Roman Polanski: A Mama’s Nightmare is Defended in Hollywood

Now that the arrest of Roman Polanski has finally been made, and justice will hopefully be served, several members of the Hollywood Elite have made it known that they’ve got his back.

Ran from the law and right into Hollywood's open arms.

The crime, and the aftermath, is enough to make any Mama sick.

We all know the details by now: Roman Polanski, an Oscar-winning movie director, fled to France in 1978 after he plead guilty to drugging and raping a 13-year old girl. Polanksi fled to France because he feared the judge in the case was going to back out of a plea bargain. Before he left the country, Polanski had served only 42 days in a California jail. When he moved to France, Polanski married a beautiful woman, had children, and continued to make brilliant award-winning movies.

As Polanski now sits in a Swiss jail awaiting a verdict on extradition back to the U.S., his representatives and even his victim are asking everyone to move on. His victim claims that she has forgiven Polanski, that she is over it, and that the media caused her more distress than the crime itself.  Roman Polanski’s  rep says that he has “paid his dues” and has suffered enough. Among the celebrities speaking out and signing a petition calling for Polanski’s exoneration are Woody Allen (ironic, much?), Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, John Landis, Sam Mendes, Tilda Swinton, Monica Belluci, Harvey Weinstein, and Debra Winger, to name a few. Better yet, Whoopi Goldberg decidedly said that the crime wasn’t “rape-rape.” Would you care to elaborate on that one, Ms. Goldberg?

A 44 year old man drugging and raping a 13 year old is RAPE, plain and simple.

What is it with the “blame-the-victim” mentality that still circulates within our society, especially among the role models of Hollywood? It’s shameful to hear these assertions from anyone, let alone from powerful and strong women like Whoopi Goldberg. When Ms. Goldberg used the word “rape-rape”, she undermined one of the most horrible crimes that can be committed against anyone, especially against a young child. Some people are bringing up the horrible experiences of Roman Polanski’s  past  – escaping the Krakow Ghetto, his mother’s death in a concentration camp, and the murder of his pregnant wife – as some sort of justifiable explanation for his bad behavior.  There is no doubt that terrible personal experiences can lead people to commit their own terrible acts. But where is the responsibility for those actions? Where is the accountability? And where is the justice? If we excused all bad behavior based on sympathy alone, there would be no need for the prison system.

A young girl was drugged, sodomized, and raped and the criminal was never brought to justice. So what kind of message is sent to people when a celebrity is able to commit such a horrific crime but then move abroad to begin a wonderful new life without any consequences? Do celebrities actually believe that they are above the law?  Well, yeah, some actually do believe that to be true. From O.J. Simpson to Martha Stewart, we all know of a celebrity who has committed a crime. Some are brought to justice while others are golfing in Florida and writing books about how they would have murdered their ex-wife, but they really didn’t. Some celebrities will never own up to their crimes and take responsibility. Yet in this case, where the rapist actually admitted to the crime but did not serve the time, he is defended among some of the most powerful people around.

I  simply want to ask one thing of the people defending Roman Polanski:

If the 13 year old in question was your child, would you still feel the same way?