For those of you who don't know who Roman Polanksi, here's an introduction.
He's a very famous Oscar winning director of such classics as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist. He is a revered artist worldwide and commands legions of fans.
He is also a pedophile.
Now, if any of you regularly keep up with the news, odds are you have heard about the latest concerning Polanski: That after 31 years as a refugee from the United States, he has been arrested in Switzerland and faces extradition to Los Angeles on grounds of sleeping with a minor. This charge is something he has plead guilty to. How old was the minor? She was 13. How old was Polanski? 44.
There's nothing right about that. There's also nothing right about the US waiting more than thirty years to go after a guy who is an admitted pederast. Just because he's Roman Polanski, someone back in the seventies decided that it would be a better idea to just leave him alone.
Since he fled, Polanski has done everything except keep a low profile. He's made films, he's gone to parties, he's even gotten married again. How is this even possible? If this were any other man, US authorities would have hounded him to no end. Instead, Polanski gets an academy award presented to him by Harrison Ford for all the world to see (see here).
Now, maybe I don't understand all the potentially extenuating circumstances in the case: I know his wife Sharon Tate was killed by Charles Manson's followers, and perhaps the girl lied to him about her age, but he's still an admitted sex offender and nobody did anything about for more than 30 years.
France, the place where Polanski first fled to, does have limited extradition treaties with the US, but even still, the fact that this has seemingly happened all of a sudden seems extremely strange to me. To be honest, this just seems to be another example of the double standards that riddle our society. Celebrities historically have gotten off easier than the average Joe, but this is just ridiculous.
Why, after all this time? Was Polanski in fact dogged by US officials for decades and was so Catch Me if You Can good at it he could still make films around the world while managing evasion? Did he happen to piss someone off in the Justice Department all of a sudden. I'm very curious to find out. The answer may lie years ahead as apparently his extradition could take that long.
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