy sentence."
there are a few problems here. the girl wasn't "seduced", she testified that she'd been given champagne, quaalude, and had also asked polanski to stop several times. in the LAW that's not called seduction, you stupid bitch, it's SEXUAL ASSAULT.
and also, the age of consent in california was NOT 14 in 1977. it was 17. and it's not 13 now, it's 18.
polanksi was "demonized" in the press after details of the girls assault were made public, mainly because what he did was against the law and horrifying.
shore thinks its outrageous that polanski should be "hauled back" to the states to answer for his crime.
here is one of her reasons: she met polanski after he fled america, accompanying mike wallace for a sixty minutes interview with the director. but she and mike wallace were "utterly charmed by roman's sobriety and intelligence"
because rapists are never charming or intelligent. right shore? i'm sorry but has she never, ever read a single book about rapists, or taken a psychology class, or even read the fucking news?
ted bundy was described in TIME magazine as "handsome, cultured, and charming" and he received thousands of love letters while in jail. does that mean his crimes didn't matter? or that they weren't legally crimes? that peoples lives weren't destroyed?
shore wants to know why america "always get sidetracked by sex and scandal?"
so deep. what a deep and insightful comment about the nature of america and americans.
why oh why must america fulfill its obligatations to prosecute crimes? especially crimes involving sex? i mean, what's the point?
arresting polanski before "he was to receive an honorary award at a film festival" is "disgraceful", she writes.
because a famous and powerful movie director raping a 13 year old girl and then fleeing the country isn't symptomatic of a larger problem in the film industry at all. or in any media industry that utilizes the bodies of young girls. or in society.
it's also not problematic at all that because polanksi makes films, has won awards, and is rich he should be excused for raping a 13 year old girl.
as one astute commenter posted:
"Sure when Polanski was 42, he drugged, raped, and sodomized a 13 year old girl, but he's made three great movies. I could see bringing Polanski to justice if he was a mailman, or janitor, or if his movies were bad, but his movies are good, so he should get a pass so he can keep skiing, and drinking champagne. . Why be successful if you can't get away with things like raping a 13 year old?
If you rape a girl and go to jail, it's your fault that you weren't successful enough, and you have to take responsibility. That's what keeps me on the straight and narrow. Everytime I think about committing a robbery, murder, or raping someone, I do a reality check, and realize I'm not successful enough to get away with it. Being unsuccessful is a powerful deterrent to crime.
That's only fair. That's how life should work."
polanksi admitted to the rape. rape is a crime. criminals get punished. that's how the system works. you don't get to admit you're a rapist, then run away, make some award winning films, live abroad, and just get away with it.
so, joan shore, go nuts smashing your cuckoo clocks and tossing your swiss chocolate out the window.. i'm sure the 13 year old girls of the world will thank you some day.
1 comment:
Nice. Kate Harding's piece on Salon was quite eloquent, too.
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/09/28/polanski_arrest/
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