We Are All Roman Polanski's Victims, And We All Deserve Justice

By Jaclyn Friedman, AlterNet. Posted October 2, 2009.

Let's get one thing clear from the outset: Roman Polanski raped a 13-year-old girl. Yes, Whoopi, he even "rape-raped" her, whatever that means. Ignoring her explicit pleas and protests, he fed her champagne and a Quaalude, forced her to undress, and then vaginally and anally penetrated her. That's rape, by any definition -- and with any number of hyphens. And it's all there in the public record.

So if this tempest-in-an-extradition isn't about what really happened 32 years ago, what is it all about? What is it that's inspired public intellectuals such as Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum and The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel (who has since, commendably, come to her senses) to write breathless defenses of the man? Why is Debra Winger more concerned with the sanctity of international film festivals than with seeing justice done? Why have France, Poland, and -- for the love of God -- Germany, issued outraged statements on Polanski's behalf? Why has the entirety of Hollywood (save Kirstie Alley, Kevin Smith, Greg Grunberg and Jewel, bless their C-list hearts) lined up not just to defend him, but to take up his cause as though he were the victim in this case, launching a "Free Roman Polanski" campaign so popular among the entertainment elite that if you were to boycott everyone who signed on you could never watch a film again?

By now, we all know at least part of the answer: hero worship. Polanski is a genius director with a tragic past, and if there's anything we like better than a genius with a tragic past, it's a rich and famous genius with a tragic past. In the confused minds of many, Polanski is a real-life Batman, a flawed anti-hero living outside the law because that's the only way he can truly overcome his tortured history.

But Batman uses his past as a moral compass, not a get-out-of-jail-free card, and he certainly never raped a 13 year-old girl (or anyone else for that matter). Besides, surely our obsession with our celebrity heroes is just part of the story. Even Mackenzie Phillips was treated with more consideration last week when she accused her famous father of raping her, and there's nothing remotely like grand jury testimony backing her up, the way there is for Polanski's victim.

Which brings us at last to the heart of the matter: who Roman Polanski hurt, and who has the right to demand he face justice? His literal victim, after suffering a lifetime in an unwelcome media spotlight, has famously requested that the charges against Polanski be dropped. Polanski's defenders have seized on her statements, arguing that if she can "get over it," then those of us who haven't are just humorless harpies who want to see an old man suffer.

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Jaclyn Friedman is a charter member of CounterQuo, and the editor of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape. You can follow her on Twitter at @jaclynf.