Defending the Man versus Defending the Criminal Conduct – The Roman Polanski Case

The arrest of Roman Polanski recently in Switzerland has resulted in comments and opinions from famous people around the world including Whoopi Goldberg. A recent article posted at the Politics Daily website noted the comments of Ms. Goldberg and others. The author of the article, Domenica Machetti, rightly pointed out crimes were committed by Mr. Polanski that are unfairly being trivialized or excused by celebrities and other famous / powerful people. In considering this story, it appears that many people are defending Mr. Polanski since he is a famous and talented person. But really, can his actions be defended at all? It has been reported that Mr. Polanski gave drugs and alcohol to a thirteen year old girl and then proceeded to rape or have sex including anal sex (sodomy) and oral sex. If Mr. Polanski was an unknown school teacher who committed these crimes in the 1970s, would any celebrities be coming out for his defense? If there was a video tape showing Mr. Polanski raping this young girl, would Whoopi Goldberg still comment that rape is not really rape? You can praise Mr. Polanski all you want for his movies and career in the movie industry. However, do not defend a child rapist. As pointed out by Domenica Marchetti in her article, Mr. Polanski “needs to be brought back to faxe the consequences of his despicable actions.”