Following the United States’ request for extradition of acclaimed movie director Roman Polanski in order to sentence him for the rape of a 13-year-old girl more than 30 years ago, some of Hollywood’s most high-profile names are speaking out in his support. A petition has been established for Polanski’s benefit, and society notables in many countries outside the U.S. have been voicing their disdain at Polanski’s treatment, with British novelist Robert Harris deeming it ‘disgusting,’ according to a Sept. 28 BBC article.
But what’s more disgusting was Polanski’s treatment of the 13-year-old child he drugged and raped in 1977, and the fact that many members of the upper echelon of international society are unable to grasp the numerous illegalities of his contemptible crime. Aside from that, the unapologetic irreverence with which he dares approach his situation ‘- Polanski was quoted in Tatler magazine as saying, ‘Everyone else fancies little girls too’ ‘- proves the long-contested accusation that celebrities believe they are and expect to be considered exceptions to the law. If Polanski being arrested while en route to being presented with a lifetime achievement award can be called disgusting, the reasons and sentiments behind his arrest are an adjective so far below disgusting it hasn’t yet been coined.
The defensive reception of Polanski’s arrest by such Hollywood elite as Harvey Weinstein and international political figures such as French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner brings to the forefront a symptom of a society so over-indulged it’s become delusional. These moguls ‘- Polanski included ‘- are celebrities simply because of the revere their public has provided them. And yet, ironically, the members of this public are the very people they take advantage of. By thumbing their noses at the judicial protocol that follows forced, gross sexual assault on a minor, Polanski and his gaggle of supporters are detaching themselves not only from the processes that maintain justice in this country, but from reality. And in doing so, they betray the people below them, who exalted them in the first place, believing them to be exceptional artists and thinkers worthy to be aspired to.
The unpleasant truth is, no matter how influential one’s movies are, the so-called ‘geniuses,’ made celebrity by the general public, are first and foremost human, and must be expected to behave by the same tenets any human in a functioning society follows. Celebrity does not negate a need for morality, and it certainly does not excuse a guilty sexual predator from being punished to the fullest extent of the law ‘- lifetime achievement awards notwithstanding.
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