Hollywood FAIL

The list of actors crying out in a plea to free Roman Polanski (a.k.a fugitive child rapist) is continuing to grow.  The lesson of course being that if you're a famous director with enough money and influential friends, you can go around drugging and raping children without consequence.  Or at the very least, a lot of people will support you, despite the fact that you're a disgusting piece of shit.

And it speaks volumes of the people crying out in defense.  Well, like it or not, people whose work we admire are also capable of being complete assholes.  That admirable work does not negate the crimes that person committed.

And it's the same song we've heard before.  Bottom line is the man drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl.  That this crime took place more than 30 years ago is completely irrelevant.  That the victim does not wish to pursue this does not mean that Roman Polanski gets a free fucking pass.  And that anyone is even supporting this vile man just because he's directed a few decent movies is such a fucking leap of logic that I find this whole ugly thing utterly depressing.

Roman Polanski committed a horrendous crime, and if we at all cared about his victim (and other victims of rape which are overlooked or blamed every fucking day) then we shouldn't be defending him.

I recently read a post over at The Curvature that makes an excellent point (in discussing the rape of Mackenzie Phillips by her father, John Phillips), but I think it's relevant in this case too:

All survivors experience backlash by going public — that backlash is only going to grow tenfold when the abuser is famous. It’s this backlash that makes coming forward so difficult, but also so significant. People don’t like to hear that their heroes can also be rapists, and that rapists can also be heroes. People don’t like to hear that rapists can have separate qualities worth admiring, can have talent, and depth, and people who love them. People don’t want to hear anything about rapists that doesn’t involve them being evil, slimy, instantly identifiable monsters, who have absolutely no worth or humanity. People don’t want to hear it because it makes rape easier to ignore, deny, forget, and believe could never happen to them, could never be committed by someone they know.
That is precisely why people need to hear it.
John Phillips was a very talented singer and songwriter. He’s a little bit of a 60s icon. And he was also apparently a rapist. Most people are currently unable to hold these things simultaneously in their minds. This is evidenced by all that is up above. And rape apologism and denialism aren’t going to stop until, among other things, they (and we) learn how to.

This is all just an utter shit-pile of fail.

Here are more links on Polankski:

Polanski: The Defend-a-thon

Her Reasons Are Not Yours

puzzle activity time!