Thursday, October 15, 2009
Roman indulgences
John Long
Recent columns
- Voters' choice: negative ads
- Work brings dignity
- On timeless advice, etc.
- A run-in with French health care
From the RoundTable blog
The recent arrest of filmmaker Roman Polanski in Switzerland came as a shock to those of us who didn't even know he was still alive. At first I thought it was just a case of justice catching up to a convicted fugitive. But then I started looking into the reaction of Hollywood, and I realized much more was at stake: the very core essence of a valuable national treasure. I call it our Precious Celebrity Resource, and it must be protected at all cost!
I'm thankful to the Tinseltown demigods for opening my eyes to the threat represented by an absurd notion: that celebrities can ever be held accountable for their actions.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Polanski was convicted in 1977 for the rape of a 13-year-old girl. After pleading to a lesser charge and serving 42 days in jail, Polanski fled the country, fearful he might serve real prison time. He had spent nearly a third of a century studiously avoiding any nation with an ironclad extradition treaty, until a recent foray across the Swiss border intensified his persecution. I'm sure the poor man would find himself in despair had not a faithful cadre of other creative Hollywood geniuses come to his unflinching defense.
How fortunate that the solons of Hollywood recognized the dire threat to the fabric of our culture! Actress Debra Winger commented that the film festival to which Polanski was traveling when arrested had been "unfairly exploited," and as a result the "whole art world suffers." Imagine, the maker of "Rosemary's Baby" held captive because a few overzealous prosecutors and fascistic police forgot their place three decades ago.
Whoopi Goldberg, perhaps our greatest living American philosopher (look at all the sage advice she gave Captain Picard through the years) also came down on the side of protecting our Precious Celebrity Resource. It's not like his crime was "rape rape," she postulated, though the distinction may have been lost on some viewers. Furthermore, Whoopi averred, in some places a 13-year-old would be considered fair game for a 44-year-old man. Before I was enlightened about the infallibility of our entertainment elite, I might have considered such a comment reprehensible.
Meanwhile, the normally sensitive Swiss authorities have inhumanely denied bail to the distraught filmmaker. Somehow they've reached the conclusion that he might be a flight risk.
What a tragedy on so many levels. As Hollywood studio boss Harvey Weinstein hastened to point out, "Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time." Of course he has! He did 42 days for raping a minor! And then 32 years in exile in a French chalet, where he has barely been able to continue to inflict his creative genius upon the world. Think of the maltreatment! How many Academy Award parties has he missed? How many Oscar gift bags worth more than your annual salary?
Some of you are still thinking that our hero deserves to pay for his crime (which he has never denied, though he claims the encounter was consensual) and for fleeing justice for 32 years. Obviously you are still stuck with some antediluvian notions of justice.
Don't you understand that anyone affiliated with the film industry gets an automatic pass for any action involving sex? It's not like Polanski walks among us lesser mortals for whom the punishment should fit the crime. Oh sure, if he were a Catholic priest or an evangelical preacher or a Republican politician, a Hollywood mob would be lighting their torches. But he is none of those things. He makes movies, so he receives an automatic indulgence.
The denizens of Hollywood must be excused from petit bourgeois ideals of morality. They must be freed from any constraints on their creativity, such as community standards or a sense of decency. If we impose such notions on them, how can they continue to entertain us with critically acclaimed film violence and mindless celebrations of promiscuity?
Cultural survival depends on Polanski being freed, and those who deigned to accuse him must beg his forgiveness. And if anyone out there wants to commit a crime, be sure to go into entertainment first. You may not escape going to jail in the end, but you'll always have plenty of nihilistic friends to defend you.
Long, director of the Salem Museum and a history teacher at Roanoke College, is a Roanoke Times columnist.
