Rogue artists are as ancient as art itself. Evaluate the art, not the artist, is a maxim that has some merit. The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski, was a brilliant portrayal of the the endless betrayals of the Holocaust. It was an important contribution. That, we may say.
We may also say that this is irrelevant to the apparent end of Roman Polanskis long escape from justice, because, when it comes to Polanskis conviction for sexual assault, it is the artist, not the art, that is up for judgment.
Holocaust survivors like Polanski are as victimized as any group ever to have lived. Some wondrously transcend the wicked wounds of the experience, and some do not. For those who do not, and for that small minority who carry their Holocaust wounds and also become criminals, empathy but not escape from justice is in order. Roman Polanski, a Holocaust victim who miraculously survived, stands convicted of sexual assault.
His Holocaust background is irrelevant to the apparent end of his long escape from justice, because, when it comes to Polanskis conviction, there could be no greater assault on the reputation and post-Holocaust courage of Holocaust survivors than to allow Polanski to escape justice because he is a survivor.
It happened a long time ago, in 1977, to be exact, we frequently hear, in defense of Polanski. This is what the defenders are defending: drugging, then raping and sodomizing, a 13-year-old girl. Now, Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland after cheating justice in the US more than 30 years ago, living a life of freedom and acclaim, all the while convincing a certain elite that he is above the law.
It happened long ago: So, too, may we say of countless cases of Catholic priests who molested congregants! If there is to be no statute of limitation for the offending priests as well there should not be so, too, with Roman Polanski.
The truth is, almost every person who perpetuates a sexual assault has a background that can elicit sympathy. Polanski, whose life is indeed sate with blood and tragedy (this survivors pregnant wife was murdered in 1969), might be a sort of Hollywood embodiment of the Biblical Job, with an important twist: Job lashed out at G-d, not at people. To commit rape is not something to be forgotten, escaped from, rationalized away or allowed to fade away, whatever ones background.
The people most weary over the Polanski brouhaha are those who run organizations to protect children. They have seen every manner of indifference, violence and rationalization. In Polanskis case, they see it all, only with an added Hollywood gloss. The artistry of the criminal generates Hollywoods perverted attempt to hold him above the law. Minus Hollywood, the dynamic is the same: Sympathy for the criminal takes precedence over the crime or the victim or both.
The same rage that greeted the revelation of the deeds of Catholic clerical miscreants must now, finally, come down on Roman Polanski.
Whether your name is Roman Polanski, Marc Rich or Ted Kennedy, status should not be allowed to secure freedom from justice; and subsequent achievements should not be allowed to obscure injustice.
Roman Polanski should be extradited to Los Angeles to face justice including, obviously, his long flight from justice. Polanski belongs in court and in jail, not on the set.
Value the movies he has made, if you wish. Value him? No, for it is now the person, not his art, that is under scrutiny.
Long overdue.
