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Roman Polanski: Brilliant artist or brutal rapist? (AP Photo/Keystone, Ennio Leanza)
Since Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland, several members of the artistic community have rallied around him and pronounced that he should be free to return to his lavish lifestyle and create his great art. Film directors like Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, and David Lynch signed a petition demanding his immediate release. During the Zurich Film Festival, many attendees wore "Free Polanski" stickers to show their solidarity. On “The View”, Whoopi Goldberg explained that she felt Polanski was not guilty of “rape rape”. It seems that because Roman Polanski is a great director, he gets a free pass to get away with a brutal sexual assault.
“This Roman Polanski case has shown us that when you are loved by a group of people, they are far more likely to excuse your behavior than if you are mediocre or subpar in your performance of your duties,” said Lisa Spahr of Spahr Consulting.
But that’s in La-La Land and most of us don’t breathe the rarefied air that’s found in Hollywood. In the real world, if our colleagues or our companies discover that we have committed a crime—and not even a violent one—it is unlikely that they will come to our defense so readily.
“Most smart companies today, no matter what their size, are reacting very quickly when they discover one of their employees has allegedly committed a crime,” said Spahr. “They are moving to this model because when you and I are in a workplace, we do not only represent ourselves—we are an extension of our companies, our products, and our services.”
This swift action by a company is particularly important when news of an employee’s arrest has been plastered all over the local news for the whole community to see. Publicity will pressure companies to do the right thing and they will not have the luxury of waiting until the employee’s legal case is complete before they act.
When most people are arrested, they can expect their companies to—at the very least—put them on administrative leave as the circumstances surrounding the arrest are investigated. The employee may be paid during this time, but will not be allowed to come to work or act as a representative of the company in any way until the investigation is complete. In many cases, the employee will just be fired outright because there are policies in place that address termination for cause—which can include criminal conduct.
No matter how good someone may be at their job, or how well-liked they are by their colleagues, companies must look at the bigger picture—which is to protect their image and their employees. The “but he’s good at his job” defense would not fly in the real world. Even if an employee is accused of a nonviolent crime, such as shoplifting, some action will most likely be taken by the employer.
“Companies can’t have a violent offender in the office because other people are at risk. But they also don’t want thieves in the company because then their assets are at risk,” said workplace expert Donna Flagg, founder of The Krysalis Group. “In those cases, companies are within their right—and are going to feel it's necessary—to protect the employees and the business from that behavior.”
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Comments
OH YEAH REAL STAND UP GUY WOODY ALLEN PLEASE CAN ANYBODY SAY SOON YI HIS GIRLFRIEND'S ADOPTED DAUGHTER HIS KNOW WIFE HIS STEPDAUGHTER PRACTICALLY
The arts have a long history of 'excusing" criminal behavior in their *coveted artistes" Read how many young boys families have been paid off after being raped by conductor James Levine, or schools such as Cleveland Institute of Music who have been in the news repeatedly defending their repeat offender faculty members. Most orchestras are full of teachers married to their former students. Incest is practically an institution in classical music. I applaud the fact that Polanski was arrested, and hope the time has come to stop silencing children for the sake of protecting artists criminal proclivities.
Polanskis a sick man who is running from the law..
persecute, punishment - that is the call.
Woody allen is a perverted old man..
They're all a bunch of trashy types who some deranged people think are something special..., but they have given nothing
Woody Allen was falsely accused of molestation; that's far worse than anything that either he or Polanski ever did.
Let Polanski go; he's been through enough. We are far too sanctimonious in this country, and as a result we've created a huge criminal class that can never go straight.
WTH?! He was found GUILTY. He's a COWARD who escaped sentencing by running away because he had the money. He should be extradited and face the maximum penalty. It matters not one whit that he "suffered so much" before this...What about the victim's rights?!
Oh please...Woody Allen is just another Jew with the same sick sexual abberations.
Hollyweird Liberal Morons need to wake up and realize WE, THE PEOPLE, are the ones giving them their paychecks.
They also need to realize that America as a whole doesn't care about their uneducated opinions. They should also realize that America is not LA or NYC, but everyone in between!
I hope they fry the bastard. He deserves it, pedophile and rapist that is he is.
I cannot understand how anyone can excuse his behavior. Saying that he should get off for his crimes because people love him is just as corrupt and wrong as saything that priets who have assulted children should be ignored because they are members of the religious community. Regardless of what the woman who was raped feels now, at 13 she was violated, came forward and he CONFESSED. There wasn't a dispute, he plead guilty!! And I'm sorry but if that's not rape, what's "rape rape"? Just because you have suffered in the past does not excuse how you behave. Do we excuse indivicuals who grow up in sexually abusive homes from punishment for crimes? The menatlly insane? Even if you have a "sympathetic" situation, you are stil sentenced to some stort of time for crimes. Running away and evading authorities for so long only hurts his situation and shows how he is just as cowardly now as he was then, having supposed "consentual sex" with a thirteen year old girl. COWARD.
I watched an episode of the View once where Whoopi Goldberg was defending celebrities that have been convicted of crimes. Saying that it wasn't fair that we hold their crimes against them because, essentially that their crime shouldn't hurt their success at their craft. I'm sorry but if I did half the things that Lindsay Lohan has done I'd be lucky if I could get a job at McDonnalds, or OJ Simpson, Kobe Bryant, Chris Brown, or Paris Hilton and half the people in Hollywood. She is a moron. Anything she says goes in one ear and out the other for me.
When I was in college I was one of the co-founders of the Center Against Sexual Assault, the first rape crisis center in Central and Northern Arizona. We founded the organization in response to a slew of rapes and sexual assaults on campus at Arizona State University. The Campus police did little if anything to help with the problem and basically blamed the victims.
Since when can a 13 year old consent to sex? Debra Tate dishonors her sister Sharon's name and memory! And as for Debra Winger, I will never watch another of her films--which is not tough since she is not being cast anymore. How can these people trivialize child rape, sodomy, drugging and say that it's consensual? Or say that he has served his time? Served? How, by being the "toast" of Europe? Give me a friggin' break! I have worked with children sexually abused by adults whom they should have been able to trust; it takes years of counseling to help them through. This young woman was able to forgive Polanski but the la
Bob-
That was an ignorant comment. Even though he was accused, he still had a relationship with a child. Polanski forcibly raped a 13 year old girl, so much worse.
Roman Polanski has known for years that if he can back to the U.S. he would be arrested. Several years ago the film industry wanted to award a lifetime achievement award to him, but could not since he could not come to the U.S. to get it. So let's stop honoring him. And let Justice be served. He avoided his arrest sentence and know what he faced. So let him face it now. And if any celebrity states that there is a difference of rape and rape,rape. like Whoopi then they are dillusional. What if it was Dakota Fanning or a celebrities child. Then they would be singing a different tune. The 13 year old girl at the time matters. Let's give her justice. FINALLY
The Hollywood petition supporting Polanski is bizarre. My forensic psychologist friend would say his supports are suffering from "cognitive distortion". Many of the arguments defending his release, e.g., judicial misconduct, victim's forgiveness, LA court hidden agendas, etc. are irrelevancies. The facts are that Polanski admits that he committed the crime that the victim attests to in her grand jury testimony, was convict of the crime, but has not served his time. I can understand if he were appealing his sentence, but why should we allow a man who was 43 years old when he committed the crime, a free pass? What message does that send?
I hope this makes it obvious to the public that many celebs are demented individuals who typically do not deserve the adulation they get. For me, I am emailing T-mobile to ask why they have Whooopi on their commercial. Of course Woody Allen's all for it. I haven't seen any of his movies since he married his daughter.
I'm so tired of the sanctimony regarding Polanski. He was victimized by a corrupt legal system. The judge in his case intended to deport him anyway, so Polanski has already done his time. He is no longer any threat to society.
Oh please...Woody Allen is just another Jew with the same sick sexual abberations.
Hey ZAN -- are you a Nazi or something? Woody Allen and Polanski are "sick Jews?" Maybe you're the one who's sick, just as this puritanical society is sick.
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