dirac

Thank you for the link, Mashinka. I couldn't get it to work, but here's another one: It must have been amusing seeing Polanski's lawyers try to argue that he wasn't a flight risk.

Wonderful post, Ed. Thank you. It is my impression, which could be wrong, that theory and criticism do not have the grip on the curriculum that they once did and some of Chace's complaints are a bit out of date – indeed some of them might have been out of date when I was still in school. I wonder what F.R. Leavis would have to say about all this.

I understand what you're saying, Cristian, but we are talking here about a specific crime. ( Off topic - In this country, many scholastic institutions do have rules and guidelines in place about teachers sleeping with their students. It doesn't mean that it never happens or is always treated punitively when it does, but it is a recognition that such situations have the potential for harm. Young people may accept the attentions of an older person in a position of power as 'normal', even desirable, and may welcome them or even solicit them. But that doesn't mean it's a good thing in all cases.) Yes. The adult with responsibility in the situation was Polanski, which responsibility would not be mitigated even if he hadn't resorted to alcohol and pills to soften the kid up. Again, thanks to all for posting.

SanderO, there's a lot of information floating around out there regarding the Allen scandal. Books have been written, including Mia Farrow's and biographies of Allen that address the matter. I note this just to ensure the thread doesn't go off on a tangent. Artists are flawed human beings, indeed, just like....everyone else.

True. I'm not sure if Tosca is the kind of opera that will really benefit much from 'reinterpretation,' at least not a reinterpretation that's worth giving up spectacle, color, and throw pillows with tassels. Not the only opera house audience of which that's true.

vagansmom, you may be thinking of one of my posts. I had indeed read in news articles that her civil case was settled for an ‘undisclosed sum’, so your link is appreciated. As I said, with allies like these.......

I add my thanks, Helene. I hope others who see him will report back in this space.

I don't know what Whoopi's explanation would be, but I would venture that she said what she did because she's a blithering idiot, and with allies like her Polanski doesn't need enemies. My two cents. No, Simon, she wasn't, although it's a reasonable assumption given her age. Parents can't be held responsible for everything, of course, but a mom who sends her daughter off to meet with Roman Polanski at Jack Nicholson's house plainly needs her head examined. These circumstances seem to be part of the reason for the plea deal - back in the 70s the laws made it possible in effect to put the rape victim on trial, not the defendant, and all of that would have been hashed out in court. I trust it goes without saying that Mom's dereliction of duty and the fact that Polanski didn't force a virgin are not relevant to the charges. There are indeed cases of he said/she said, but in fact this really isn't one of them, although Polanski has noted helpfully that the girl was 'not unresponsive.' Given what we know about this case, I would find it hard to say that Polanski's conduct falls into any kind of gray area. IMO, of course.

Sandy, I'd say we can never know private motivations, but we can make judgments based on what they do and say -- and statements to which they put their signature, although one never knows how careful signatories of petitions have been about reading them. Simon, I did ask earlier that we put a lid on the whole matter of 'brutal' and I'd like not to reopen that particular can of worms. (This is in no way intended as a criticism of your point, which is a perfectly fair one.) I would also like to avoid too much graphic detail about the circumstances of the assault, which are well documented elsewhere. As a point of fact, the victim was not a virgin, as some defenders of Polanski have been eager to emphasize, in the recent documentary for example. I'm not saying this matters to me, mind, just pointing out that the term 'deflowering' does not apply here. I rather like the idea of a Sex Offenders for Polanski movement.

I posted a longer response that vanished when I hit the reply button and don't have time to write it up again, but a brief thank you to bart for posting the NYT article.

I agree. It was hard to figure out if the writer was debunking cultural cliches or more or less endorsing them and he seemed to be rattling off names and cases without any deeper consideration. I would add that there are many prisoners who also have horrific personal stories to tell. They're still in the slammer, though. I take your point but I would like to request that we maintain a reasoned tone in our comments here. Thanks. Indeed. I think we have a consensus on that point. (It's off topic, perhaps, but Polanski's case life and art have intersected in curious ways, though, and in the past have affected responses to his work. I think the initial reaction to the Jon Finch - Francesca Annis film of Macbeth, for example, might have been quite different if another director's name had been on it.)

Thank you for the link, SanderO, although I'm inclined to agree with Sandy about it. However, one truth about the Internet is that there's all kinds. There's been a lot of intelligent and informed writing on this particular issue, some of which has been linked to on this thread and some of the opposite as well. (This case is unusual too in that quite a few primary sources are available.) Without seeing the interview, it's possible that he was simply trying to duck the issue by retreating to the relative safety of ignorance. A lot of boldface names have embarrassed themselves recently.

That sounds awful,Cliff. Not a single inspired or inspiring lit teacher?

Thanks, Mashinka and abatt. The interviewer sounds a little dazed - maybe those 'sparkling blue eyes' got to her. I agree with you - there's nothing wrong with a little human interest but an article labeled 'The Big Interview' should be big enough to include more about art. It does sound as if the split is permanent, sad news on the artistic as well as human level.

Thank you for posting the article, Mashinka. The "Hey, it was the Seventies!" rationale is not likely to go far, although it's possible the blase reaction of some movie folk is related to the possibility that Polanski may well be a choir boy compared to some. (The incident took place in Jack Nicholson's house. If those walls could talk, etc.....) There were indeed some wonderful movies made during that time. I remember Martin Scorsese saying something to the effect that he made some of his best movies high as a kite. Some famous names in Hollywood signed a petition that was carelessly worded, to say the least. There are indeed people out there who bash Hollywood for a living, but in this case the industry managed to shoot itself in the foot.

Thanks so much for posting that. Nice story.

Thank you for the heads up. Ratmansky is certainly the busy boy these days. I certainly plan to see this if it's shown in my neck of the woods.

It will certainly be interesting. Failure to pursue a well funded and defended fugitive's case vigorously for decades could be a strong argument for dropping any charges if the charges had not already been settled, but Polanski's case is different, which is probably why his lawyers made their ill-advised attempt to get the charges dismissed without Polanski's having to appear. We don't want to dwell in detail on what happened to her for reasons I trust are obvious, leonid. Those horrible details are readily available online for those who are interested and I believe we may take it as a given that everyone here at BT has nothing but sympathy for her. She reached a settlement with Polanski in a civil case for an undisclosed sum awhile back. Naturally she wishes only to put the case behind her and if Polanski's arrest does nothing more than force him to settle this business once and for all, that will definitely be a good use of government time and money.

A long piece by Richard Dorment in The New York Review of Books on Andy Warhol.

Alicia Alonso was the original Accused, although I understand Nora Kaye was terrific in it.

True. A humanities degree has never been exactly a ticket to riches, but the situation seems especially grim today.

Wow. Thank you, innopac. This is definitely worth clicking on, everyone.

There is also the matter of enforcement of the law..... I would say one of the most interesting aspects of the Polanski case is that it is no longer only a question of law, and indeed many of Polanski’s defenders have been in effect arguing that his status as an artist makes him somehow outside the law. Thank you for posting that letter, Estelle. Some of the new laws regarding sex offenders in this country are applied just as foolishly and without discrimination in regard to individual circumstances.

Drew was not 'expressing her opinion' on Mel or any other moderator, Patrick. Please don't stir the pot -- and keep to the topic under discussion. Thanks again to all.

Thank you for posting, Drew. The writer of the NY Times piece is the novelist Robert Harris, who does not cover himself with glory in this article, I regret to say. (I've enjoyed several of his books.) The documentary film is "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," which could be described as the official Case for Polanski, worth seeing for a variety of reasons, not all of them complimentary to the film, however.