• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Roman Polanski Accused of Sexual Abuse by Another Woman

SpaceWolf

Banned
As always now is a good time to post a list of all the celebrities that signed a petition urging for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland
http://www.indiewire.com/2009/09/over-100-in-film-community-sign-polanski-petition-55821/

Lots more there, but those are some of the more prominent name. Also, special shout out to scumbag extraordinaire Johnny Depp who defended him on video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyx4E51ZCns

Tilda Swinton? Terry Gilliam?

Christ, this is so disappointing.
 

kiguel182

Member
KdGqQY.gif

It makes me mad every time.
 
As always now is a good time to post a list of all the celebrities that signed a petition urging for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland



http://www.indiewire.com/2009/09/over-100-in-film-community-sign-polanski-petition-55821/

Lots more there, but those are some of the more prominent name. Also, special shout out to scumbag extraordinaire Johnny Depp who defended him on video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyx4E51ZCns

Some of the names on that list are disappointing. Goddamn.
Hollywood's a mess.
 

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
Let's make a documentary and fill out a petition pardoning this guy. Then tape interviews about how silly the notion is that this guy is a sexual predator. Fuck you hollywood, and FUCK this vile human being.
 

Breakage

Member
He avoids countries that will sent his ass back to the US. It's not that hard if you have money I guess.
Yeah for sure...money helps. I'm just amazed that so many famous names can overlook what he did and "support" him. I mean it's rape not some petty act of theft or something; it makes me question their principles.
 
But his films tho!

Real talk: the only piece of footage I've ever given this stain is 'Macbeth' - because I was 14, in school, being forced to watch for SATs. Only afterwards did I learn what a piece of shit he is. Based on that film, is he really even worth the praise he gets for his actual craft?

Real talk, unfortunately he is that good. He's one of the best directors ever imo. Macbeth isn't his best film but it is amazing and my favorite adaptation of the play. Real shame what he's done with his life outside of film and the lives he's damaged.
 
Yeah for sure...money helps. I'm just amazed that so many famous names can overlook what he did and "support" him. It makes me question their principles.
It's a strange thing. I don't get why they want to publicly support a rapist, but apparently enough people are OK with that. Sad state of affairs.
 
Some of the names on that list are disappointing. Goddamn.

Hollywood's a mess.

Many of the names on that list are Foreign / french, so this has nothing to do with Hollywood if you want to be technical. Disappointingly to see a lot of people on that list, but plenty of people respect Polanski as a director to forgive what he's done.
 
I am honestly disgusted by how film society, and society at large, enabled him to basically get away with this. I mean, at the school I went to, they still play his Macbeth adaptation when they study that play. That applause gif and the petition disgust me - how can people defend his shit? Anyone who calls out people like Dr Luke but then applauds him is a disgusting human being with no values.
 
At this rate I need a list of celebrities and filmmakers who don't support his release. Christ.

Some notable names against him here

Kevin Smith (verified Twitter)
Jay Smooth
Luc Besson
Bill Maher
Lexa Doig
Kirstie Alley
Jewel
Jake Tapper
Toure
Carrie Brownstein
John Legend
Neil Gaiman
Jack Cafferty
Alison Sweeney, Jillian Michaels, Lisa Kudrow, Tom Morello and Patricia Arquette
Jimmy Kimmel
Melissa Gilbert
Dennis Miller
Eugene Robinson
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Geraldine Ferraro
Jesse Eisenberg
Roseanne Barr
Montel Williams
Jon Stewart
Chris Rock
Roland S Martin
Salma Hayek
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jimmy Fallon
Drew Carey
Howard Stern
Joel McHale
Wanda Sykes
Jamie Foxx
Emma Thompson

http://chrismm.dreamwidth.org/577422.html

Chris Rock on Polanski

People are defending Roman Polanski? Because he made some good movies? Are you kidding me? He made good movies thirty years ago! Even Johnnie Cochran didn't have the nerve to go, 'Well, did you see O.J. play against New England?'"

Rape! It's rape! Rape's number 2. Okay? It's murder then rape! It's number 2! Like, the United States wants to capture Osama Bin Laden and then murder him. We're not going to rape him. That would be barbaric.
 
On top of Hollywood's own problematic history with sexual abuse that gets thrown to the margins, he's got two major sources of goodwill that can't be "taken away from him":

-he was a Holocaust survivor and lost his mother at Auschwitz

-his second wife was Sharon Tate, who was viciously murdered by the Manson Family while pregnant with his child

I am not going to be the guy to say that his rape of Samantha Gailey overrides what he's gone through in his life, but I will take him for what he is: a man who had to overcome some of the most horrific things that can happen to a human being, only to succumb and commit one himself. He is a brilliant artist, and he is also a bad person.

Yeah he's had quite a complicated life that's marked by periodic horrorific acts. I recommend the bio Polanski by Christopher Sanford for anyone interested in his work and life. Repugnant as he is, his life is a fascinating one.
 
I am honestly disgusted by how film society, and society at large, enabled him to basically get away with this. I mean, at the school I went to, they still play his Macbeth adaptation when they study that play. That applause gif and the petition disgust me - how can people defend his shit? Anyone who calls out people like Dr Luke but then applauds him is a disgusting human being with no values.
To be fair, I'll bet there are many gaffers clamouring for Polanski's arrest that were in that thread about the old SS officer being jailed the other week, wondering what the point was.
 

kinggroin

Banned
It's really upsetting that one of my favorite shows ever (Cosby Show) and favorite movies ever (Rosemary's Baby) are creations of really vile human beings.
 

Ridley327

Member
Don't care. There's not a single person in the world that I'd still be able to be cool with after they raped a 13 year old in my house.

I always feel bad for Angelica Huston, who had actually stopped in a couple of times while Polanski was there and had no idea what was going on there. As I recall, I think she even managed to knock on the door one time after some commotion, but Polanski was quick with the excuse that they were just finishing up a photo shoot.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Of course he didn't have a single victim, the monster. I think the only way for him to pay his crimes is for him to commit a crime in France.

As always now is a good time to post a list of all the celebrities that signed a petition urging for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland



http://www.indiewire.com/2009/09/over-100-in-film-community-sign-polanski-petition-55821/

Lots more there, but those are some of the more prominent name. Also, special shout out to scumbag extraordinaire Johnny Depp who defended him on video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyx4E51ZCns

David Lynch noooooooo

Well, now I am bummed out.
 

traveler

Not Wario
To be fair, I'll bet there are many gaffers clamouring for Polanski's arrest that were in that thread about the old SS officer being jailed the other week, wondering what the point was.

I advocated for a lesser sentence in that thread; I would still see Polanski arrested. The situations are not the same.
 

Breakage

Member
If they are prepared to support this guy despite the fact he raped a girl then it really does make you wonder what else these celebs are covering up. I mean how do you watch Twin Peaks knowing that Lynch supports a rapist? If you knew your favourite game director supported a rapist would you still be able to enjoy the games they made?

Perhaps they [his famous supporters] are brushing it off because it was 40 years ago ie they have resigned themselves to the old "the culture was different back then" excuse. It's still rape though.
 
It's really upsetting that one of my favorite shows ever (Cosby Show) and favorite movies ever (Rosemary's Baby) are creations of really vile human beings.

I try to think about all the other people involved in the productions and not turn it into a single mans project.
 
If they are prepared to support this guy despite the fact he raped a girl then it really does make you wonder what else these celebs are covering up. I mean how do you watch Twin Peaks knowing that Lynch supports a rapist? If you knew your favourite game director supported a rapist would you still be able to enjoy the games they made?

For many of them it makes me suspect they have some nasty skeletons in their closets.
 
If they are prepared to support this guy despite the fact he raped a girl then it really does make you wonder what else these celebs are covering up. I mean how do you watch Twin Peaks knowing that Lynch supports a rapist? If you knew your favourite game director supported a rapist would you still be able to enjoy the games they made?
If you can't separate the art from the piece of shit making it, there's little you'll be able to enjoy tbh.

My favourite scifi author is Orson Scott Card, but that doesn't mean he isn't a piece of shit.

The Nazis are the most vile scum of the Earth, but I'll be damned if their architecture isn't admirable.
 
I try to think about all the other people involved in the productions and not turn it into a single mans project.

Y'know what, that's not a bad way to look at something like film or TV with regards to art and it's integrity when the artist is horrible.

Seeing Terry Gilliam on that list has really disappointed me too.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
If you can't separate the art from the piece of shit making it, there's little you'll be able to enjoy tbh.

My favourite scifi author is Orson Scott Card, but that doesn't mean he isn't a piece of shit.

The Nazis are the most vile scum of the Earth, but I'll be damned if their architecture isn't admirable.

Learning that Fanta was essentially invented by the Nazi's made me enjoy it a hell of a lot less, let me tell you.
 
To be fair, I'll bet there are many gaffers clamouring for Polanski's arrest that were in that thread about the old SS officer being jailed the other week, wondering what the point was.
It's slightly different. If Polanski didn't run from his crimes and spent a good chunk of his life working to help victims of sexual assault, I would be more inclinced to forgive him (he should still face justice, of course).
 
If they are prepared to support this guy despite the fact he raped a girl then it really does make you wonder what else these celebs are covering up. I mean how do you watch Twin Peaks knowing that Lynch supports a rapist? If you knew your favourite game director supported a rapist would you still be able to enjoy the games they made?

Perhaps they [his famous supporters] are brushing it off because it was 40 years ago ie they have resigned themselves to the old "the culture was different back then" excuse. It's still rape though.

Fans of Dragon Quest have this moral dilemma since Koichi Sugiyama is a Japanese fascist who denies that the Rape of Nanking ever happened.
 

traveler

Not Wario
It's slightly different. If Polanski didn't run from his crimes and spent a good chunk of his life working to help victims of sexual assault, I would be more inclinced to forgive him (he should still face justice, of course).

It's more than slightly.

1. The man in the other thread already served time as POW.
2. While genocide is a heinous crime and considerably worse than an individual or multiple rapes, but I do not consider the personality responsibility of a man cataloging confiscated items on the level of a man who raped (at least) a girl, even if the former was in service of a far more evil crime.
3. The man in the other thread has spent years atoning for his crime fighting against Holocaust deniers; Polanski has done nothing.
4. The man in the other thread willingly submitted himself to the justice of the court; Polanski fled.

I don't want to revisit all the debate of that thread, but I think there's more than enough difference here to see that one can defend one (that they still advocate some sort of sentencing for) while calling for the other to face a harsher punishment without some sort of cognitive dissonance behind their words.
 

Aselith

Member
On top of Hollywood's own problematic history with sexual abuse that gets thrown to the margins, he's got two major sources of goodwill that can't be "taken away from him":

-he was a Holocaust survivor and lost his mother at Auschwitz

-his second wife was Sharon Tate, who was viciously murdered by the Manson Family while pregnant with his child

I am not going to be the guy to say that his rape of Samantha Gailey overrides what he's gone through in his life, but I will take him for what he is: a man who had to overcome some of the most horrific things that can happen to a human being, only to succumb and commit one himself. He is a brilliant artist, and he is also a bad person.

So, he had bad stuff happen around him and that made him all rapey? What

The fuck are you talking about, my dude

I'm still flabbergasted at that other thread is all. Both pieces of shit deserve to be in jail.

One difference is that the old man came out and admitted to his crimes and attempted to make amends. I would agree with you that, due to the barbarity of his actions, he doesn't deserve to be let off but he at least came willingly.
 

Ceres

Banned
Hey now. The first victim doesn't want to continue pursuing this so this is just an unfair 40 yr witch hunt for a guy who ran away and never faced punishment.
 

traveler

Not Wario
So, he had bad stuff happen around him and that made him all rapey? What

The fuck are you talking about, my dude

The poster you're quoting specifically does not excuse Polanski in the post you're quoting, not do they imply that his experiences "made him rapey". They're stating he has a certain amount of built in support in Hollywood from a traumatic past and offering an explanation of that support. If English isn't your first language, I apologize, but that's some pretty terrible reading comprehension.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
If they are prepared to support this guy despite the fact he raped a girl then it really does make you wonder what else these celebs are covering up. I mean how do you watch Twin Peaks knowing that Lynch supports a rapist? If you knew your favourite game director supported a rapist would you still be able to enjoy the games they made?

Perhaps they [his famous supporters] are brushing it off because it was 40 years ago ie they have resigned themselves to the old "the culture was different back then" excuse. It's still rape though.
Drugging and raping a 13 year old is not in any grey area. Like I am sure some underage girl had sex with some rock star or other during the 60s or 70s, which you could possibly defend depending on the circumstances, but Polanski, no way.
 

Breakage

Member
If you can't separate the art from the piece of shit making it, there's little you'll be able to enjoy tbh.

My favourite scifi author is Orson Scott Card, but that doesn't mean he isn't a piece of shit.

The Nazis are the most vile scum of the Earth, but I'll be damned if their architecture isn't admirable.

I dunno. I've no interest in Polanski's work so in this particular case it's easy for me to avoid. But even if it were someone who's work I admired, I don't think I could continue to enjoy it especially when I know it concerns a crime like rape; there's something especially vile about that.
Showing solidarity with a person who's raped a 13 year-old girl makes me question the integrity of those who support such a person in a way that I wouldn't had the crime been the theft of a car. I mean surely the famous names on that list have kids, young nieces themselves and yet they are able to support someone like Polanski.

Drugging and raping a 13 year old is not in any grey area. Like I am sure some underage girl had sex with some rock star or other during the 60s or 70s, which you could possibly defend depending on the circumstances, but Polanski, no way.
I agree. I was just trying to think of how these people may have internally justified their support. Here in the UK that kind of reasoning allowed sexual assault scandals to remain hidden for decades.
 

Ridley327

Member
So, he had bad stuff happen around him and that made him all rapey? What

The fuck are you talking about, my dude



One difference is that the old man came out and admitted to his crimes and attempted to make amends. I would agree with you that, due to the barbarity of his actions, he doesn't deserve to be let off but he at least came willingly.

No, I'm not trying to suggest that his tragedies caught up to him and manifested outward, as that was more an explanation why Hollywood has given him a free pass after all this time and with so much compelling evidence as to why the benefit of the doubt shouldn't apply. All I'm saying is that he's a guy in which I personally have to try really hard to separate the things I like about him and the things that he ought to have already been in jail for, resulting in a human being that is fascinating, if ultimately repugnant for what they wound up doing and their flaunting of managing to get away with it.
 

Aselith

Member
The poster you're quoting specifically does not excuse Polanski in the post you're quoting, not do they imply that his experiences "made him rapey". They're stating he has a certain amount of built in support in Hollywood from a traumatic past and offering an explanation of that support. If English isn't your first language, I apologize, but that's some pretty terrible reading comprehension.

No, that's what he started out saying. But then in the last paragraph drives the car off a cliff by going into a personal opinion "I'm not saying his tragedy overrides the rape but........."

Might want to get your own comprehension recalibrated.
 

LogicAirForce

Neo Member
As always now is a good time to post a list of all the celebrities that signed a petition urging for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland



http://www.indiewire.com/2009/09/over-100-in-film-community-sign-polanski-petition-55821/

Lots more there, but those are some of the more prominent name. Also, special shout out to scumbag extraordinaire Johnny Depp who defended him on video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyx4E51ZCns

David Lynch? Fuck I was just getting into Twin Peaks :( can't watch it now though. I refuse to give my hard earned money to someone who supports rapists.
 

Robot Pants

Member
But his films tho!

Real talk: the only piece of footage I've ever given this stain is 'Macbeth' - because I was 14, in school, being forced to watch for SATs. Only afterwards did I learn what a piece of shit he is. Based on that film, is he really even worth the praise he gets for his actual craft?
Based on that film? No
But everything else
 
Top Bottom