Late Memo: When a 43 Year Old Man Drugs and Rapes a 13 Year Old Girl, That’s Called ‘Rape-Rape’
In March of 1977, Roman Polanski, who was 43 at the time, invited a 13 year old girl to pose for pictures in a magazine he was guest-editing. He gave this 13 year old girl champagne and a Quaalude. He knew that she was 13 years old and even called her mother to tell her that they were running late. The man knew very well what he was doing and apparently “running late” means ‘Hey, I gave your 13 year old daughter a roofie cocktail and once I am done violating her in any and every way I can and get what I want, I’ll return her to you.’
Trigger Warning! The following contents of the post may be triggering to some. Please read with caution.
According to the 13 year old girl’s grand jury testimony, Mr. Polanski proceeded to instruct the girl to get into a jacuzzi naked, refused to take her home when she begged him to leave, he began kissing her, even though she said no and told him to stop. He then proceeded to perform oral sex on her and then vaginally and anally raped her. All the while, she was telling him no and telling him to stop. For the record, this is an unlawful, non-consensual and prosecutable violation of a child. This is rape. ‘Rape-rape,’ if you will, Whoopi Goldberg.
End of Trigger Warning
Since news broke of Roman Polanski’s arrest, many people have come out to defend Polanski; saying that he is an old man now who has lead a rough life and who had a 13 year old girl thrust upon him by her mother, and therefore, he isn’t to blame for what he did. As Kate Harding reported, Joan Z. Shore of the Huffington Post thinks that because she had once met Roman Polanski and was “charmed by [his] sobriety and intelligence,” that obviously puts him above the law; in fact, she claims that he is the victim of this situation. She wrote, “The 13 year old model ’seduced’ by Polanski had been thrust onto him by her mother, who wanted her in the movies. The girl was just a few weeks short of her 14th birthday, which was the age of consent in California. (It’s probably 13 by now!) Polanski was demonized by the press, convicted, and managed to flee, fearing a heavy sentence.”
There are many mind-blowing, ‘I can’t believe I just read that’ parts of that small paragraph. So let’s start.
The age of consent in California at the time was 16; not 14, but 16. And it is also worth mentioning that Polanski’s victim was 13 and even if the legal age of consent in California was 14 at the time, which it wasn’t, a few weeks means nothing from a legal standpoint; almost does not count. The legal age of consent currently in California is 18, for anyone wondering. Also, according to grand jury testimony, the girl’s mother did not “thrust” the girl onto Polanski, since testimony says that the mother was unaware of the photo shoot to begin with. As Jeff Fecke points out, regardless of the mother’s actions at that time, no parent can consent to their under-aged child having sex; which is why parents who “sell” their children to their rapists are subject to prosecution, we don’t see the parents in court and their lawyers defending them by saying “But her/his mother/father gave him permission to be raped by that person,” because that’s ludicrous.
Polanski being “demonized” by the press is also laughable. Polanski pled guilty to unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a deal was struck in the courts so he did not plead guilty to his actual crime–drugging and raping a child. First of all, money and fame had already put him way above the law and because he fled, that makes him a fugitive and all back-door court deals, as far as I’m concerned, go right out the window. I also love the wordage “managed to flee.” Would we still find this word usage acceptable in any other child rape case? Would we find Roman Polanski’s actions acceptable if this was any other person, or any other crime, for that matter? Again, no. What this comes down to is the fact that Roman Polanski is a wealthy, well-known and somehow respected man and the fact that he had drugged and raped a child has not been the focus of much of the media coverage that has been circulating about him; the media has done their part in protecting a pedophile and a great deal of people have sided with that coverage. So let’s just all say it together and let it sink in–Fame, money and power should never put someone above the law and the fact that Roman Polanski is a pedophile, a rapist and a fugitive, makes him subject to even harsher sentencing than he would have encountered when these charges had first been filed.
Sure, we can continue to use the absolutely astonishing and grotesque buffer that Roman Polanski has had a rough life, but then we would also have to give the same leniency to other people who have been forced to overcome tragedy in their lives. Would we be willing to release any and all criminals currently serving time in prison for crimes they have committed if their childhood or young adult lives were tough? No, because no one cares about criminals currently serving time in prison because they don’t have bottomless pockets and they are not directing movies that people happen to like. While it’s true that Polanski is a survivor of the Holocaust and lost family members and it’s true that his first wife and unborn child were murdered by the Manson Family, but Mr. Polanski also has quite the collection of achievements, including being able to work as a director, owning multiple homes in Europe, getting married and being the father of two children (which I’ll also be the first to say he should not have been able to father children, being a convicted child rapist and all,) and Polanski even won an Oscar. The only privilege Polanski did not have access to is being able to enter the United States. Yeah, poor him.
There are several filmmakers who are demanding, yes demanding Polanski’s release. A petition has even been making the rounds to Hollywood heavy hitters. The petition is backed by France’s Societe des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers) and currently has about 138 signatures, including Woody Allen (surprise, surprise,) Pedro Almodovar, Martin Scorsese, Monica Bellucci, Tilda Swinton, David Lynch, Jonathan Demme, John Landis, and many, many others. Harvey Weinstein is also currently trying to recruit more supporters for Polanski. To all of these people attempting to use their power to convince others that a man with a tremendous amount of power on his own should be exempt from the law I have to ask, ‘What are you on?’ This is complete and utter bullshit and it’s interesting to know what proud, petition-signing, rape apologists we have in Hollywood who are so willing to attempt to protect a child rapist.
You May Also Enjoy:
-
Cybil
-
Andrew
-
billybethel
-
Daryk
-
Angry Jonathan
-
apartamenti varna
-
Brendan
-
Kan Herbs
-
Web Design India
-
Muhammad
-
Patrice Kelly
-
BlogAdMonkey.com
-
David
-
Buy cigarettes
-
Immobilienfonds
-
Chandler
-
Brochure Printing
-
jennifert
-
Outdoor Lighting
-
femisex
-
angelarosepave
-
hoteles en pinamar
-
Group Medical Insurance
Get Social
Flickr
Out Campaign
The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.
