How do you feel about Roman Polanski?

[The Newswire]

Why is Roman Polanski's arrest such a cause celebre? I'm not an expert on the case, but I have read the

Read the full article

[Mindgames]

From a legal point of view, he chose to go to a country with more lenient extradition agreements with the US than France has, and paid the price for it. He knew precisely where was "safe" as he's been dodging the cuffs for long enough, and he wasn't smuggled into the awards show in a trunk, so the outcome was pretty much a given.

Maybe someone thinks if MJ could resurrect his career by winning a pedo trial, it's worth a go for everyone. It's not like Polanski has a long future to bother about.

[VoltaireBlue]

I hope they fry him. Btw, the pianist sucked.

[TheDeathKnight]

Keep in mind that his wife and unborn baby were murdered by the Manson family not too long before this incident. And he had a really fucked up childhood. So was not an emotionally healthy human being at the time of the incident. It's just kind of lame that he ran away. It was obvious that he did do the crime. It wasn't forced in the violent sense. But he did choose to give an underage girl drugs and booze, and then have sex with her when she didn't really want to. So suck it up and do the time. Don't run away. You broke a law. And it wasn't like he was being sentenced to 20 years in prison or something. He was getting a very minimal sentence. It just makes me think he's kind of a pussy for being unwilling to come back to the states and clear the issue up.

[Morning Glory]

The feddies went to Afghanistan to capture Timothy Leary for having a joint, but they let a ********* get academy awards.

where is Batman when we need him?

[inox]

I think at this point, when the underage victim is now middle-aged, and doesn't herself want the matter pursued, we should drop it. It's not like LA prosecutors don't have their hands full of recent and even more egregious crimes on which they could focus their attention.

See this article.

Also, I think there was some serious judicial misconduct in this case, and that should be taken into account.

Really, I'd be pissed if my tax dollars were going towards the prosecution of a statutory **** case where the now-adult victim doesn't want it, and where the incident predates the release of "Nevermind the Bollocks..."

[Buster Friendly]

He was getting a very minimal sentence. It just makes me think he's kind of a pussy for being unwilling to come back to the states and clear the issue up.

Polanski had every indication that the judge was about to reneg on their plea deal, and hand him out a draconian sentence for the lulz.

Knowing what a bunch of self-righteous sexphobic hypocritical fucking bitches americans are, you might make a similar choice.

[Raza]

Not very much. Out of that list - hanging out alone with a 13 year old, sharing drink and drugs and presumably forcing her into sex - only the 'forcing' bit rings wrong to me; and I've grown very cynical about people's ability or even willingness to distinguish between actual r4pe and its statutory would-be variant.

When that sort of thing enters the picture, you can't believe anything that gets reported on the issue. Facts will get bent, broken and ground into a fine powder, the better to froth when mixed with saliva and pronounced again. Only two people that could tell you something worth hearing are Polanski and the girl - the former nobody will believe, and the latter will have been isolated and 'counseled' into her victims' position well before anybody hears from her.

There's just no useful opinion to be had, so I'll stick with mocking the inevitable angry-mob type posters trying to outdo each other condemning the guy to ever-more destructive punishment.

[toxicat]

ew.
And wow, there's trigger protection here?

[TheDeathKnight]

The girl says it was not forcible at all.
She just didn't really want to do it, but went along with it.
But even so, he still should have stood up for his crime,
whatever that crime was. If you want to just call it "sex"
with a minor, then face up to that. It's still not considered ok.
It's still breaking the law. So face your crime, and face your punishment.
If he thinks it's ok, or not a big deal, then get up and say so.
I don't have much respect for pussies that won't stand up for
what they believe in. People who run are hard to respect.
You did the crime. So face up to the punishment.
He had a choice. He didn't have to do it. But he did.
So suck it up and face the music.

[RubyViolence]

His crime is over 30 years old and the girl didn't have charges pressed against him. He also did have a tough time. His wife and unborn baby were brutally murdered, he fled the country, and is still an amazing director. There are so many free killers, rapists, etc. Here in america and people are making a fuss about polanski? Leave the guy alone already.

Ruby violence

[Mr Karl]

over the years I've been developing some very extreme views about people under the age of eighteen having sex..................ah fuk it, the worlds a fucked up place, what's with the girls parents? what the fuck are they doing letting her hang out with an old man? don't they know what old men are capable of? And these governments with thier age of whatever laws, why don't they enforce them properly ? Let these underage kids know that anyone having sex with them has just bought a death sentence? simple, make all this punishable by death immediately and no more problems like that....................
And then time wouldn't be wasted with the righteous indignation that way too many people have time for.

Bah

[Amelia G]

Keep in mind that his wife and unborn baby were murdered by the Manson family not too long before this incident. And he had a really fucked up childhood. So was not an emotionally healthy human being at the time of the incident. It's just kind of lame that he ran away. It was obvious that he did do the crime. It wasn't forced in the violent sense. But he did choose to give an underage girl drugs and booze, and then have sex with her when she didn't really want to. So suck it up and do the time. Don't run away. You broke a law. And it wasn't like he was being sentenced to 20 years in prison or something. He was getting a very minimal sentence. It just makes me think he's kind of a pussy for being unwilling to come back to the states and clear the issue up.

The man did 42 days and couldn't stand the idea the judge might make him do another 48.

I do think it makes sense to consider how many forty somethings anally **** junior high school kids without having also had hard lives themselves.

It honestly strikes me that Roman Polanski was going to get just a slap on the wrist for a pretty serious acquaintance assault because people felt sorry for him for having had bad things happen to him and maybe enjoyed his work. It seems like he might have gotten at least a few of his awards for the same reason because it seems peculiar that Americans go on and on about his greatness as a filmmaker without being able to name ten things he has done.

[Amelia G]

over the years I've been developing some very extreme views about people under the age of eighteen having sex..................ah fuk it, the worlds a fucked up place, what's with the girls parents? what the fuck are they doing letting her hang out with an old man? don't they know what old men are capable of? And these governments with thier age of whatever laws, why don't they enforce them properly ? Let these underage kids know that anyone having sex with them has just bought a death sentence? simple, make all this punishable by death immediately and no more problems like that....................
And then time wouldn't be wasted with the righteous indignation that way too many people have time for.

Bah

I actually find it really surreal that there is so little righteous indignation in this case, when what was done to the girl is significantly more awful than other cases people are up in arms about.

[Amelia G]

The girl says it was not forcible at all.
She just didn't really want to do it, but went along with it.
But even so, he still should have stood up for his crime,
whatever that crime was. If you want to just call it "sex"
with a minor, then face up to that. It's still not considered ok.
It's still breaking the law. So face your crime, and face your punishment.
If he thinks it's ok, or not a big deal, then get up and say so.
I don't have much respect for pussies that won't stand up for
what they believe in. People who run are hard to respect.
You did the crime. So face up to the punishment.
He had a choice. He didn't have to do it. But he did.
So suck it up and face the music.

Read the grand jury transcript of what the girl said happened at the time.

[Amelia G]

Not very much. Out of that list - hanging out alone with a 13 year old, sharing drink and drugs and presumably forcing her into sex - only the 'forcing' bit rings wrong to me; and I've grown very cynical about people's ability or even willingness to distinguish between actual r4pe and its statutory would-be variant.

When that sort of thing enters the picture, you can't believe anything that gets reported on the issue. Facts will get bent, broken and ground into a fine powder, the better to froth when mixed with saliva and pronounced again. Only two people that could tell you something worth hearing are Polanski and the girl - the former nobody will believe, and the latter will have been isolated and 'counseled' into her victims' position well before anybody hears from her.

There's just no useful opinion to be had, so I'll stick with mocking the inevitable angry-mob type posters trying to outdo each other condemning the guy to ever-more destructive punishment.

Read the grand jury transcript of what the girl said happened at the time.

It is actually odd that the usual cookie cutter angry mob has a totally opposite-land opinion on this case. Usually they'd be mad as hell at the little girl abuser and this time they are all for the poor guy who suffered through decades of comfort in France.

[TheDeathKnight]

Yeah, there are tons of other actors and celebrities asking the DA to drop the charges. I may not think it's that huge of a crime, but it was a crime then, and it's a crime now, and just because you are a good movie director, does not mean you get to do whatever you want.

And as far as his work, Chinatown is a really good movie, and Rosemary's Baby
was pretty intense for the time. The Pianist was also pretty good in it's own way.
But just because people are celebrities, doesn't mean they can get away with
doing whatever they want with 13 year old girls...

And when you mention the parents, it's no different than the thing with Michael Jackson.
People knew he was sleeping in bed with young kids, and people knew about the
previous molestation charges, and yet people still let their kids stay with him.
Why? Because the parents think that somehow they will get something out of it.
I am sure this girl's parents said ok to her going to do the photo shoot with Polanski,
because they figured he was a big movie director, and might make their
daughter into some big star. Which also puts a certain amount of pressure
on the kid, to do what he says, so she can be famous, or whatever...

[Amelia G]

...
And when you mention the parents, it's no different than the thing with Michael Jackson.
People knew he was sleeping in bed with young kids, and people knew about the
previous molestation charges, and yet people still let their kids stay with him.
Why? Because the parents think that somehow they will get something out of it.
I am sure this girl's parents said ok to her going to do the photo shoot with Polanski,
because they figured he was a big movie director, and might make their
daughter into some big star. Which also puts a certain amount of pressure
on the kid, to do what he says, so she can be famous, or whatever...

True that.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

I've seen Roman in many a interview over the years. I say give him the max sentence just for being the little cocky fuck he is. I honestly never liked any of his flicks. "Tess"? Come on.

[Raza]

Read the grand jury transcript of what the girl said happened at the time.

It is actually odd that the usual cookie cutter angry mob has a totally opposite-land opinion on this case. Usually they'd be mad as hell at the little girl abuser and this time they are all for the poor guy who suffered through decades of comfort in France.

Maaaan that interviewer is tiresome at 4 am. I think I made it to the good part though; 'performing cuddliness', that's adorable.

That said, if things happened like they're told there I'll agree that it was ****. Still, you have to wonder what the worse experience is; the actual drug-hazy events or being made to recount them sober in front of a court in nauseating repetitive detail. Girl seems take both fairly well.

[Mr Karl]

I actually find it really surreal that there is so little righteous indignation in this case, when what was done to the girl is significantly more awful than other cases people are up in arms about.

democracy is a strange thing

[Amelia G]

Maaaan that interviewer is tiresome at 4 am. I think I made it to the good part though; 'performing cuddliness', that's adorable.

That said, if things happened like they're told there I'll agree that it was ****. Still, you have to wonder what the worse experience is; the actual drug-hazy events or being made to recount them sober in front of a court in nauseating repetitive detail. Girl seems take both fairly well.

Yes, I think Roman Polanski's unwillingness to do 48 days of penance meaning that the whole thing got dragged out an extra thirty years has to be extremely rough on the victim.

[Amelia G]

democracy is a strange thing

Don't ya sometimes get the sense that some people just play musical chairs and repeat whatever opinion comes with the chair they are sitting on when the music stops? It seems so random and inconsistent.

[grebo]

people hounded micheal jackson with less evidence, this guy admits to it and people still love him

he drugged and anally ***** a child
he deserves to go to jail
i hope he gets to feel what anal **** feels like while in jail

[Buster Friendly]

Yes, I think Roman Polanski's unwillingness to do 48 days of penance meaning that the whole thing got dragged out an extra thirty years has to be extremely rough on the victim.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm bothering to respond to this Amelia, since you seem to have made up your mind about all of this, and what is, and isn't true here. Which I suppose, begs the question of why you bothered to ask us our opinions in the first place, but whatever...

In the first place Polanski DID NOT plead guilty to ****, using drugs, or otherwise. He plead guilty to "unlawful sex with a minor", a minor quibble to folks who've already made up their minds about these things, but we live in a nation of laws, so it does make a difference.

Moving on, possibly it wasn't the prospect of serving another 48 days in psychiatric observation that motivated Polanski so much as the fact that the judge who was apparently grandstanding with this trial might have reneged on his plea bargian agreement with Polanski to drum up more headlines for himself, and possibly was looking to throw the book at Polanski. Which just isn't a smart way to run a court, in my humble fucking opinion.

There's been a documentry "Roman Polanski:Wanted, and Desired" that gets into all of this. But it probably wouldn't interest you, since you already know what happened, have all the facts, and the keen legal mind to know just exactly what all of this means.

here's a useless link about all of this: http://gawker.com/5369388/roman-pola...yline=true&s=x

Now then, I haven't got much of an opinion on all of this- Let the legal system handle it. If there was a plea bargain, honor it. If there are other issues, let the lawyers work them out. The man plead guilty to "unlawful sex with a minor", so what's the law around that? I myself lack all of the facts of the case, and further lack the interest in learning them all, so I do not possess absolute knowledge of this situation, or the motivations of the people involved. Does the fact that the victim doesn't want Polanski to be "punished any more than he already has" have any bearing on any of this? Not for me, victims aren't the only ones affected by crimes. Let the legal system handle it.

Repulsion, and Pirates are excellent movies. So what?

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

I loved Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby and the Ninth Gate. Often I feel that the cast was as responsible for that as the director.

Roman Polanski was accused of a horrible crime. He plead guilty to a much less horrible crime. He was cooperative until it sounded like the terms of his deal were going to change. since the accusation, people were wildly polarized on Polanski. With little or no evidence or knowledge of what happened people have decided the man should either be let off scott free because he had a rough time before hand and then was force to live in Europe. Others want to see him hung from the highest tree they can find. There is very little middle ground.

Truth be told, I think he should be punished, but I don't get the massive enthusiasm for it. The victim does not want him punished and it is pretty clear he is not a threat to society. i don't think they should lift the arrest warrants, but spending a lot of time, money and energy on this when California does not have a lot of resources to go around seems a little... insincere. An extradition is not cheap and, while i don't believe we should put a price on justice we have plenty of fresh ***** for the state courts to look at. It seems like an incredibly wasteful use of resources. i don't think justice is being served, I think vengeance is.

But I kind of feel the same way about his defense. A lot of people are spending a lot of time and energy to defend a man who has the resources to defend himself and do a damn good job of it.

Hey, wasn't there a health care bill in the works?

[Raza]

Yes, I think Roman Polanski's unwillingness to do 48 days of penance meaning that the whole thing got dragged out an extra thirty years has to be extremely rough on the victim.

Whatever pain this causes for the girl is the legal system's fault. You can't ask somebody to accept a little suffering so you won't inflict the greater on a third party, and then blame them for what you're doing if they won't. You shoot a hostage, that's your murder, not that of whomever failed to meet your demands.

The law holds everybody hostage at all times, giving their reactions a feeling of inevitability and making it more tempting to blame the individual who brings them down on everyone instead - but that's psychology, not ethics.

[nathanmbailey]

What's the statue of limitations on "unlawful sex with a minor?" Not that it matters. Most of his movies suck, but that's my opinion. Really, the actors made them better than his directing.

Anyway, since when was it so terrible to live in Europe? Hell, I've been begging the Army to send me to Germany for 4 years now! My biggest problem with the whole thing right now is that they're talking about him not serving his time and what they should do about that. Nothing I've read has said anything about punishing him for fleeing. Isn't there some sort of law about fleeing the country while on bail or bond or whatever he would have been on at the time? Sure, let him serve the remaining 48 days (which is nothing, I've done nearly half myself) then slam his ass for evasion. All he's doing now is showing criminals/fugitives how to beat the system.

[Velvet-Tongue]

Guy gave the girl drugs, got her drunk, tricked her into photos so he could get her naked..then had sex with her while she said No.

He goes on the lamb for 30+ years and is captured. yeah 30 years or not he still has a sentence to carry out. Enjoy the cell.

[inox]

over the years I've been developing some very extreme views about people under the age of eighteen having sex..................ah fuk it, the worlds a fucked up place, what's with the girls parents? what the fuck are they doing letting her hang out with an old man? don't they know what old men are capable of? And these governments with thier age of whatever laws, why don't they enforce them properly ? Let these underage kids know that anyone having sex with them has just bought a death sentence? simple, make all this punishable by death immediately and no more problems like that....................

...and what is the magical age where the death penalty comes into play? 13? 14? 15? 16? 17?

[macslut]

In the first place Polanski DID NOT plead guilty to ****, using drugs, or otherwise. He plead guilty to "unlawful sex with a minor", a minor quibble to folks who've already made up their minds about these things, but we live in a nation of laws, so it does make a difference.

True, but after watching the documentary, I don't see how anyone could believe he wasn't actually guilty on all charges. Not only that, but the maximum sentencing for the crime he did plead guilty to was 50 years in prison.

Moving on, possibly it wasn't the prospect of serving another 48 days in psychiatric observation that motivated Polanski so much as the fact that the judge who was apparently grandstanding with this trial might have reneged on his plea bargian agreement with Polanski to drum up more headlines for himself, and possibly was looking to throw the book at Polanski. Which just isn't a smart way to run a court, in my humble fucking opinion.

I think you missing some critical points of the documentary and understanding of how the law works.

Judges aren't a part of a plea bargain agreement. A prosecutor can arrange a plea bargain agreement which usually involves pleading guilty for one charge and having the prosecutor dismiss the other charges. The prosecutor can recommend a sentence, but can't promise a sentence. What happened in this case is that Polanski plead guilty to the lowest charge in exchange for the higher 5 charges to be dismissed. Had it not been someone with lots of money, and had the victim not been concerned with a full trial, this agreement would've *never* been made. Of course from the victim's perspective, the deal didn't work out because the French media leaked her name and she was harassed anyway.

The judge was then put in a really bad situation. The evidence that Polanski was guilty on all charges was incontrovertible, however he knew (as warned by Polanski's attorney) that any prison sentence would be appealed and Polanski could afford to appeal all the way to the SCOTUS.

So the judge, who could've sentenced Polanski to 50 years in prison, instead met with both lawyers and made an agreement that he would send Polanski to 90 days in a psychiatric evaluation center (which is like jail), provided both sides acted their roles in court, acted surprised at the ruling and then didn't fight it. The judge also agreed to let Polanski delay going for a year (in 90 day asked-for increments). Being sent to the evaluation center wasn't a sentencing, that would come later, but the judge said that upon completion, he wouldn't sentence Polanski to anything above probation.

To be clear here, it wasn't the plea agreement that was reneged on. It was the this BS out-of-court sentencing agreement.

And it should be noted that the judge expected 90 days in the evaluation center, and not the 42 days. The judge also expected Polanski to actually be working in France during the deferment, but instead was photographed at Oktoberfest in Germany surrounded by young girls.

What's the statue of limitations on "unlawful sex with a minor?"

That doesn't apply here. He's not facing a trial on this. He already plead guilty, and his plea was accepted. It's now a matter of sentencing, which was never given. If you escape/flee between being found guilty and sentencing (really the worst time), you will always face sentencing regardless of when you're caught...

Personally, I would sentence him to 50 years in prison minus the 42 days already served at the the evaluation center.

[Mr Karl]

...and what is the magical age where the death penalty comes into play? 13? 14? 15? 16? 17?

same age as drinking and voting...........keep it simple

[Raza]

Lol @ 'after watching the documentary'.

[Buster Friendly]

I think you missing some critical points of ...
.

I think you're missing the critical points of why we give a shit about anything you have to say with only one post, and no introduction thread, oh great and mighty sockpuppet.

If your thoughts on this subject are that gosh darn important that I should actually read them, then maybe you should become an actual part of this community, and participate here beyond randomly responding at length, and in detail to someone who couldn't care less about what you have to say.

[TheDeathKnight]

Better some kind of response rather than the response of crickets...

[nathanmbailey]

I prefer crickets actually.

[Raza]

I think you're missing the critical points of why we give a shit about anything you have to say with only one post, and no introduction thread, oh great and mighty sockpuppet.

If your thoughts on this subject are that gosh darn important that I should actually read them, then maybe you should become an actual part of this community, and participate here beyond randomly responding at length, and in detail to someone who couldn't care less about what you have to say.

Aww, c'mon. That hasn't really got shit to do with anything. I've never bothered picking up my Community Membership Card, either.

It's the internet. You discuss stuff here to get your thoughts lined up right, or for the fun of evangelizing your beliefs, or just to hear the sound of your own e-voice. You don't do it because your audience and their opinions are personally important to you.

[Buster Friendly]

Aww, c'mon. That hasn't really got shit to do with anything. I've never bothered picking up my Community Membership Card, either.

It's the internet. You discuss stuff here to get your thoughts lined up right, or for the fun of evangelizing your beliefs, or just to hear the sound of your own e-voice. You don't do it because your audience and their opinions are personally important to you.

Yes, but why dignify someone who specifically created an account to post a long winded refutation of an admittedly half assed opinion, with anything other than summary dismissal?

I'm not really stretched that folk's opinions differ from mine, it's the dead certainty with which they proclaim their wholly subjective pronouncements, and their binary TRUE/FALSE mentality that I find tiresome.

...and besides Raza, if you'd showed up here, and your first post and only post was bickering with someone, I would have told you to go blow a goat.

And hey! Raza, why don't you go blow a goat? You look like you could use the protein.

[Amelia G]

#1 I wouldn't have asked everyone's opinion if I were the leading Roman Polanski Young Girls Problem expert in the world.

#2 It is nice if folks post an introductory thread at some point early on to introduce themselves. But there is no rule saying someone's very first post can't be whatever the heck they want it to be.

#3 There are many people who have been reading Blue Blood's content for nearly two decades now, but who are not particularly into forums in specific. Not that post count and registration date are not in some ways indicative, but someone with a low post count or a recent reg date could also have something useful to say.

#4 New people join all the time. This is an opportunity to get to know new people, and enjoy more varied perspectives, not a good time to put one's post count dick on the table.

[Raza]

Yes, but why dignify someone who specifically created an account to post a long winded refutation of an admittedly half assed opinion, with anything other than summary dismissal?

I'm not really stretched that folk's opinions differ from mine, it's the dead certainty with which they proclaim their wholly subjective pronouncements, and their binary TRUE/FALSE mentality that I find tiresome.

...and besides Raza, if you'd showed up here, and your first post and only post was bickering with someone, I would have told you to go blow a goat.

And hey! Raza, why don't you go blow a goat? You look like you could use the protein.

I'm pretty sure I spend my first six or so posts here arguing with Morning Glory over the morality of enjoying a swim while there's gypsy corpses on the beach, or something. *shrug*

So you definitely took your time for that one.