Polanski, rape & justice

The renowned film director Roman Polanski is being held in a Swiss jail, awaiting possible extradition to the United States. He was arrested on a 31-year-old warrant while traveling to the Zurich Film Festival to receive an award. He faces charges for sexually assaulting a child in 1977 in Los Angeles.

While the director has garnered support among some celebrities in Europe and Hollywood, women’s rights activists and many in the progressive movement are appalled. They assert that to let Polanski off the hook trivializes child sexual abuse, sends the message that rape is OK, and maintains that those who are rich, famous and talented need not be held accountable for their actions.

It is clear from the grand jury testimony given by Samantha Geimer in 1977 that when she was 13-years-old, Polanski drugged and raped her. She protested and said “no” repeatedly throughout the ordeal, but he ignored her. She feared him and insisted on going home.

Although Polanski was indicted on several molestation charges, he pleaded guilty only to having “unlawful sex with a minor” under a plea bargain. A year later, prior to sentencing, when the judge inferred that he might jail Polanski, the director fled to Europe. There, he built a multi-million-dollar career and lived the “good life.” Hollywood studios continued to finance his films.

Kenneth F. Face, Polanski’s probation officer in 1977, recommended probation without jail time. The New York Times said that officials then treated Polanski’s behavior as “bad judgment” and not a “vicious assault,” the “usual” way that sexual attacks by Hollywood celebrities were viewed. (Oct. 2)

Face blamed Geimer and her mother for Polanski’s behavior. Face excused Polanski, citing his European background and past tragedies, which were held up by his defenders then and are being repeated now.

However, it was Polanski’s actions stemming from his sense of entitlement, power and privilege that were to blame—along with male superiority. That this terrible act occurred in a sexist culture, in which disrespect and devaluation of women and girls are reinforced every day, is not unexpected.

Another double standard

Polanski’s celebrity friends are calling his arrest “horrifying.” They say the director should be absolved of blame and allowed to put this “messy business” behind him, as if he didn’t pay traffic fines. They infer that being a “great artist” exempts him from acting with basic human decency.

More than 100 Hollywood notables have signed petitions calling for Polanski’s release. Movie producer Harvey Weinstein, characterizing Polanski’s assault as a “so-called crime,” said the director “has served his time.” Others say he has “suffered enough” and “atoned for the sins of his young years”—he was 43!

What about Samantha Geimer’s suffering and her decades of coping with the memory of the abuse? What about the media now subjecting her and her family to sensational coverage of every detail of the assault? No wonder she wants the case dismissed.

Why aren’t celebrities circulating a petition supporting Geimer and all survivors of sexual abuse and condemning Polanski and his defenders? In fact, why not call for a women’s tribunal—made up of survivors of sexual assault—to decide his fate?

If Polanski were a poor or unknown artist, would these celebrities call for his release? Could his lawyer have even made a plea bargain? Would he have been able to travel freely for decades, build a successful career, and enjoy a life of privilege? Would he be called a “martyr” to art whose “art” outweighs his deeds?

Two systems of ‘justice’

There are two systems of justice in this country. One is for the wealthy, famous, powerful and privileged, especially if they are white and male. The other is for working and poor people, members of oppressed communities and women. Hundreds of thousands of poor people are in jails nationwide for lesser offenses.

World-famous performers and athletes who are African American and members of other oppressed communities are prosecuted, persecuted, scrutinized and demonized for minor offenses, even driving infractions, or for no reason at all.

Prosecutors said actor Wesley Snipes should be “made an example of because of his fame” for failing to file income tax returns. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for prosecution of Plaxico Burress to the “fullest extent of the law.” The football champion is serving a two-year prison sentence for accidentally shooting himself at a club. Olympic-winning athlete Marion Jones was jailed for six months because she didn’t “tell the truth” to federal investigators about her alleged steroid use.

Where is the “justice” when Jones—the mother of two young children, who pleaded for leniency and who did nothing to harm another person—was cruelly jailed and demonized in the press, when Polanski, who preyed upon a child, whose probation officer recommended no jail time, was then allowed to evade arrest for 31 years and become a “cause célèbre”?

Where were the celebrity petitions calling for Jones’ release?

Women’s inequality and oppression, along with national, LGBT and economic oppressions, are intrinsic to capitalism. During this economic crisis, as women face workplace discrimination, right-wing attacks on their basic rights in courts and legislatures, and defunding of vital programs, including for facilities for sexual abuse and domestic violence survivors, they are also being maligned in the reactionary media.

It is only through the struggles of women—Black, Latina, Asian, Native, Arab and white—and their fightback organizations that progress is made and women’s rights gained, while acceptance of sexist ideology and behavior are pushed back.