Could you watch and like a Roman Polanski film?

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  • barbelerbarbeler Posts: 23,827
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    Pedant of the year?
    What about watching for free though? I thought this was a moral/principles issue, not a monetary one.
    Pedant.
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,317
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    barbeler wrote: »
    Pedant.
    Which sadly doesn't answer the question.
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    Whatever you think of how black and white it is or isn't, there's no question that he drugged a little girl and had sex with her, then fled the country to avoid punishment for it. The man's reprehensible.

    I'm not defending Polanski but there is a question mark over whether he fled the country to avoid punishment. Wikipedia (and other sources) state that Polanski left the US legally, travelled to Europe to complete filming, then returned to California and spent 42 days in prison. During that time he was subject to psychiatric evaluation and it's believed that the psychiatrist, probation officer and even the victim all advocated that he be put on probation in lieu of further jail time. However the judge announced that he would still send Polanski back to jail despite the recommendations and that's when Polanski fled - after he had been told that the LA authorities were reneging on their offer to allow him to stay out of jail on probation.
  • Thunder LipsThunder Lips Posts: 1,660
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    So...he fled the country to avoid punishment. Prosecutors can't guarantee a deal, only offer it and recommend it to the judge who has final say. If he saw fit to slap Polanski with a harder sentence that was his decision to make. RP feared facing justice more appropriate to his crime than probation and ran. The guy's a weasel.
  • brangdonbrangdon Posts: 14,091
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    there's no question that he drugged a little girl and had sex with her, then fled the country to avoid punishment for it.
    He pleaded guilty to the sex, but denies drugging her. She also claimed she was unwilling, and he denies that too, and apparently there was evidence supporting him. She was never cross-examined in court (because he pleaded guilty to the statutory rape to save her from any further ordeal). So for me at least, there are question marks over her testimony, and therefore over exactly what happened.

    He was punished for it; he spent some time in prison. Both sides were sticking to the plea-bargain: Polanski was allowed to leave the country to complete a project, and then he returned as agreed, knowing he'd be imprisoned. And then something changed. There is reason to think the judge was nobbled and was suddenly going to be a lot harsher. Arguably Polanski didn't flee justice because the judge was no longer going to be just. If the judge had continued as agreed, then the punishment Polanski had already served would be all. See his open letter:
    On February 26 last, Roger Gunson, the deputy district attorney in charge of the case in 1977, now retired, testified under oath before Judge Mary Lou Villar in the presence of David Walgren, the present deputy district attorney in charge of the case, who was at liberty to contradict and question him, that on September 16, 1977, Judge Rittenband stated to all the parties concerned that my term of imprisonment in Chino constituted the totality of the sentence I would have to serve.

    (Emphasis added.) I'd feel a lot more comfortable if he returned to America and resolved the situation, but I can understand if he feels it's now impossible to get a fair sentence. Alternatively, they could just sentence him in absentia.
  • Pink KnightPink Knight Posts: 24,773
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    I will watch a film made by and staring anyone, as long as there is nothing illegal in the film.

    I tend to see a film as a separate thing to real life.
    I'm sure there are many film stars and directors with skeletons that are not known about widely.
  • General LunacyGeneral Lunacy Posts: 735
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    Ah, Bitter Moon. Yes, it rarely gets mentioned but I really like it - Peter Coyote is excellent and Emmanuelle Seigner has never loooked sexier. Shame about Hugh Grant - same old stuttering, embarrassed, floppy-haired English fop...

    Yep, Seigner and Coyote are great in their respective ways.

    There's a nice unreality about the film, it's quite intense.

    I suspect some people will find the film in poor taste, but that sort of misses the point imo.
  • Thunder LipsThunder Lips Posts: 1,660
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    brangdon wrote: »
    He pleaded guilty to the sex, but denies drugging her. She also claimed she was unwilling, and he denies that too, and apparently there was evidence supporting him. She was never cross-examined in court (because he pleaded guilty to the statutory rape to save her from any further ordeal). So for me at least, there are question marks over her testimony, and therefore over exactly what happened.
    But we're all agreed he had sex with a little girl right? "Willing" (this is a child we're talking about remember) or not.
    He was punished for it; he spent some time in prison. Both sides were sticking to the plea-bargain: Polanski was allowed to leave the country to complete a project, and then he returned as agreed, knowing he'd be imprisoned. And then something changed. There is reason to think the judge was nobbled and was suddenly going to be a lot harsher. Arguably Polanski didn't flee justice because the judge was no longer going to be just. If the judge had continued as agreed, then the punishment Polanski had already served would be all. See his open letter:
    On February 26 last, Roger Gunson, the deputy district attorney in charge of the case in 1977, now retired, testified under oath before Judge Mary Lou Villar in the presence of David Walgren, the present deputy district attorney in charge of the case, who was at liberty to contradict and question him, that on September 16, 1977, Judge Rittenband stated to all the parties concerned that my term of imprisonment in Chino constituted the totality of the sentence I would have to serve.

    (Emphasis added.) I'd feel a lot more comfortable if he returned to America and resolved the situation, but I can understand if he feels it's now impossible to get a fair sentence. Alternatively, they could just sentence him in absentia.
    I'm really not sure the point people are trying to make when they go down this road. I have zero sympathy for his "plight" of actually having to face a worthy sentence instead of a joke of one. He was only willing to face the music so far as he was practically getting away with it inside the law anyway. When it looked like this now wasn't the case, he bolted. Scum.
  • brangdonbrangdon Posts: 14,091
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    But we're all agreed he had sex with a little girl right?
    Yep.
    I'm really not sure the point people are trying to make when they go down this road.
    My post was triggered by you writing "there's no question" and then conflating established facts with other claims that have not been established.
    I have zero sympathy for his "plight" of actually having to face a worthy sentence instead of a joke of one.
    It wasn't a joke sentence. All concerned thought it appropriate at the time. Sentencing takes into account a number of factors. Recall also that the victim herself is apparently satisfied he's been punished enough.
    Scum.
    I'm not necessarily disagreeing. The question is whether he's so bad that we shouldn't watch his films. I think there is such a line, but that he doesn't cross it.
  • Pisces CloudPisces Cloud Posts: 30,239
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    I'm really not sure the point people are trying to make when they go down this road. I have zero sympathy for his "plight" of actually having to face a worthy sentence instead of a joke of one. He was only willing to face the music so far as he was practically getting away with it inside the law anyway. When it looked like this now wasn't the case, he bolted. Scum.

    He also thinks we all think the same. :rolleyes: A classic denial of wrongdoing by a child abuser, IMO.

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaeldeacon/100011795/roman-polanski-everyone-else-fancies-little-girls-too/
  • Jenny_SawyerJenny_Sawyer Posts: 12,858
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    loveloveX wrote: »
    I hate roman Polanski and cannot fathom how anyone in Hollywood can support him! :mad: but I wonder what your moral positions are on watching and liking his movies. I personally never could watch or like them. Do you believe it's ok for someone to watch and like his movies?

    What about listening to the music of The Rolling Stones (Bill Wyman) or Led Zeppellin (Jimmy Page)?
  • roger_50roger_50 Posts: 6,896
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    I enjoy his films just as much as any director who hasn't committed a crime. A film is a film; it's as good as you perceive it to be.

    I love Raiders of the Lost Ark, but if I found out tomorrow Steven Spielberg had committed a crime in his past it wouldn't change how I perceive Raiders of the Lost Ark.

    It doesn't really make sense to me.
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