A long-running conservative complaint about Hollywood is that it’s out of touch with mainstream America, but America likely didn‘t know how out of touch until last week: The “artistic community” rose to the defense of child rapist Roman Polanski.

Polanski, you will recall, is the movie director who gave us “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Chinatown” and other cinematic gems and became one of the unfortunate victims of the most notorious murder spree in the 20th century. Charles Manson and his gang of perverted hippies murdered his wife, actress Sharon Tate, and five others at his home in August 1969.

Polanski, however, is a bit of a pervert himself. On March 10, 1977, he lured 13-year-old Samantha Geimer to thespian Jack Nicholson’s house under the guise of photographing her. He drugged her, plied her with alcohol and raped her. His deeds included oral and anal sodomy. Although Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, he fled the country while awaiting sentencing. He had served just 42 days for the despicable crime.

Now he is a French citizen, and after 32 years on the lam, Swiss police arrested him in Zurich on his way to a film festival. He awaits extradition to the United States for his crime, and that is what has the glitterati frothing with rage. The art community is ready to rumble.

A group of actors and directors, including Woody Allen, Martin Scorcese and Monica Belucci (“The Passion Of The Christ”) got up a petition to protest the arrest. They are speechless, they fume, at the indignity of the 77-year-old rapist’s arrest. And all for a minor “case of morals,” says their petition, which runs, partly as follows:　

According to Variety, the film industry’s tabloid, “[t]he German Film Academy also condemned Polanski's detention: “The German Film Academy finds it revolting,” ran their statement, “that Roman Polanski has been arrested for an act committed more than 30 years ago.” The film academy doesn’t likely “find it revolting” when the United States deports Nazi war criminals for acts committed more than 50 years ago, but in any event celebrities everywhere registered their angst and despair. Debra Winger, the film festival’s jury president, thundered about Switzerland’s “philistine collusion” in wrecking her event. Whoopi Goldberg of “The View” said Polanski “did not rape her. ... It wasn’t rape-rape.”

To their credit, not all Hollywood stars agreed with the assessment of the “artistic community,” including Paul Petersen, who played Jeff Stone on the “The Donna Reed Show” in the 1950s and runs an outfit called A Minor Consideration, which is dedicated to protecting child stars:

“I can’t believe that Hollywood has separated itself so completely from American morality,” he told CNN. “It is yet another case of Hollywood being out of sync with most of America.” He blames the silence of those who know they should speak on their fear of the Hollywood Left, although some don’t care about Leftist power. At his Web site, Petersen said, “[i]n Polanski’s case it's time for both the Message and the Messenger to be brought to account by our legal system. We can do our part by carefully noting who has signed the Polanski Petition and then evaluating our choices as consumers.”Kirstie Alley twittered her fans and followers: “JUST FOR THE RECORD....RAPE IS RAPE...this is one HOLLYWOOD STAR who does not CELEBRATE or DEFEND Roman Polanski..his ART did not RAPE her.”

For her part, the victim, Samantha Geimer, who sued the director and received a settlement, says she has forgiven him and long ago moved on with her life. “I have dealt with the difficulties of being a victim, have surmounted and surpassed them with one exception,” she wrote to a judge in January. “Every time this case is brought to the attention of the court, great focus is made of me, my family, my mother and others. That attention is not pleasant to experience and is not worth maintaining over some irrelevant legal nicety, the continuation of the case.” She wrote a similar letter in 1997. Geimer wants the matter dropped, and is unhappy because this arrest has, to use the patois, “reopened old wounds.” So the victim finds herself allied with the “artistic community.”

That community’s opinion is so preposterous it deserves no answer, and as for the victim, one can only say this: As much as we might like to grant her wish, justice will not allow it. While the courts routinely consider victim testimony and impact statements during sentencing, victims do not determine the punishment. It may certainly be true, as the victim said, that Polanski poses no threat and has served some time and created several cinematic masterpieces. And it is good and right that she has forgiven him. But her sentiments also assume that deterrence and protecting the public are the only concerns in this case. They aren’t. Justice must be done, and until Polanski serves some sentence or gets some punishment, he will not have paid for his crime. That’s why the authorities were right to arrest him. After 32 years on the lam and living life as he pleased, it‘s time for Polanski to pay.

But back to Hollywood’s hysterics.

Imagine, as Father Thomas Reese wrote in The Washington Post, if this were "Father Polanski," a Catholic priest. Imagine the outcry had a Catholic priest escaped the law after pleading guilty to such a crime, and pursued his priestly avocation in a foreign country for 40 years. Hollywood’s artistés would hardly be so forgiving. Indeed, they would be howling from the rafters for justice to be done.

And they would be right. Now, if they could just apply that standard of justice to their rapist friend.

R. Cort Kirkwood, managing editor of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va., has been writing about American politics and culture for more than 20 years, beginning his career as an editorial writer at The Washington Times. In addition, Kirkwood has written for Chronicles, The New American, National Review, The Remnant, The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, The Baltimore Sun, The Orange County Register, Taki’s Top Drawer online magazine, and LewRockwell.com. Mr. Kirkwood is the author of the nonfiction title, Real Men: Ten Courageous Americans To Know And Admire, published by Cumberland House.

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Bonnie said:

	Woody Allen It figures... the child molesters have to stick together!
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October 05, 2009
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Larry Brown said:

	... It didn't say what on what charge the Swiss arrested Polanski. Rape (already convicted) or failure to appear at his sentencing which is a separate crime.
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October 05, 2009 | url
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push gallery said:

These directors and Actors Alike make me sick... I have been in the film Industry for 8 years now working on countless Major Films, and Working with Countless Major directors and Actors, and this petition thing just makes me sick. And on top of this list of people making a case to free him are some of my favorite and most inspirational artists. Which really shows me that ones art and film can be so different then who they really are as people! Woopie Goldberg on the view stated in not the exact words but something along the lines of "People in 'America' view rape differently" You kidding me Woopie! just cause youve worked with this director or have a personal relationship with him does not excuse him for his actions! Come on David Lynch, Dennis Hopper? You guys are so talented and intellegent why can you not see past the glass mirror on this case and just take 45minutes to read through some of the court case trascriptions that are readily available on the internet and see how sick this guy really is and YES it was rape! its a strong word that I would never use if i didnt believe it was neccessary, but this guy no matter how talented he is, ruined this girls life one way or another! - www.pushgallery.com

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October 06, 2009 | url
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B said:

Polanski is scum, yes, and so is Hollywood-- but he's already paid for the crime The article notes that the victim sued Polanski and received a settlement. She can't ever be made whole for the damage he did her mind and body. But as far as "justice" goes, money in her pocket makes much more sense than throwing this guy in a cage and charging all us taxpayers--including poor Samantha--to feed and guard him. Prisons are corrupt, unjust, barbaric, cruel, and expensive. They do nothing but increase the State's power while harming millions of incarcerated innocents: unlike Polanski, many inmates haven't committed actual crimes but have only violated political whims codified as laws. We should return to the idea that justice requires restituting the victim, not imploring Leviathan to imprison more men.

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October 07, 2009
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