I am appalled, really upset.
It's a given that I'd be upset and outraged that a man in his 40's plied a child of 13 with booze and drugs and then raped her, vaginally and anally.
What has really got to me is those people who are calling for him to be freed, who are making light of his crime, some of them don't even think what he did was 'rape. I am very sad that Whoopee Goldberg is one of them. I am stunned she would think such a thing, let a lone say it. She has a daughter!!!! What if Polanski had done that to her child when she was 13?
From court testimony it is clear the child was not a willing party to this crime. even if she were it was still CHILD ABUSE.
For f*ck's sake, why oh why do people still not get this? What part of an adult man having sex with a 13 year old could possibly be okay? Do these people have low IQ's? If only one could blame lack of intelligence. They clearly are not lacking mental capacity.
They do seem to be lacking in compassion and understanding. They seem unable to see children for what they are - children who are DEPENDENT upon adults to protect them. Some of these Polanski supporters have children. How dreadful that their own children now know that their own parents don't think children who are abused are innocent. God help any of them should they have suffered abuse in the past or the future. They cannot rely on their own parents to believe them or not to blame them.
Some of these people are people whose work I have enjoyed. I will never be able to see them again without knowing what they have done. I feel betrayed. They certainly have betrayed that child, now a woman, and their own and every other child.
I am so shocked by this I can scarcely believe this has happened.
I am so shocked by this I can scarcely believe this has happened.
No this is not about revenge. It is about POLANSKI being held accountable for what he did. It is about saying to that child, to all children and to all adults that what he did was WRONG. There are no excuses. It was wrong.
The fact he is a Holocaust survivor and that his poor wife was murdered so horrifically does not mean that he did not commit an evil CRIME and that we should not hold him accountable for it.
I do not advocate locking him up and throwing away the key. i advocate only that he be made accountable, that he be made to see that what he did was WRONG and for him to admit this, sincerely, in public. He also needs to apologise unreservedly to the 13 year old child that still exists inside the 39 year old woman. Despite the the compassion that 39 year old woman has shown Polanksi, the 13 year old still is owed this.
The fact he is a Holocaust survivor and that his poor wife was murdered so horrifically does not mean that he did not commit an evil CRIME and that we should not hold him accountable for it.
I do not advocate locking him up and throwing away the key. i advocate only that he be made accountable, that he be made to see that what he did was WRONG and for him to admit this, sincerely, in public. He also needs to apologise unreservedly to the 13 year old child that still exists inside the 39 year old woman. Despite the the compassion that 39 year old woman has shown Polanksi, the 13 year old still is owed this.
I am sickened by what he did and I am sickened by those who have sought to excuse him. I am almsot more angry at them than I am at him.
As I have said many times before child abuse would not happen without the consent of others. This clearly shows this to be so.
11 comments:
Dirty old men abound. I suspect there is a fair number of dirty old women, too, but we hear less about it for a variety of reasons. For European, American culture, it's a terrible thing, in my opinion. For cultures in which sexuality is viewed differently, I'm less sure.
I wish I knew whether celebrity breeds more of this sort of thing or if we just hear about it more.
I look at Polanski and see, and have always seen, a small man who happened to have creativity and a good eye and who was, like so many small men (not just in height), in need of bolstering himself at the expense of others.
People like Polanski, whether they be celebrity, or not, should be handed over to the parents of the children they have molested and let them do whatever they will. I'll bet the punishment would fit the crime and they would never, ever be able to commit these crimes again. The best punishment ever would be to find a way to make these fools curl up in little balls in their rooms and constantly look over their shoulders every time they ventured out. Oh, and let's make sure they feel physical pain at least equal to that which they inflicted on their victims.
On this, I am totally ruthless.
Last night at Knit Nite we were discussing the same thing. My stepdaughter will be 13 in December and if anyone did those things to her I would FREAK OUT so why don't people freak out when it's someone else's daughter.
The things he did were a crime and he should pay and personally I am not against castration for pedophiles. It makes me furious!
I am baffled by the support he has received. He pled guilty and then fled the country to avoid being held accountable. The fact that he has lived without facing justice for 20-odd years should not excuse his crime. I'm also not saying lock him up and throw away the key, but he should face the music for both the original crime and for his evasion of justice for more than two decades. If he weren't famous and wealthy, I am quite sure no one would be rushing to his defense.
You are not alone, you are in the majority. Hollywood always circles their own, no matter what the crime and that makes way better press than anything else. I would be willing to bet that the majority of all people think exactly what you have said, they are just the silent majority because that doesn't sell papers and make ratings. I think the president of Polanski's fan club is Woody Allen.
Thank goodness the Swiss decided it would be a bad move to let him out on bail.
The stupid part of the entire thing is if he had not fled, and served his time back then, he would have been better off from a sentence standpoint. He has served more time in a Swiss jail than he would have served in a sentence in the US back when it happened.
In a way I am glad this is all happening, because they CERTAINLY aren't going to give him a pass now. I hope he rots in prison and someone sodomizes him like he did that poor young child.
Every person I talk to has agreed with what you are saying....so where exactly are those that feel he should be let free? I'm tellin ya, it is only the Hollywood types, and even some of them are now sulking away, now that they know the details/facts.
Hear hear Colin, well said.
Very eloquently put, Colin. It appears that the 13-year old's stage mother pretty well threw her child to the wolves but that doesn't excuse Polanski who took full advantage. And Whoopie should know better than to align herself with the "no really means yes" contingent. Hollywood types, like many of our politicians, believe there is one one rule for themselves and one for everyone else.
I have sympathy for the victim wishing for it all to go away. Having been in a similar position, I understand her. However, for every rapist/child abuser who is allowed to go without consequences, it sends a message that their actions are not the hideous deeds that they are. There is absolutely no excuse for his behavior and the fact that he has dodged punishment for over 25 years does not entitle him to a free pass.
Grrrrrrrr.
I often read your blog, this however, is the first time I have felt so strongly at the first reading of your post. You said it perfectly. Nothing more to add. Thank you for stating your opinion so clearly and passionatly. Others are blessed by it.
Sue
Thanks for saying all that. It needs to be said every time such atrocities happen.
BraVO Colin! AbsofuckinLUTEly!!!!!!
Indigo incarnates
it really does seem sometimes that celebrities and professional athelites are held to a radically different standard than ordinary citizens. It should not be that way, but it seems to often work out that way.
As an abuse survivor myself, I can say firsthand that the rage and shame of being violated never goes away. :(
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