Chances are that more than a few of you have no clue who Roman Polanski is, or why his arrest is such a big deal. Therefore, here, in a nutshell, is the who and why of this commentary:
Frenchman Polanski was as acclaimed a Hollywood director in 1978 as American Quentin Tarantino is today, having directed such movie classics as Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby.
So just imagine the shock and scandal back then when he was arrested for plying a 13-year-old girl, Samantha Gailey (now Geimer), with drugs and booze, and then raping her.
Imagine further that, after being arrested, pleading guilty and copping a plea, he flew the coop on the eve of sentencing to avoid having to do (any) time for this unconscionable crime; and that, far from living the life of a fugitive, he has lived and worked openly and notoriously in France, even receiving an Oscar in absentia in 2002 for The Pianist.
More to the point, he has been able to thumb his nose at American justice for the past 31 years because, under treaty, France is not obligated to extradite any of its citizens to the United States.
It is an irony of ironies, therefore, that he is now facing extradition from Switzerland, a country well-known for providing (financial) refuge to criminal rogues of all stripes, after traveling there to receive an honorary award at the Zurich film festival. After all, Polanski was always understandably apprehensive about traveling to any country that might arrest and extradite him at the behest of US authorities.
However, what is most noteworthy about his arrest yesterday is the extent to which commentators in Europe and the US are expressing sympathy for Polanski, and even pleading for him to be pardoned. Indeed, in a rather perverse form of moral relativism, many (especially in the film industry) seem quite willing to overlook his unresolved crimes just because Polanski is such an accomplished.
They rationalize this, shamelessly, by citing, as mitigating factors, the fact that his mother was exterminated in Auschwitz by the Nazis and that his (pregnant) wife, Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, was murdered in California by the disciples of Charles Manson.
I am dumfounded… I strongly regret that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already experienced so many of them.
(French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand)
But frankly, this is taking celebrity worship to an untenable extreme. For nothing can excuse his raping a little girl, then compounding this crime by fleeing justice.
Straight up, what he did to me was wrong… I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us.
(Geimer in a 2003 interview)
Yet, after suing him in civil court and settling for an undisclosed amount, Geimer joined the chorus of those pleading for criminal charges to be dropped. But, like others, she fails to appreciate that no amount of money he paid her, nor any amount of international acclaim, should exempt Polanski from having to answer for his crimes.
Meanwhile, it is delusional for anyone to think that President Obama would prevent federal prosecutors from extraditing Polanski not only to be sentenced for rape but also to face new charges for obstructing justice by fleeing. After all, Obama is even loath to prevent federal prosecutors from going after CIA agents for torturing al Qaeda terrorists….
But only the supercilious French would think, on the one hand, that it’s perfectly okay for their president to refuse to extradite this pedophile rapist of an American girl but, on the other hand, that it’s a betrayal of Franco-America friendship, for the American president to refuse to intervene now to help him escape justice.
In any event, Polanski, 76, seems bound for prison. He is married to French actress Emanuelle Seigner, with whom he has two children.
* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Sunday, at 3:31 pm
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