Here in California, we take our celebrities very seriously. We love it when they become immersed in controversy perhaps because it provides a diversion from some of the other more complex and difficult issues of the day. Here we have a controversy that does both. Although it has been decades since the crime and acknowledgement of it by Roman Polanski, he used his money and fame to skirt any consequence until now. His predicament has brought out many of Hollywood's top celebrities to his defense. At the same time, the issue of violence against women, and sexual violence in particular continues to be a serious concern in our society.We at Speak Out California are committed to women's equality and dignity. It is one of the fundamental principles of a just and equal society. Women's rights advocate and friend of Speak Out California, Janice Rocco, has today's guest column on the subject.
Who is Roman Polanski?
A guest post by Janice Rocco of California National Organization for Women.
Who is Roman Polanski and what should the consequences of his actions be? That question seems to have a surprisingly different answer depending on one's vantage point. To more than 100 in the international film community who signed a petition demanding his "immediate release", he is apparently first and foremost "one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers" whose freedom should not be taken away. To me, a women who was a child growing up in Los Angeles when Roman Polanski pled guilty to a sex crime against a child, he is a rapist who fled justice and has yet to take responsibility for a crime that harmed a 13 year old girl, her family and the rest of us who have watched him evade justice and thumb his nose at the legal system for more than three decades.
The fact that violence against women is commonplace in this country and around the globe does not make it acceptable or mean that when a talented celebrity is the perpetrator that we should ignore that a serious crime took place. The fact that in popular culture, including many films, women are often portrayed in demeaning ways and violence is often sexualized does not mean that women and their families and friends aren't devastated by the crime of rape each and every day.
How many women in this country and others, especially women who have survived a sexual assault, watched the Academy Awards the year that Polanski won the best director award and felt anger, pain or disgust as an audience full of his colleagues in the film industry cheered for this man who still doesn't have the decency to turn himself in?
Though a lot of people have been educated about rape since 1977 when Polanski pled guilty to raping a 13 year old girl, some still want to believe that rape is something that only takes place in a dark alley and is committed by a stranger. Reality is that the majority of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. That doesn't make the crime any less traumatic or mean that anything less than a prison sentence is appropriate for those who commit this violent crime.
One shouldn't have to read the grand jury testimony of a 13 year old girl to understand the seriousness of what occurred back in 1977. Polanski was charged with giving a drug to a minor, committing a lewd act upon a person less than 14, rape of a minor, rape by use of a drug, oral copulation and sodomy. All the charges were felonies. He was allowed to plead guilty to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in order to spare the young woman the difficulty of having to testify publicly when her identity was not yet known to the public.
Thirty-two years have passed since Polanski's guilty plea and he hadn't spent a day in jail since fleeing this country until authorities in Switzerland took Polanski into custody last weekend. The number of years that a rich and powerful man has successfully evaded justice, should be considered when he is sentenced for his crime, but only from the standpoint that his evasion of justice should bring a more severe penalty than he would have received three decades ago for what already was a very serious crime.
There are those who say that since the woman who survived this rape over thirty years ago has forgiven Polanski and wants to put this behind her, he should not be punished by the legal system. Those people forget that this is a case of The People of the State of California vs. Roman Polanski and that justice has yet to be served. If Roman Polanski wants to help put this behind the woman who he harmed so many years ago, he should stop fighting extradition and return to California for his sentencing hearing for the crime to which he pled guilty.
Justice is rarely done when celebrities commit crimes. The victims are generally re-victimized by the media coverage and often the perpetrators receive little in the way of punishment for their crimes. It is long past time that Roman Polanski faces the consequences for his crimes. Justice should not be delayed even one more day.
- Janice Rocco, Southwest Regional Director of the National Organization for Women (NOW)
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