Roman Polanski: Film Director, Producer, Writer, Actor, Pedophile

"Startled, aghast, incredulous, not surprised," was the short answer a spokesperson for the national child advocacy group Child AbuseWatch (www.abusewatch.net) gave to a request for comment today when asked for a reaction to Hollywood's outpouring of support for Roman Polanski.

Heather Steele, CEO of California based Innocent Justice Foundation (www.innocentjustice.org) in a related interview had this to say about the media's handling of the case: "The press constantly speaks of Polanski "having sex" with a 13-year-old girl. Since she could not consent, and she told Polanski repeatedly "no" as she was vaginally raped and sodomized, I wonder how this can be classified as "having sex" and not rape. If I, as an adult, told a man "no", I didn't want sex, and he sodomized me, would the press characterize it as sex, or rape? I'm betting it would be called rape because I am an adult, but the press calls it "sex" for a child."

The argument frothing from the lips of celebrities is that Polanski is deserving of a reprieve because of the length of time since his crime, his exile in France, and the fact that his victim has forgiven him. Add to that the contributions he's made to art and Hollywood could but conclude that they are right in their passionate demand for his freedom. Hollywood is a predictably narcissistic place which sees itself as apart from the rest of the world and forgives its own for many crimes; pedophilia and skipping justice, it would seem, included.

(Pause for moment of bewildered silence)

The 100 or so signatories of the petition (see below) to support Polanski have demonstrated that they are completely and totally out of touch with reality. I'll give you four convincing reasons why: Assault (1), Rape (2), Sodomy (3); of a Child (4).

It takes a person of a certain character to rape a child - not your average Joe. It is a criminal mind that has no qualms about preying on the young, the innocent, and the vulnerable. Polanski gave no thought or care to the consequences.

This was no grope in the passenger seat of his car. He took his time, time enough to assault her orally, have intercourse with her and then sodomize her. The assault, according to the victim's testimony, was interrupted by someone at his door, an interruption he dealt with and then resumed his rape.

I'd add a few more words here; cold, deliberate, sociopath. And - of course - pedophile.

After the assault Polanski pled guilty to it as part of a plea bargain and ran to France prior to sentencing. Had he endured any remorse, any need for forgiveness, any twang of conscience, any need to repay his debt, all he had to do was walk through the U.S. embassy doors in Paris and surrender. He chose not to everyday for 32 years.

Let me say one word to the Polanski's apologists; 'shame." Shame on you and on the egocentric mentality that thinks that anything, any standing, any career, any contribution no matter how noble, can get you a free pass to the crime of child rape.

It can't; it won't, and it never will.

Reference

Here are the signatories to the petition demanding Polanski's release:Erika Abrams, Fatih Akin, Yves Alberty, Stephane Allagnon, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Gianni Amelio, Wess Anderson, Michel Andrieu, Roger Andrieux, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Frédéric Aranzueque-Arrieta, Alexandre Arcady, Fanny Ardant, Asia Argento, Marie-Hélène Arnau, Darren Aronofsky, Olivier Assayas, Alexander Astruc, Gabriel Auer, Zdzicho Augustyniak, Alexandre Babel, Fausto Nicolás Balbi, Eleonor Baldwin, Jean-François Balmer, Alberto Barbera Museo nazionale de Torino, Luc Barnier, Christophe Barratier, Carmen Bartl, Pascal Batigne, Anne Baudry, Juan Antonio Bayona, Xavier Beauvois, Liria Begeja, Gilles Behat, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Marco Bellochio, Yannick Bellon, Monica Bellucci, Véra Belmont, Jean-Marc Benguigui, Djamel Bennecib, Luc Béraud, Jacob Berger, Alain Berliner, Gael Garcia Bernal, Pascal Berney, Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuseppe Bertolucci, Marlène Bisson, Arnstein Bjørkly, Lucien Blacher, Catherine Boissière, Olivier Bonnet, Thierry Boscheron, Freddy Bossy, Patrick Bouchitey, Cédric Bouchoucha, Paul Boujenah, Frédéric Bourboulon, Katia Boutin (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Jacques Bral, Sophie Bramly, Paulo Branco, Patrick Braoudé, Guila Braoudé, Isabelle Broué, Merima Bruncevic, Anne Burki, André Buytaers, Anthony Byrne, Marco Cacioppo, Gerald Calderon, Monica Cannizzaro, Christian Carion, Henning Carlsen, Jean-Michel Carré, Lionel Cassan (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Mathieu Celary, Teco Celio, Muriel Cerf, Chagi, Daniel Champagnon, Christophe Champclaux, Fabienne Chauveau, Claire Chazal, Patrice Chéreau, Brigitte Chesneau, Mishka Cheyko, Catherine Chiono, Catherine Chouchan, Elie Chouraqui, Souleymane Cissé, Jean-Pierre Clech, Henri Codenie, Ethan Coen, Robert Cohen, Jean-Paul Commin, Anne Consigny, Alain Cophignon, Alain Corneau, Jérôme Cornuau, Guy Courtecuisse (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Miguel Courtois, Guillaume Cousin, Morgan Crestel, Dominique Crevecoeur, Penelope Cruz, Alfonso Cuaron, Estelle Cywje, Frédéric Damien, Sophie Danon, Olivier Dard, Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Hervé de Luze (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Valérie de Saint-Do, Guillermo del Toro, Benoît Delmas, Jonathan Demme, Ruud den Dryver, Dante Desarthe, Romain Desbiens, Thomas Desjonquères (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Alexandre Desplat, Chris Devi, Rosalinde et Michel Deville, Guillaume D'Ham (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Christelle Didier (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Kathrin DiPaola, Claire Dixsaut, Ariel Dorfman, Jean Douchet, Fabrice du Welz, Marina Duarte Nunes Ferreira, Georges Dybman, Daniel Edinger, Elrem, Sam Enoch, Ernest, Jacques Fansten, Joël Farges, Gianluca Farinelli (Cinémathèque de de Bologne), Etienne Faure, Michel Ferry, Jean Teddy Filippe (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Aurélie Fiorentino, Alan Fischer, Martine Fitoussi, Sebastian Fleischhacker, Joy Fleury, Scott Foundas, Werner Fraai, Stephen Frears, Thierry Frémaux, Marc Freycon, Sam Gabarski, René Gainville, Matteo Garone, Yves Gasser, Tony Gatlif, Catherine Gaudin-Montalto, Jean-Marc Gauthier, Costa Gavras, Nathalie Geiser, Lizi Gelber, Isabelle Gély, Jean-Marc Ghanassia, Alain Gil, Véronique Gillet, Terry Gilliam, Christian Gion, François Girault, Stéphane Gizard, Carlos Miguel Bernardo González, Christophe Goumand, Eric Gravereau, Philippe Gruss, Marc Guidoni, Mikael Håfström, Ronald Harwood, Dimitri Haulet, Buck Henry, David Heyman, Laurent Heynemann, Dominique Hollier, Isabelle Hontebeyrie, Frédéric Horiszny, Robert Hossein, Jean-Loup Hubert, Wendy Hudson Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gilles Jacob, Eric et Veronique et Nicolas Jacquelin, Just Jaeckin, Thomas Jahn, Olivia Janik, Jean-Baptiste Jay, Anne Jeandet, Alain Jessua, Sébastien Jimenez, Arthur Joffé, Pierre Jolivet, Kent Jones (World Cinema Foundation), Alexandra Julen, Paola Jullian, Roger Kahane, Pierre Kalfon, Reena Kanji, Nelly Kaplan, Wong Kar Waï, Darius Khondji, Ladislas Kijno, Richard Klebinder, Jonathan Klein, Harmony Korinne, Jan Kounen, Sylvia Kristel, Diane Kurys, Emir Kusturica, Jean Labadie, Eliane Lacroux, Michel Laigle, Stéphane Lam, John Landis, Claude Lanzmann, David Lanzmann, André Larquié, Pauline Larrieu, Jacques et Françoise Lassalle, Carole Laure, Christine Laurent-Blixen, Emilien Lazaron (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Eric Le Roy, Fábio Leal, Vinciane Lecocq, Patrice Leconte, Linda Lefebvre, Claude Lelouch, Alain Lenglet, Gérard Lenne, Larry Levine, Lorraine Lévy, Pierre et Renée Lhomme, Marceline Loridan-Ivens, catalina Lozano, Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski, Laurence Lustyk, David Lynch, Bania Madjbar, Laurent Malet, Tim Malieckal, Guy Malugani, Michael Mann, Yvon Marciano, François Margolin, Jean-Pierre Marois, Tonie Marshall, Alain Martin, Sandrine Martin, Didier Martiny, Mario Martone, Christine Mathis, Esmeralda Mattei, Nicolas Mauvernay, Yannick Mazet, Christopher, Spencer et Claire Mc Andrew, Guillermo Menaldi, Frédéric Mermoud, Allison Michel, Radu Mihaileanu, Jean-Louis Milesi, Claude Miller, Lionel Miniato, Nelly Moaligou, Jean-Marc Modeste, Mario Monicelli, Jeanne Moreau, Gael Morel, Omayra Muñiz Fernández, Stephanie Murat, Christian Mvogo Mbarga, Anna N.Levine, Charles Nemes, Juliette Nicolas-Donnard, Sandra Nicolier, Rachel Noël, Rui Nogueira, Olivier Nolin, Michel Ocelot, David Ogando, Mariana Oliveira Santos, Szentgyörgyi Ottó, Martine Pagès, Eric Pape, Abner Pastoll, Alexander Payne, Richard Pena (Directeur Festival de NY), Olivier Père, Suzana Peric (Membre de l'équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski "The Ghost"), Jacques Perrin, Thomas Pibarot, Arnaud Pierrichon, Stéphane Pietri, Anne Pigeon Bormans, Claude Pinoteau, Michele Placido, Sabrina Poidevin, Agnès Catherine Poirier, Stéphane Pozderec, Harry Prenger, Gilbert Primet, Marie-Hélène Raby, Philippe Radault, Tristan Rain, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Brett Ratner, Raphael Rebibo, Jo Reymen, Laurence Reymond, Yasmina Reza, Christiane Rhein, Jacques Richard, Dominique Robert, Jean-Jacques Rochut, Yannick Rolandeau, Paul Rondags, Avital Ronell, Graciela Rosato, Kontochristopoulou Roula, Laurence Roulet, Joshua Rout, Florence Rphael, Isabelle Ruh, Martin Ruhe, Sonia Rykiel, Anita S. Chang, Esteban S. Goffin, Marc Saffar, Gabriela Salazar Scherman, Walter Salles, Jean-Paul Salomé, Jean-Frédéric Samie, Marc Sandberg, Léo Scalpel, Jerry Schatzberg, Georg Schmithüsen, Julian Schnabel, Barbet Schroeder, J. Neil Schulman, Pierre Schumacher, Ettore Scola, Luis Gustavo Sconza Zaratin Soares, Martin Scorsese, Andrea Sedlackova, Frank Segier, Guy Seligmann, Lorenzo Semple Jr, Julien Seri, Boris Shlafer, Antoine Silber, Pierre Silvant, Charlotte Silvera, Noel Simsolo, Christophe Sirodeau, Abderrahmane Sissako, Beatrice Sisul Petter Skavlan, Paolo Sorrentino, Roch Stephanik, Karen Stetler, Guillaume Stirn, Jean-Marc Surcin, Tilda Swinton, Jean-Charles Tacchella, Radovan Tadic, Danis Tanovic, Bertrand Tavernier, André Techiné, Cécile Telerman, Harold Alvarado Tenorio, Alain Terzian, Valentine Theret, Virginie Thévenet, Pascal Thomas, Jeremy Thomas, Marc Thomas Charley, Giuseppe Tornatore, Serge Toubiana, Nadine Trintignant, Julie Turcas, Mitja Tušek, Tom Tykwer, Alexandre Tylski, Stephen Ujlaki, Jaques Vallotton, Phil van der Linden, Betrand Van Effenterre, Leopold Van Genechten, Christophe van Rompaey, Dorna van Rouveroy, Vangelis, Christian Verdu, Jean-Pierre Vergne, Sarah Vermande, Marc Villemain, Jean-François Villemer, Daria Vinault, Thomas Vossart, Gilles Walusinski, Eric Watton, Wim Wenders, Anaïse Wittmann, A Wolanin, Arnaud Xainte, Serge Youbiana, Paule Zajdermann, Christian Zeender. [SACD: http://www.sacd.fr/Le-cinema-soutient-Roman-Polanski-Petition-for-Roman-Polanski.1340.0.html]