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I am ecstatic to hear of Roman Polanski’s recent arrest. Not only am I pleased that someone who has bucked responsibility for a revolting crime was finally caught, but I am also delighted that it was the Swiss who caught him. I grew up in Switzerland, and it has a bad reputation as a country which aides those who line the pockets of the wealthiest bankers and top politicians. While the Swiss government does like money - name a government which doesn’t - they do not deserve a worse reputation than America in this regard. Polanski is certainly not in dire straits financially, the man is only morally bankrupt. His riches did not help him one bit in Switzerland, though they will surely help him in the good US of A following extradition.
The Swiss did their due diligence. They noticed that there was a US warrant out for a man’s arrest and they held him. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that their efforts will be worthwhile. Americans have already made clear, through the media and celebrity opinion, that while the rich and famous should be charged with victimless yet embarrassing crimes (such as prostitution and drug use), they get a free pass in the court of public opinion when it comes to drugging and raping a child. I do not care what charge they plead him down to, nor do I care who decided whether or not it was, as Whoopi Goldberg so eloquently put it; ‘rape rape’ as in ‘real rape’.
Drugging anyone and violating them when they are unable to consent is real rape. A grown man having sex with a thirteen year old child is real rape. Any man forcing himself on a woman when she says no is real rape. Put the three together in one act and you have a crime so heinous that only the support and petitions of public figures actually defending this fleeing rapist top it in the repulsive behavior department. I realize that the idea of having an age of consent and where exactly one draws the line is a point of contention for many people. This issue does not even come into play here, however, because even if the girl in question had been of legal age she was still drugged and raped. She was not a willing participant in a sexual act. According to her statement, even after being drugged, she said no and he forced himself on her.
There are two issues here. One is the fact that he is a world famous director, which has garnered him respect despite his actions. The second is the fact that this involves a form of rape. While celebrities go to jail for drunk driving, failing to appear in court, drug use, tax evasion, prostitution and a slew of other offenses that perhaps no one should be locked up for committing, they seem to get a free pass when it comes to rape. This is mind-boggling considering the only thing more destructive to the victim and more indicative of sociopathy in the offender is murder (and celebrities often seem to get away with that as well).
This is not, however, a phenomenon exclusive to celebrities. Rape conviction rates in both the United States and the United Kingdom are dismal, sitting at well below 20%. That only includes the women brave enough to come forward and report a rape, as most women are well aware of the way that society treats rape victims. A woman who reports a rape has to endure scorn and ridicule, while the rapist – through his lawyer and the police - is able to torture her all over again. Who would put themselves through that? The only difference between everyday rape cases and celebrity rape cases is the publicity. In both circumstances, the man is usually assumed innocent while the woman is treated as if she were guilty, but when it comes to a celebrity being charged with rape – like Kobe Bryant - the woman not only needs the courage to face her attacker, his lawyer and the police, but also the entire nation who automatically labels her a liar or gold digger despite her bruises, injuries or even admissions from the guilty party. For this reason, women raped by celebrities are even less likely than other women to come forward or speak out against their attackers.
The laws in this country ruin the lives of millions of people because they chose to put something into their bodies which wasn’t pre-approved by the state or chose to use their own bodies as a means of income or chose to commit any other victimless crime. We put people who have never harmed anyone in prisons filled with rapists, murderers and others who have been treated like animals for so long that they have began to act like them. Yet when a rich director or a good-looking basketball player or any guy off the street violates a little girl or a woman - takes away her dignity and sense of self, often scarring her for life – we make excuses for them. We turn all the righteous indignation usually directed towards the accused party in tax evasion, drug posession or prostitution cases towards the victim in a rape trial. How does that make America or Western Europe any different from the Muslim countries that, following Sharia law, stone a rape victim for having sex, if she was not lucky enough to be raped in front of multiple witnesses?
Putting the issue of rape aside for a moment, I would like to mention that should Polanski have shown an iota of remorse or any understanding of the fact that what he did was wrong following this entire ordeal, my opinion on the matter may be slightly different. Nothing can take back what he did to that girl, but the fact that he seems to think he has done nothing wrong at all only further proves that this man belongs behind bars. If he sees himself raping a child and then fleeing the country to avoid charges as a just act and his eventual arrest for this act as a miscarriage of justice, then why would one assume he has not continued this behavior in France? If there is nothing wrong, in his mind, with rape, then why would he stop at one girl?
His response to his arrest shortly after fleeing was: "If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But... f*cking, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f*ck young girls. Juries want to f*ck young girls. Everyone wants to f*ck young girls!" His behavior since has not shown any change of heart. I have no trouble believing that many men would like to have sex with sixteen or seventeen year old girls, but this was a thirteen year old. I do not believe that everyone is a pedophile. Even if they were, however, I do not think they would consider the fact that he "f*cked young girls" as the problem, as much as the fact that he did so against their will.
Roman Polanski is accused of drugging a thirteen year old girl and then having sex with her against her will when he was forty-three years old. He is also accused of taking lude photographs of a minor. He fled the country to avoid charges. That’s all that matters. Woody Allen, Asia Argento, Martin Scorcese, Pedro Almodóvar, David Lynch and every other despicable individual who signed the pro-Roman Polanski petition to free the alleged child rapist should be ashamed of themselves. Being able to put together a good piece of entertainment or create art does not give you a liscense to behave like a degenerate criminal at the expense of those around you.
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