Do you watch Roman Polanski's movies knowing he is accused of raping a 13 year old?

Actually, it could be easily resolved. Back in the 90s, the judge handling Polanski's case promised that he would do no jail time if he turned up to a televised court hearing. Naturally, Polanski understanRAB just how damaging it would be for his career if people could see him in such a light.

I guess the coward's still not sorry enough to exchange some face and reputation for violating that 13 year old in the way he did.



Some crimes taint everything else. I really liked Gary Glitter once. I remember dressing up as one of the Glitter Band in primary school for a play on music by the decades, laughing and miming along to 'Leader of the Gang'. But would I listen to his music now? No f---ing way. It's all ruined for me.

We're not talking about some celebrity who did some shoplifting, spouted some drunken, racist abuse or got into a brawl at the airport. We're talking about a series of very, very serious crimes which occurred over the course of a few weeks.
 
Do I need to justify it?
It always makes me laugh the way some people suddenly find Gary Glitters music rubbish or Chris Langham unfunny when they felt the opposite before.

The quality of Polanskis films has not altered one bit and a boxset of his movies sits proudly on my shelf.

And he's not even been found guilty anyway - not that his proven guilt would actually change anything
 
He makes great movies so of course i'll still watch them, couldn't really give a monkeys about his personal life.

It's not like he's the only one, Victor Salva, Jeffrey Jones, hell Jerry Lee Lewis married a 13 year old. All this stuff and much worse is still going on in hollywood, I mean Jack Nicolson, isn't he meant to have a thing for ladies of the younger variety, what do you think all these rockstars were up to, you don't think say a band like The Rolling Stones didn't have their fair share of 13/14 year old groupies up with them getting wasted and playing "tidlywinks"

I mean should I stop listening to the Sex Pistols because Sid Vicious was a murderer, or not listen to any Spector produced music? Should I not watch any John Landis movies as he broke and ignored all sorts of rules and regulations which led too three people, including two children being decapated?

The entertainment industry and especially hollywood (behind closed doors) is a seriously depraved place I would imagine, I think it was Kevin Smith who moved to Hollywood and said he found out so much weird stuff about what these actors were up to, one well known actor apparently couldn't get off unless he layed under a glass table and had girls take a shit on it, god knows what the rest of them are up to.

I'm not saying it's right but i'm just saying if you're going to take a moral standpoint like the one you have you might as well give up on, art, film or music altogether as a hell of alot of this sort of stuff goes on.

Me personally if it's good i'll watch or listen to it, if it's not I wont. That's why I won't listen to Gary Glitter, his music is terrible.
 
He's made some great movies, before and after that incident.

The quality of the movies does not change because their auteur is guilty of a serious crime.

Are people no longer buying albums from the 1960s that Phil Spector produced? His crime was far more serious than Polanski's.
 
^^I agree. I was more surprised Jeffrey Jones got a major part in Deadwood than anything to do with Polanski. (Though I do think Jones was good in it.)
 
Not to mention Jeepers Creepers and Powder because of what Victor Salva did?

To be fair, the charges against Arthur C Clarke were unfounded and were never proven.
 
Glitter was sh*t while Polanski is a really talented director.
I personally think he has suffered enough in his life. He grew up in a concentration camp, his wife Sharon was murdered while she was pregnant. he was in a very intoxicated state when the alleged incident happened. (Both parties were).
He is now 76, the incident happened over 30 years ago. Give him a break.
 
Why should I have to justify watching and enjoying his films?

Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby and The Pianist are all fantastic and some of my favourite films. The director doesn't change my enjoyment of them and I won't be made to feel guilty about liking them.
 
The reaction between Polanski and Jacko couldn't be more distinct... What a curio!

As far as I'm concerned, if the person who had it done to them wants to drop the case, then they should drop the case.

I'm sure they could spend much more money on someone like Bin Laden who is far, far more dangerous.
 
Yes...and I watch Jeepers Creepers knowing what the director did to one of his previous cast members and Tim Allen stuff knowing he's a convicted drug dealer and I listen to Phil Spector tunes etc....and no doubt lots of other examples where I have no idea and therefore no reaction.

I admit Polanski is an unusual case. For a start he hasn't served his time like the examples above. On the other hand some would argue that he has paid for his crime to some extent and his victim wants him to be forgiven and there's no suggestion he has repeated it over the intervening decades or is a danger to society. The other point I would make is that, although crimes are naturally put into neat little categories, each case neeRAB to be judged individually...so comparisons can only go so far.

Nonetheless I can't deny I'm a little uncomfortable with how very sympathetically he seems to be treated compared to other high profile cases....but I can't say it puts me off enjoying his films.
 
Nothing the man's done changes the fact that every film i've seen from his is bloody brilliant.

He may be a despicable person, i've never really read up on it, but it's a completely seperate issue.
 
He got off lightly on that one, no doubt. Mind you, she was fit. I was thirteen when the story broke, and remember thinking 'you lucky bastard'. It is then I decided I wanted to be a rock star.
 
Yes, reading the Wikipedia stuff on the case it does appear that he was guilty. Also, looking at pictures of the victim aged 13 it's hard to see that anyone could mistake her for being of legal age of consent - so, yes, Polanski's officially a peadophile.

Does that mean we should all boycott his films? I don't know, is the answer. Should he have gone to jail? Most certainly - he knowingly broke the law and should've faced the consequences of his actions. Should he still face the prosepect of jail? I don't think there's a statute of limitations on the offence - so, yes must be the answer to that too.

RegarRAB

Mark
 
It's important that criminals not profit from their crimes, but I don't see how that applies here. If someone does good and bad things, we should praise the good and condemn the bad, shouldn't we?

How would condemning the good help?
 
I also assume the fact he survived the holocaust gives him some leeway as well. Steven Spielberg wanted him to direct Schindler's List, but he said no.
 
I remember when the story first broke out and thought no way is she as young as that. She looked so much older.

I guess that's partly the problem with rock banRAB, film stars and anyone famous who have loaRAB of female groupies and fans around them. I'm sure in their heightened state of super stardom, they think anything goes with anybody they fancy for the taking......and I don't doubt that many of the fans will say no, regardless of their age.

However, Mandy Smith is a prime example of a young female who looked so much older and there must be scores of others just like her. That must be a factor at least with many rock banRAB travelling around the world having one night stanRAB. I'm sure asking for proof of ID is the last thing on their mind when they are boozed up or drugged to the eyeballs and ready to party with willing female fans, especially if they are made up to look much older than they really are.

As for the OP's original question - I've watched all of Polanski's films. That said, I never really knew the full story until recently. Would that have changed my mind in hinRABight, I doubt it. And in fact, I'm glad that I did because his films are excellent and well worth viewing.
 
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