Harlepolis said:

Yeah, I was gonna tell Ivy to add Harvey to her list.

He's killing me with that bullshit about Hollywood being a moral compass. I think he meant "amoral compass" considering how Hollywood perpetuates hella negative stereotypes, is more about greed than art, and he's produced some of the most violent films ever. Get the hell on with that shit, Harv

Genesia said:

Finally, some sanity in this thread!!!!!

Harlepolis said:

More like out of touch

http://www.latimes.com/en...5914.story

In Roman Polanski case, is it Hollywood vs. Middle America?

From Michael Moore's politics to on-screen sex and violence, the movie business is constantly being assailed for not sharing the country's values. Rarely has the morality argument been as rancorous as with the Roman Polanski case.

Hollywood is rallying behind the fugitive filmmaker. Top filmmakers are signing a pro-Polanski petition, Whoopi Goldberg says the director didn't really commit rape, and Debra Winger complains "the whole art world suffers" in such arrests.

The rest of the nation seems to hold a dramatically different perspective on Polanski's weekend capture. Even if decades have passed since he fled Los Angeles before his 1978 sentencing, Polanski must be extradited and serve his time, the thinking goes. There's no excuse for forcing sex on a 13-year-old girl. People who defend him have no principles.

In letters to the editor, comments on Internet blogs and remarks on talk radio and cable news channels, the national sentiment is running overwhelmingly against Polanski -- and the industry's support of the 76-year-old "Pianist" Oscar winner.

How can Hollywood (where it's almost impossible to find anyone publicly condemning Polanski) and almost everyone else see the same story in an opposite light? Is it proof that the movie business is amoral, or just that it believes that Polanski has suffered in his personal and professional life and paid his debt to society? Is Hollywood's position that we're-better-than-you elitist while the rest of the country's is everybody-obeys-the-law populist?

"The split between what the rest of the world thinks about Polanski and what Hollywood thinks about Polanski is quite remarkable," said film historian David Thomson. "It proves what an old-fashioned and provincial club Hollywood is. People look after their own."

When Mel Gibson launched into an anti-Semitic screed following his 2006 arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, hardly any Hollywood leaders -- agent Ari Emanuel and Sony studio chief Amy Pascal among the few exceptions -- publicly rebuked the actor. The criticism of Hollywood at the time was that in a business contingent on relationships and currying favor with the powerful, no one was willing to denounce such a prominent artist.

Melissa Silverstein, who runs the feminist movie blog Women & Hollywood and does online marketing for films aimed at women, was angered by the industry's reaction to Polanski's arrest and found the silence of disapproval "deafening."

"I think people are afraid to talk in Hollywood. They are afraid about their next job," she said. "I don't know where the women of Hollywood are. This is an opportunity for them to stand up for their daughters."

Jonathan Kuntz, a visiting professor in UCLA's Cinema and Media Studies school, said the local reaction may be a version of the "there, but for the grace of God, go I." "I think that there are a lot of folks in Hollywood in the late '60s and '70s who may have done a lot of things they weren't really proud of, and may have been participating in very similar things," Kuntz said. "And it touches on a question that's been around for a long time: whether the celebrity is above the law."

Some of the industry's most prominent women said they believe Polanski, who faces a sentence as low as probation and as high as 16 months in prison for pleading guilty to having sex with a minor, should be freed. "My personal thoughts are let the guy go," said Peg Yorkin, founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation. "It's bad a person was raped. But that was so many years ago. The guy has been through so much in his life. It's crazy to arrest him now. Let it go. The government could spend its money on other things."

The victim, Samantha Geimer, who reached a private settlement with Polanski, has said the charges against the director should be dismissed.

Film executives and artists who support Polanski say the director of "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown" was unfairly targeted twice: first by the since-deceased Superior Court judge who reneged on a sentencing deal, and second by the Los Angeles district attorney's office for arranging his arrest when he arrived for the Zurich Film Festival, where Polanski was to receive a lifetime achievement award.

More than 100 industry leaders and prominent authors -- including directors Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Michael Mann, Mike Nichols, Woody Allen and Neil Jordan -- have signed a petition asking that Polanski be released from Swiss custody. "Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision," the petition says.

On the television show "The View," Goldberg said, "I think he's sorry. I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society."

In an opinion piece in London's the Independent, Weinstein Co. co-founder Harvey Weinstein, who is circulating the pro-Polanski petition, wrote: "Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time. A deal was made with the judge, and the deal is not being honored. . . . This is the government of the United States not giving its word and recanting on a deal, and it is the government acting irresponsibly and criminally."

In an interview, Weinstein said that people generally misunderstand what happened to Polanski at sentencing. He's not convinced public opinion is running against the filmmaker and dismisses the categorization of Hollywood as amoral. "Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion," Weinstein said. "We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11. We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe."

Producer Bo Zenga ("Scary Movie," "Soul Plane"), is one of the few executives taking a different view. "I don't actually believe that people in Hollywood would put protecting their own above a 13-year-old girl who was raped," he said.

"I think these people have honestly forgotten what this is really about. Everyone needs to go back and read the grand jury testimony to remember how vicious this rape was because right now everyone thinks we're debating whether or not Polanski got a raw deal. It irritates me that people around the world think that all of Hollywood is saying that the rapist is the victim. Because I don't feel that way, and neither do most of the people I talk with."

First off, where the hell has this brawd been?


Second, who knew Polanski was the life blood of the art world.

DesireeNevermind said:

Something is definitely in the water...

uPtoWnNY said:

And you know what it is so, I'm gonna bite my tongue on this.

Harlepolis said:

SCNDLS said:

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/...e-20091002

See why Chris will forever be my mofo???

Chris Rock on Roman Polanski: "It's Rape!"

Chris Rock says he doesn't understand why fellow filmmakers are News: Fellow filmmakers call for Roman Polanski's release of Roman Polanski, saying of the charges against him, "It's rape."

"People are defending Roman Polanski because he made some good movies? Are you kidding me?" Rock said on Thursday's Jay Leno Show. "He made good movies 30 years ago, Jay! Even Johnnie Cochran didn't have the nerve to go, 'Well, did you see O.J. play against New England?'"

More than 100 filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, of whom Rock is a fan, have signed a petition voicing their objection to Polanski's arrest on 32-year-old charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, when he was 43. On Saturday, Zurich authorities arrested the Oscar-winning director, who fled the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with the girl.'

"C'mon, man! She's 13! I've seen some hot 16-year-olds that look 18, 17 that look 18. Thirteen is 13! No one gets away with having sex with a 13-year-old," Rock said.

"Rape. It's rape! Rape is No. 2. It's murder, then rape," the comedian continued. "It's No. 2. Like the United States, we want to capture Osama bin Laden and murder him. We're not going to rape him. That would be barbaric."

Rock is among only a few celebrities who have criticized the swell of support behind Polanski, 76. Jewel and The View's Sherri Shepherd both voiced their disapproval on Twitter.

Chris, don't be surprised when they pull the rug from under your career

Word up though, thats a REAL man talking those who supported Polanski should NEVER refer to themselves as "parents".

T4P, Miss Cynda.

SCNDLS said:

Yeah, where the fuck is that big-mouth Barbara Streisand? Has she said anything about this? Where's Julia Roberts? Goldie Hawn? Bunch of fucking limousine liberals.

Hollywood likes to paint itself as so damn progressive - please. It's nothing but a big good ole boys system.

uPtoWnNY said:

More like a high priced whorehouse chains to me.
[Edited 10/2/09 15:19pm]

Wouldn't you think someone who'd been in this kind of trouble would learn from it?

Nope.

Here's Polanski with some obviously underaged honeys in St. Tropez shortly after he fled sentencing...

Genesia said:

Yah they do look like teens and in saying that they also don't seem like they are there being held against their will!

PanthaGirl said:

We have no idea what happened after these photos were taken.

Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that he orally, vaginally and anally raped a 13-year-old.

PanthaGirl said:

So?

Those girls that R.Kelly pissed on in his video don't seem like they were being against their will, so was Woody Allen's wife who was his adopted daughter.

The point is, those grown scums should've practiced a better a judgement.

Harlepolis said:

Exactly! He's a middle-aged man who made a habit of approaching, seducing, and fucking under aged girls. Regardless of whether he used force or not in every case doesn't matter because in every case it was still WRONG and ILLEGAL.

SCNDLS said:

Let some of these people in this thread watch their OWN children get raped,,,,and we'll hear what type of tune they'll be singing.

Harlepolis said:

such nice sentiments

PANDURITO said:

Not as nice as the patting on the back treatment he gets in this thread

Harlepolis said:

Indeed

SCNDLS said:

Telling choice of words. "gets away with"?

Harlepolis said:

Yah and? Comparing it to other cases is pointless. The law states a lot of bullshit yet there are millions of promiscuous teens worldwide seducing men of all ages so basically it takes 2 to tango and yah these men should have known better due to the law but I see both sides to it.

Genesia said:

Oh, poor, poor Roman Polanski. Subjected to years of self-imposed exile in such a nasty place like St. Tropez/France.

Harlepolis said:

Wishing rape upon a strangers child to prove a point is basically evil in its purest form....

PanthaGirl said:

Oh, yeah. That's much worse than being an apologist for an actual baby raper. Like you.

Genesia said:

That is totally out of line and U know it!

http://jezebel.com/537288...oplay=true

LMAO!!!!!

IT'S RAPE!!!!!


Roman Polanski is dirt.
Anybody that supports him is also.


Im just sayin...

PanthaGirl said:

You are very well entitled to your opinion but it nonetheless makes me very sad.

We expect adults to know better, to take care of kids and not abuse them. We do not expect these people to take advantage of young girls.

Harlepolis said:

We know better than letting our children hang around in middle-aged celebrities' facilities in order to put some money in our pockets...