posted October 01, 2009 07:11 AM         

It's not a vendetta. It's dismay.

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It's the personal vendetta in your tone that i find unpalatable!
The edge of bitterness in your posts which you subconsciously bring into the discussion from your own personal experience, which should be controllable.
Of course I am bitter. Lots of people are. But you see, I don't have a personal experience. I just react as any normal human being with emotions would when it comes to rape and child abuse.

[quote]"douchebag" for example.

How can you can someone, 5 million times more talented than yourself and myself, a douchebag.
So disrespectful and stinks of resentment.

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Remember, success is given to those whom actually do something right so it is kinda hypocritical to label him as you do.

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This highly volatile subject demands objective perspective and rationailty otherwise it's just a personal projection tainting an experience you are not connected to in any way.

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The problem is that your arguments or any other apologist's arguments [he's talented/the time has passed/served his time/the victim "forgave" gim/etc] are irrational themselves.
You're the one who's not objective here, you're presented with evidence but you still stick to foolish excuses.
1]He's a fugitive child rapist. Hr knew the girl was 13.
2]He has had sex with minors in the past - his words.
3]The mother of the victim should have faced the consequences of her ignorant actions too.
4]The case is The State vs. RP, so the victim has no say in this anymore, she's got her verdict.
5]The original judge was a famewh____ for sure.
6]RP has never apologized for his actions nor served time.

It's only natural that people have responded emotionally to this case so far; a kid was involved. A drugged, boozed up KID.
That's what happens when you have a soul and half a brain - or no profit to gain from all this.

posted October 01, 2009 07:57 AM         

WTF? are we looking for some reasons to put everyone in jail or for reason to open the door of the prison?

what do we want?

locking up people? for every mistake? or forgiving those who have faulted?

man, this world seriously stink, and choc, good on you to have so much knowledge about emotions, everyone is different and some have knowledge of mercy.

posted October 01, 2009 08:05 AM         

Yeah, that's it pire.

No. And we will all have our opinions of the situation and how it should be handled.

posted October 01, 2009 08:17 AM         

It would be great if everyone expressed their opinion and that was just that - respected for what it is - a personal opinion. But it never is. Someone always wants to sway another person and the ego fights kick in.

posted October 01, 2009 08:22 AM         

And yes, it is nice to know there is a higher law we live under and answer to. I've been aware of this and think of it in cases like this. Knowing this is what keeps me somewhat sane when hearing about this kind of evil that goes on in the world.

posted October 01, 2009 02:55 PM         

While I was busying myself around the house today, I was thinking about the argument that 'he's old, just leave him alone, he's payed his dues' thing.

There are a lot worse things i can think of than an old man possibly getting thrown in the slammer for a long time for a crime he long ago committed and got away with (and apparently more than once). A lot of worse things than that.

Like rape, for example. Rape of a child.

Think about the unfortunate people that have actually done hard time for crimes they never committed. That has happened many times. This poor old man would be doing time for a crime he actually committed once. How is that wrong? He's lucky he got to live the "good life" for as long as he did. He should be thankful for that.

I dont know....an old man getting locked up for raping a child a long time ago doesnt bother me too much. He probably wont end up doing any real hard time though.

We have laws here on earth and higher laws to abide by. If you have the balls to do the crime, then be prepared to do the time when it comes up to confront you. Because it will.

In the most detached way possible, I just don't feel sorry for the guy and his situation right now. Only sorry that he is a sick individual and has harmed others because of it.

posted October 01, 2009 05:19 PM         

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Does the Brotherhood of Fame Endow You With a Lifetime Exemption From Accountability?

When I saw the petition protesting the recent arrest of Roman Polanski in Switzerland was signed by some of my most cherished artists -- the likes of Pedro Almodovar, Ariel Dorfman, Costa Gavras, Jonathan Demme, Sam Mendes -- men who I believed to be champions of women's and human rights, frankly, I was shocked. It made it distressingly clear to me that all our years of work have not yet penetrated or changed the culture so that it understands that rape is a legal crime and a crime against the soul. As a survivor, I can attest to the fact that rape forever changes your life, robbing you of dignity, self-worth, agency over your body, and comfortability with intimacy and trust, while also escalating a pervasive sense of isolation and shame.

After 11 years of traveling the world and meeting with rape survivors across the planet I can say that the long-term consequences are multiple and far-reaching, ranging from homelessness, drug abuse, and eating disorders, to imprisonment, suicide, and early death.

The petition defending Polanski doesn't even address his crime. Instead, it calls it a "case of morals." That expression -- a "case of morals" -- takes the anti-violence movement back about a hundred years. Rape is not a question of morals. In fact it's not even a question.

Let's review the facts:

1. A 13-year-old girl is lured to a house by promise of a job by a famous and powerful director.

2. She finds herself in a hot tub.

3. She has an asthma attack.

4. The director says he will help relieve her asthma attack and offers her (unbeknownst to her) half a Quaalude as a remedy.

5. Once the Quaalude takes effect and the girl is sufficiently pliant, he rapes and sodomizes her without consent.

6. When charges are pressed, the director later pleads guilty to "engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor."

7. After spending 42 days in prison, the director flees the United States to avoid the threat of further imprisonment.

What about this clear-cut case isn't criminal? Does Roman Polanski's undeniable brilliance as a filmmaker somehow not make him a rapist? Does his talent give license to violence? Does the brotherhood of fame endow you with a lifetime exemption from accountability?

No one is arguing the genius of Roman Polanski, or even the pain and tragedy of his difficult life. But in the end, that has nothing to do with the crime he committed. Being an artist does not make any of us exempt from the laws of humanity -- in fact, it actually makes us more responsible to them.

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posted October 01, 2009 06:59 PM         

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Being an artist does not make any of us exempt from the laws of humanity -- in fact, it actually makes us more responsible to them.

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posted October 01, 2009 07:41 PM         

Too bad, so sad.

Why not make an example out of him? Out of his dim hollow shell. Seems everyone loves watching them prance around on tv and movie screens anyway. Perfect opportunity to do so here (for all the thickheaded). He didnt find it too hard to have his way with a young girl, maybe it's time he settle down in a cell and think about that a little bit more. And if he were a true artist, he could see how that has the potential to craft him a better future in the long run, if he wanted to do the dirty work. Only if he accepted that fate and took it like the man he proved not to be, but somehow eventually found in himself. Could he find it in himself to do so? It might do more good than harm, at this point, to make him pay for his crimes, dont you think? With him being so "big time" & in the limelight and all - he has quite an opportunity and there's the potential for lessons to be learned from this on a wider scale. Take one for the team Polanski. It might behoove him to man-up and express some remorse while he's at it. To sit in a cell and think about the damage he's done not only to one little girl, long ago, but to the collective and why. And in the meantime, put an end this sad story. All the world's a stage. And we all know what that means.

posted October 01, 2009 08:15 PM         

let's not get swayed by anger me think

if he can't be defended because he's famous and all that, is it right to charge him because of it?

i don't want to defend his act, i simply wouldn't want to, and i have never seen his films, so i'm Not biased by his talent;

defending him is not difficult, defending his act is.

may be people in the spotlight should pay a heavier price than others for their misdeeds.

perhaps they influence more people, but then, when they do good, they influence people too.

who knows how to judge someone correctly?

i'm not an expert, but common sense tells me that the judicial system is based on a mix of enlightened people's and common men's values, therefore fairly representative of our state of humanity, but don't we evolve, and our society too at the same time, or am i in advance of 2 centuries here?

above all, let's not judge a person, but let's judge an act. and let's not forget why we are shoked by horrendous acts; it's because our specie is characterized by a rationalism of compassion. we know what compassion is, we can give it, or withold it. but if we withold it, what else is left? what do we become ourselves? how will be judged our acts themselves?

posted October 01, 2009 08:37 PM         

i should have added to my previous comment that i agree with T's explanation of the benefice of punishment.

hopefully, someone qualified will strike a balance here.

posted October 01, 2009 11:39 PM         

what bothers me about this whole thing is that people keep saying they HAVE THE FACTS when even the facts as presented have been misread. NONE OF US WAS THERE - EVEN IN THE COURTROOM. people seem to think a) that the STORY is the same as the FACTS and b) that they know best what to do about it.

we don't have the facts. for all we know the girl was lying about 9/10ths of it - these things happen and then people get scared afterwards. some of her testimony contradicts itself to me. somehow a 13 yr old using the term "going down on me" doesn't sound like an innocent young victim. but that is just a feeling, not enough to convict or pardon anyone.

she claims to not be able to remember most of what happened and proceeds to give a blow by blow account.

T is right, maybe doing the time will be the best thing that ever happened to him. maybe he was "supposed" to die with his mother in a concentration camp and has been living on borrowed time for 70 years.