Roman Holiday

October

1002davies

I wasn’t planning to do a cartoon on the Roman Polanski case, but the voices defending him have been so intellectually shabby that I felt an obligation to weigh in. Of the pieces I read, one in particular gave me pause. Professor Thaddeus Russell of Barnard college wrote a piece on The Daily Beast about the case re-igniting the debate on the age of consent. While it is a worthy discussion (and I happen to agree with his premise that American society is curiously bipolar and relatively dishonest in regards to matters of sexuality), this particular case has no place being intertwined with a dialogue on the age of consent. Polanski’s case has absolutely nothing to do with consent. The famous 43 year old director plied a thirteen year old girl with alcohol, gave her a Quaalude and then had sex with her, while she protested. Anybody defending him on the grounds that he has atoned by dint of the brilliance of the work he has given to humanity in the subsequent three decades he was on the lam is being selectively naive. He raped a young girl – pled guilty to it – and then ran away. I am a fan of Polanski’s work. I think he is a brilliant director. But I am a bigger fan of a fair legal system.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 7:18 am by Matt Davies.
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6 Responses to “Roman Holiday”

BULLDOG October 2nd, 2009 at 7:54 am
Manson should have gotten him instead of his innocent wife.
TJ October 2nd, 2009 at 1:57 pm
So , Matt, this is the proverbial turning point for you? or over the top? Thanks for taking a stand against violence
Steve C. October 2nd, 2009 at 2:39 pm
i too am a fan of his work. But rape is rape. He needs to have a room mate named bubba who thinks polanski has a purdy mouth.
John B. Pierce October 2nd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
As a fellow liberal puke, you’d think I’d somehow be all dewy eyed and supportive of poor Mr. Polanski, too. Ummmm, nope. Not as such. “Chinatown” was indeed a great movie, but it had an eerie parallel to the director’s seriously screwed up personal life. (“She’s my sister!” SLAP! “She’s my daughter!” Slap!...) Regardless of Polanski’s great art as a director, I can’t excuse statuary rape. If you can’t do the time, you don’t do the crime. Too bad they don’t serve Qaaludes and Champagne in Soledad!
MARINADOG October 3rd, 2009 at 7:22 am
Is it any wonder that a group of people which make an idol out of a repeated child rapist ( MIKE JACKSON POS ) is going to honor this POS. and didn’t her mother have something to do with bring her to this pervert and leaving her with him and knowing something if not the rape part was going to happen???
Roman Holiday October 3rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptOctober2 I wasn’t planning to do a cartoon on the Roman Polanski case, but the voices defending him have been so intellectually shabby that I felt an obligation to weigh in. Of the pieces I read, one in particular gave me pause. Professor Thaddeus Russell of Barnard college wrote a piece on The Daily Beast about the case re-igniting the debate on the age of consent. While it is a worthy discussion (and I happen to agree with his premise that American society is curiously bipolar and relatively d [...]

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