Roman Polanski, or pardon me but your poll is in my neck.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/29/polanski.filmmakers.protest/t1home.freepolanski.gi.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/29/polanski.filmmakers.protest/index.html

I couldn't care less about his life, but if the victim doesn't care neither do I the end

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/931/fpol.jpg

Suggest ban for mismatching fonts.

It goes with the orange badge on pinstripes.

I think it's weird how many people seem up in arms about that SICK BASTARD child rapist this week, but didn't have anything to say about it last week or the last two decades.

yeah that is weird. did something happen recently that made this a hot topic? weeeeeirdddd.

Yes... Polanski was arrested in Switzerland last Saturday for extradition to the US.

I think jeff was being sarcastic.

I don't even know anymore.

it was sarcasm but it wasn't sarcasm-sarcasm.

I've been kind of pissed about it for a while. When I found out, I sold my Columbia House sealed Chinatown VHS for 1 dollar plus shipping fees on Amazon.

better to be a filth peddler than a holder of sympathizer video nasties.

I don't watch Sleepers or Powder either.

I remember that my friend Jennifer and I were the only people in the theater who laughed at the Roman Polanski joke in Beautiful Girls.

I just find the badges to be in incredibly poor taste. The guy is a fugitive child rapist, not Nelson Mandela. Sure, he's a friend and colleague to many of these movie folk, so naturally some of them will be in his corner, but a public campaign in support of him is fucked up and wrong.

this book was tight: http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/15950000/15957379.JPG

nobody who inspired a thread this great should have to face justice imo

It angers me when I read people rallying to his defense. He drugged and raped a 13 year old. No matter what else (great director, he hasn't done anything else wrong since doing the crime,...) lessens the rape. Nothing. Fuck him, the pedophile

Yeah,

"Oh, it's OK, he produced lots of great films while on the run. Not like Gary Glitter, who hasn't made any music since he ran off..."

Seventy-six years old, a survivor of Nazism and of Stalinist persecutions in Poland, Roman Polanski risks spending the rest of his life in jail

-- Bernard Henry-Levy

lol @ the most blatant example of "jews are and will be innocent of everything they are accused of everywhere forever and ever because of nazism" defense yet

― StanM, Tuesday, September 29, 2009 6:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ummmmm okaaaaay, INTERESTING take on BHL there.

Yeah, I'm the worst troll ever sometimes :-(

Just curious: Who are the vocal defenders of Polanski that say he shouldn't be sent to jail? I looked around but couldn't figure out which "Hollywood celebrities" have been willing to put their names to defending him publicly.

Personally, I think it's just to try him for the crime. Years in Europe != Time Served, and if he has extenuating circumstances (Nazis/Dead Wifes/Whatevers) that might mitigate the case, he can present that like any other defendant. If defenders are like, "I really love his films, and it's hard for me to reconcile that love with what I know about his crimes," that's one thing and I empathize with it, but if they're like, "He's old / He's too good a film maker / etc to be tried for his crimes..." that's totally bizarre.

Nevermind. Found a link.

Zachary Taylor, who was the pervert involved in Sleepers? Hope it wasn't Barry Levinson.

I understand the impulse to avoid these films. In my house, we don't watch Pee Wee or listen to the music of Elton John.

BHL still serves up a huge portion of emotional blackmail to make his 'special privileges' argument. DENIED.

As fantastic a filmmaker as I believe Polanski to be (and I'd argue that experiences in his early life enhance his practice in many ways) that in no way excuses him from a rape charge, even if the victim claims to have moved on. That's enabling behaviour reinforcing the idea that 'she'll get over it' and 'he'll get away with it' which IMO is fucking up rape conviction rates as it is. Also that whole rape-rape comment: was Whoopi Goldberg not a victim of same, and if so, WTF?

Maybe people are just really tired of having the "Can Art Be Valuable And Still Be Made By An Ethical Douchebag" conversation and were hoping to avoid seminar questions in the future like, "Why do we have to study Chinatown if Polanski was a rapist?" And, I gotta imagine, a lot of talented filmmakers probably see their own skill and talent as a sort of referendum on their own ethical/moral value (not unlike millionaires who believe they're wealthy because Jesus loves them), and so a talented filmmaker who is a total sleazebag might be problematic to that vision.

Tho that's all challops cause it's probably just bros defending bros, and God knows petition signer Woody Allen doesn't have a flawless record in the creepy sexual department.

Chinatown is all about totally unscrupulous people so being directed by Captain Rapey adds a layer; sometimes the only thing of value an ethical douchebag leaves is art.

I think it's weird how many people seem up in arms about that SICK BASTARD child rapist this week, but didn't have anything to say about it last week or the last two decades.

Ummmmm....the thread was revived cuz of the news?

Yeah, no one's saying we should destroy his films. Of course, if they do, I will come down hard on such douchery with a walloping ban suggestion.

Oh god: someone try to watch Sharon Tate's sister speak, zombie-like, to Matt Lauer. She insisted that the "encounter" was "consensual."

Lauer is such a coward that he can't even say, "Have you read the transcript?"

I ban Matt Lauer.

What's kinda fucked up is:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #482 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV) for Rosemary's Baby.

The highest ranking for Chinatown is in the 1,000s, but there are 4 or 5 different versions of that you can buy.

maybe they're assuming rosemary's baby is an erotic study of said infant.

Yeah, no one's saying we should destroy his films. Of course, if they do, I will come down hard on such douchery with a walloping ban suggestion.

― boring movies are the most boring (Eric H.), Wednesday, September 30, 2009 12:16 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i realize that in france the sick practice of "auteurism" has led to directors having certain legal "rights" in relation to films on they have worked, but i'm fairly sure that the best films that bear the name "polanski" are safely owned and controlled by the good people at paramount, or viacom, or gulf & western, as it might be.

Perverts.

Oh god: someone try to watch Sharon Tate's sister speak, zombie-like, to Matt Lauer. She insisted that the "encounter" was "consensual."

― Roman Polanski now sleeps in prison. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, September 30, 2009 7:21 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I saw this this morning, it was on at my gym. It was almost sad how bad a job she did in defense of Polanski. I think the whole point of statutory rape laws is that a 13 year old is not legally capable of giving "consent" to an adult to have a sexual encounter. People like Whoopi Goldberg and what's her name Tate do not seem to understand this. It IS rape because its impossible to give consent.

it was also rape because the girl said "no," over and over and over again

someone try to watch Sharon Tate's sister speak, zombie-like, to Matt Lauer. She insisted that the "encounter" was "consensual."

Funny how she's always going on about "victim's rights" any time one of Manson family goes up for parole, but when it comes to a child rapist it's totally a-ok if he never has to answer for his crime.

she said "no" but it wasn't "no-no"

No, no no! No "No! No", no no-no. No?

There's no limit.

What's kinda fucked up is:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #482 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV) for Rosemary's Baby.

The highest ranking for Chinatown is in the 1,000s, but there are 4 or 5 different versions of that you can buy.

Why is that fucked up? It's a horror "classic" and we're heading straight into horror/Halloween season.

also it was directed pre-rape, if that helps.

Old New Statesman comp winner: greeting from a dinner party host most likely to make you leave immediately ...

"Roman Polanski's here, and he's simply dying to meet your daughter!"

I couldn't care less about his life, but if the victim doesn't care neither do I the end

But the crime (not the tort) is not against her, it is against the State. To evolve from blood feuds and a legal system that essentially looked at most non-treasonous or non-blasphemous crimes as misdeeds against indivduals, the Common Law instituted the King's Peace, known here as simply 'the Peace'. Polansky's victim's opinion may indeed be relevant to sentencing but let us note that he has already pled guilty to the crime - it's the sentencing and punishment that remain to be determined.

We seem to be gaining a lot of ground in this thread.

Why is that fucked up? It's a horror "classic" and we're heading straight into horror/Halloween season.

Eh, okay, but the same thing happened with the Mamas and the Papas Greatest Hits last week. I guess you could make the argument about us heading straight into the "all the leaves are brown" season...

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/nemesiscw/MichaelJacksonPopcorn.gif

I would be able to agree more with your point if there was a huge increase in a bunch of his movies, but a horror movie spiking in Fall doesn't really jump out as a startling statistic. I'd be interested to see past years sales trends for Rosemary's Baby this time of year. But like I said, if you were showing me that 6 of his movies suddenly shot into the top 1000 or something, I'd be included to agree with you.

If there is a surge in sales, it can probably just be chalked up to morbid fascination. Like, let's see what kinda movies this pervy guy we never heard of before makes! Independent of current events, I think it's only a good thing if more people are exposed to his films. It's just too bad that this current mess had to be the promotional blitz.