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2009
Soap Box Archives
Fall of the Roman If you ever needed a reminder how out of touch the Hollywood crowd is with the values of the rest of the country, one has only to look at the number of far left liberals from the movie industry who have signed a petition demanding the release of director Roman Polanski after his arrest in Switzerland this week. Polanski has eluded U.S. authorities for over 30 years for raping a 13-year old girl, but for some reason, he has a lot of supporters in the film community. To quote Dennis Miller, "It's the few rotten million who spoil it for the other eleven." Miller was speaking of Islamic fanatics, but the same principle applies here. How such esteemed Hollywood names as Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Debra Winger, Michael Mann, John Landis, Harvey Weinstein, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Demme, and over 130 others in the film community have either signed a petition or been vocal about releasing Polanski. Woody Allen also signed the petition, which comes to the shock of… well, no one. In fairness, many of these signatures are members of the foreign film community, and not merely those in Hollywood, however it is still mindboggling to see how many people in the entertainment industry have put their names on the line to support a pedophile. Joy Behar pointed out that if this had been a plumber who raped a 13-year-old girl, no one would be coming to his defense. Whoopi Goldberg, who despite her political leanings seemed way more levelheaded than the nutcase she replaced, until she said that what Polanski did wasn't "rape-rape." You know things are bad when Joy Behar is the voice of reason on The View. So Whoopi… What should we call it when a 44-year-old man gives alcohol and Quaaludes to a 13-year-old girl, has intercourse with her and then sodomizes her so that she doesn't get pregnant? Should we call it "rape-lite?" "Mini-rape?" It was rape, and it turns the stomach. Just because Polanski plead guilty to a lesser charge doesn't change what it was. To hear some of Polanski's supporters, you would think he had suffered enough over the last 30 years by not being able to work in Hollywood. How many child rapists in prison have Oscars? Anyone? The victim, Samantha Gelmer, forgave Polanski, which is her right, and God bless her for it. But he still needs to be punished for his crimes, which also include fleeing authorities for over 30 years. The real crime is that Polanski's peers continued to embrace him for 30 years while he was a fugitive, and even gave him an Oscar. Not all on the left have completely lost their minds. Kirstie Alley, singer Jewel and Democratic strategist Susan Estrich are among the few that have been vocal in denouncing Polanski after his arrest in Switzerland. Good job, ladies! Glad that there is some semblance of reason on the left. What is more disturbing is the number of voices in the entertainment industry who are silent on the issue. Is it because they have no opinion, or because they are afraid to put their careers on the line like those who have signed the petition? Or is it merely self-preservation; preferring not to risk going against the grain and possibly not being cast in the next big blockbuster? Either way, it is yet another reason that I continue to be disgusted by Hollywood. I haven't seen a Polanski film since I was a child myself. I remember seeing Chinatown on TV when I was younger, but I have had no desire to see any of his work in the last 30 years. How ANY sane person can think that because of the time that has passed, or because he's such a great director that the charges against Roman Polanski should be dropped is beyond me, but when it comes to Hollywood liberal elites, "sane" rarely belongs in the same sentence with them.
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