I’m all for giving ex-cons a second chance, but I have little sympathy for someone who doesn’t do the time for his crime.
I have been watching all the news about child rapist Roman Polanski 
and it’s got me feeling pretty bad about society as we know it. I keep thinking about the people who worked for Polanski knowing all the while that he drugged and sodomized a 13-year old girl.
He doesn’t deny that he did these things, and he pretty much skipped out of town when he was about to be sentenced.
Despite these acts, he went on to direct many movies. And well-known actors such as Adrien Brody, who stared in Polanski’s “The Pianist,” agreed to work with this man.
Where are the protests that we saw over Michael Vick, who was convicted and served his time for his involvement in illegal dog-fighting, when he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles? Are dogs more important than young girls?
We all want fame, fortune, and many of us think we have to jump at any opportunity to get those things. What better opportunity than working with a connected, wealthy genius, right? It’s all about getting what we want.
We expect people to be whistle blowers at corporations when they see unethical and illegal behavior. How can we expect people to strive for the higher good if we think nothing of working for, and supporting an individual who raped a kid and never repented for it?
September 29th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Eve — THANK YOU so much for writing about this! Literally, I watch the news and I’m sickened by this. Where has our (collective) moral compass gone?! We see clips of him winning the Oscar for The Piano, and the standing ovation that follows. Really?! I feel like everywhere we turn, we’re seeing more and more apathy when it comes to violence against women. These people must be held accountable. Even in the whole Chris Brown/Rhianna situation — celebrities came out supporting him b/c he was “young” and she may have started the fight first, blah, blah, etc…WHO CARES! We need strong voices who will speak up and say this is wrong, we absolutely will NOT tolerate this, and anyone who commits these crimes against women will be punished to the full extent of the law.
September 29th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
The correct word to describe Polanski is ‘pedophile’. The best adjective to describe an individual with this voluntary affliction is ‘human toilet’. There exists absolutely no sympathy for either those who will ultimately come to his defense, or even the victim who claims she has forgiven him. She was absolutely too young att eh time of the event. The argument of Polanski being young and reckless is ridiculous. He was in his 40’s.
As far as any man being physically violent with a woman, I will admit i once slapped an absolute bitch across the face. Her and her husband were attorneys. They had a child named Gabriella. She was born with a malformation of her eyes and optic nerve. It had to be removed shortly after birth. THe girl looked normal otherwise, however because of the condition, there were other problems. WEll the good parents decided to to relinquish theri parental rights to the child and custody was legally granted to the state. My then wife and i were special needs foster parents. Gabriella camre to live with our children when she was about four months old. She stole my heart, totally. For about six months, she was with us. When a foster child is given temporary shelter, they could be placed anywere very quickly. Fortunately, a very kind elderly couple with several adult special children adopted the girl. It was perfect. We were given information , however it was limited because of confidentiality. We were told that little Gabriella developed a blood disorder caused by her malformation. She was critical and the new parents knew us. she passed away, quickly. THe parents had limted means, s I offered to bury the little Angel. At the grave-side funeral, with the tiny casket, all white with a drizzle on it, I looked up in time to see the mother and father of the child coming to the casket. I held my temper. Then wit tears coming down her cheeks, she asked if thy could pay for the funeral, I lost it….I chased them with a verbal diatribe only a lawyer could understand. The husband, a big guy, got inot his Porsche. THe mother called me a hypocrite and I slapped her in the face. THe big ass was on her bug old box phone tellin ghte police someone was trying to kill his wife.
I only spent about ten hours in jail, but that felt good!!!
September 30th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Beyond the moral indecency of the crime itself, the fact that the man fled to avoid sentencing is what offends me more (and then there’s the fact that all this media attention is basically forcing the victim to live through these memories yet again). He not only committed a horrible crime, but he did not have the spine to face up to his actions. I would never want to work for an employer who has such low regard for Law.
I had one such employer once, and I left the job so I would not get pulled down with the company. The owner submitted personal receipts for presripction medications and traffic citations as business expenses. When I questioned the legality of such reimbursements (I was the payables clerk), the owner started sealing the reimbursement forms and writing the reimbursement checks himself. Since management would not stand against the illegal actions of the owner, I quickly parted company with them, and debated informing the IRS (something I did not do, but, in reflection, I probably should have done it).
Any employer who will not follow the law in one area will likely not follow the law in other areas. Forget employee and workplace rights. Forget about honest gain. Such persons show that they will only uphold the law if they believe it benefits their own condition.