Conversation | 10/09/2009 3:30 pm

The wOw Conversation: The Predicament of Polanski? (Audio)

In this audio presentation, Liz Smith, Joan Juliet Buck and Julia Reed debate the debacle of Polanski’s predicament.

With Joan Juliet Buck, Julia Reed and Liz Smith

Image: PR Photos

wOw recently asked its community and Contributors: Do you think Roman Polanski should go to prison? The passion behind the arguments was evident, and so we invited a few of our wOw women to continue the discussion.

Liz Smith, Joan Juliet Buck and Julia Reed’s discussion follows. Click the play button to begin:

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JULIA: "And I think Liz’s point about the fact that in this country, and every country, you’ve got privileged people having a different set of rules. And, like you say, if this were … I mean, for a long time Catholic priests could get away with this kind of stuff."

JOAN: "This particular chick in the case that happened back in the ‘70s; the girl who Roman Polanski photographed for French Vogue. The assignment was for French Vogue. And this girl was not a random chick. She was a little girl around town in the hot pants who was used to doing qualudes. He was not the first man she’d had sex with … Now I’m not saying bad things about this kid, but I’m saying that this was not a 13-year-old schoolgirl in a uniform on her way back from school, got pulled into a car and raped by a strange man of 43."

LIZ: "So he went from being that rotten little joke that you heard to being somebody very distinguished. But he still broke the law and ran away and never took any chance to go back and mitigate what he had confessed."

148 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I don’t care what drugs she was taking. A thirteen year old is not grown. The fact that she made poor decisions is reflective of her maturity level. He is still a pedophile. So he can make a movie. Big deal. He is a movie-making pedphile.

By Susan Shankle on 10/09/2009 3:24 pm

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Anyone who is defending a pedophile could not possibly be a parent. 13, whether she is sexually active or not, is off limits. Her parents should have paid a penalty for parental neglect, and Roman Polanski is a degenerate and deserves to serve jail time. Please do not cite how difficult his life was. It is our job as responsible adults to protect every child. Her parents failed her and Polanski waltzed right in and took advantage of a child.

By Helen Moran on 10/09/2009 3:40 pm

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NICE JOAN:

Really nice, blame the kid. Thirteen years old and already a "girl about town" in hot pants. That is so sick, its a wonder your not in prison. As if maybe being a "wild child", makes it o.k. to drug and rape her. Everyone wore hot pants in those days, I did. Maybe you should become a defense attorney for rapists, don’t they ALWAYS blame the victim?

"Now I’m not saying bad things about this kid, but…"

Of course you are. As if wearing a school uniform, makes a difference. She was thirteen, not twenty three AND if she were twenty three, IT WOULD STILL BE RAPE, if she was drugged and kept saying no, no, no. You obviously don’t have a daughter, or if you do, I worry about the child.

By Lin Cercone on 10/09/2009 3:47 pm

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He’s had a thirty year get out of jail free card in the game of Monopoly in Hollywood already. As many of us on the outside, repeatedly LA seems to feel like slapping hands of bad boys and girls is sufficient while others in this country are serving very long term sentences for far lesser crimes. The difference seems to be locale and attorney’s. To smut a child in defense of his actions, or to imply being Jewish is a factor! Come on, that is really scraping a defense. Or that he doesn’t have to go to jail and "suffer" anymore? 90 days in jail is a slim sentence even for a DUI without any relevance to rape. I don’t "hate" Hollywood, but the legal system and how it applies to Hollywood and the rest of America is an ungoing joke. And yes I am from the Midwest, but not ignorant. I imagine there are prisons full of inmates that would wish "I’m Sorry" is sufficient regret. If anything this interview established the lines where Hollywood feels excusable, in different terms than to the rest of this country. WOW!

By Linda Myers on 10/09/2009 4:19 pm

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Hi Linda:

I couldn’ agree more, and I’m from Connecticut and New York. Obviously, there are rational, intelligent and moral people all over. I still can’t quite get over the fact that: the same posters who would give a child rapist a pass, want to burn David Letterman at the stakes for a relationship with a consenting adult. GO FIGURE!

Thanks for your intelligent insight, I needed to read it.

By Lin Cercone on 10/10/2009 4:22 pm

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Thank you. I really wonder why this conversation was even seen as needed on this forum. I respect WOW, the contributors and people here, but this conversation could well have been left as private between the three. Any overall value publicly was not seen. Discussions are great in a forum, this seemed like it was done more to incinerate on the level of a tabloid.

By Linda Myers on 10/10/2009 5:48 pm

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Hey Linda: I concur. Maybe Whoopie wasn’t dismissed, maybe she was disgusted.

By Lin Cercone on 10/10/2009 6:28 pm

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Whoopie has always seemed to forge her own path, taking up causes rather than defending for the sake of the entertainment industry. Remembering where she came from, I admire that about her. But then she didn’t come from Hollywood. Seems those that have, tend to stick together like a clan with a cause regardless of the actions of others. Entertainment is what it is, even reality in entertainment is not reality!

By Linda Myers on 10/10/2009 7:25 pm

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LINDA: I couldn’t agree more, Whoopie is NOT a follower, she’s always her own person.

I only wish she would make more movies. NO ONE could ever play a role like Whoopie. I can’t even imagine anyone replacing her ‘in any role she ever played’. I rarely buy movies, but I own almost every movie Whoopie has ever made. Can you imagine ANYONE else in Ghost? I understand Bette Midler was offered the role, but as much as I love Bette, No Way. Corrina Corrina, come on, what a terrific movie. The Long Walk Home, The Color Purple, etc, etc, etc. NO ONE can do with a role what Whoopie can do. I can think of very, very few actresses today who can OWN a movie, Whoopie is one.

I think she’s wasted on "The View", especially when BW keeps interrupting her with disclaimers, corrections, etc. Its so annoying. Oh well, enough about WG. Although, wouldn’t it be great if she started her own BLOG?

Back to the original issue: I do agree that there is a ‘certain’ clan from the old Hollywood who just stick together, no matter what. People who otherwise seem reasonably intelligent, like Candace Bergen - they seem to ‘get stuck’ in their irrational support of this pervert. Its a form of ‘emotional retardation’. They can’t seem to grow beyond their youthful friends, no matter what these friends do. I certainly believe in and admire loyalty, but child molestation/rape goes beyond that. Somewhere EVERYONE has to draw the line. At some point in life, certainly by your sixties, you have to stand for or against something. A child rapist should go to prison (even if he evades the law for 30 yrs.), if you can’t see that, I feel so sorry for your lack of ethics.

By Lin Cercone on 10/10/2009 8:12 pm

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I like her in Jumpin Jack Flash also, that was a neat movie. She probably has a private blog out there somewhere, if so, good for her! She can think on her feet so to speak, and the View has risen a bit in the process. With Polanski, and as many today that take the headlines - the more that is already heard if he does get sent back, he can use that in his own defense of not finding an impartial legal system. Raise the media attention, and the better the odds of a person getting off on the grounds they have already been unfairly judged. Hollywood knows what it is doing. Building the media in his defense. Why else keep kicking a dead horse subject back to it’s feet again. If one in two people are talking about it, as the audio said - the polls must be skewed.

By Linda Myers on 10/10/2009 8:42 pm

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I think you and Lin got lost somewhere in this - Whoopi does not agree with you. Whoopi agrees with everyone else who has looked at this for what it is and was. And it was not "rape rape."

By Baby Snooks on 10/10/2009 8:50 pm

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Hey Linda: I can’t remember the name of the movie, maybe "The Exectutive", not sure. Anyway, she was an assistant to Tim Daley, in a PR? firm. Of course, as usual with women, SHE did all the work, HE took all the glory and perks. Anyway, she made up and dressed like a old white man, and of course became "the success of the year". It was SO funny, and she was GREAT. I don’t happen to have that film, I’ll have to find it.

Re: po boy Polansky: I doubt the media or even Hollyweird could help him now, maybe years ago, when Jack was viable and Angelica’s father was a force. Today, I think most people, even in Hollyweird are too smart to get involved. If their living is dependent on it, they won’t rock the boat. It’s only the kids of the old ‘real movie makers’, who make ignorant statements. They grew up thinking ‘immorality was acceptable". Or the New York independents, (so good or so unique or so wealthy, they don’t need to work, ala Mike Nichols, Woody Allen, etc.) who make waves, sign petitions, etc. But alas, none of them have many (if any) movies in their limited futures. The truth is, if the average "joe public" became aware of all the circumstances re: Polansky, and it becomes widely known that these "artists" are so supportive of a child rapist. TRUST ME, trust the people, NO ONE will support this lack of moral integrity. People in general are disgusted by the lack of "good movies" that cost millions and millions of dollars and cost the average american $10. or more to see, only to leave the theater tired, bored and disgusted. The world has changed, the business has changed, tv has become better than movies. Why go out, pay money and be disapointed. Stay home, be comfortable, watch Law and Order, or Mad Men, and be greatly entertained for NOTHING.

By the way, I meant to mention before, your photo looks SO much like me, when I was younger. Its an amazing likeness. Maybe we’re akin in more ways than Polansky.

Thanks for your posts, I enjoy them so much.

By Lin Cercone on 10/10/2009 10:03 pm

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Could be there are more layers to this than Hollywood wants dusted off, and the surest way for that to happen is for Roman to return to France. He has already pulled more energy on this, than warranted.

By Linda Myers on 10/10/2009 10:31 pm

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Thanks for the Audio Discussion, ladies. It’s a nice addition to the site.

By Patricia Sprofera on 10/09/2009 4:20 pm

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Enough on Polanski! He made a mistake 30 years ago but the Justice system did not handle it correctly either. The Judge left much to be desired in his actions. The sexual climate here in CA at that time was basically if you feel like it do it, age was not a consideration. What is scary is that I know some teenagers (below 18 years) in the town where I live who use sex for money, drugs and protection from arrest. Their games with the Police to me are a form of RAPE but it is also consensual. Do I trust the police? NO

By Mary E. Sayler on 10/09/2009 4:31 pm