when the king of pop died a couple months back, i closed my eulogy to him with the question
so, was all the sheer, gorgeous talent the world managed to wring outta michael jackson before he flamed out worth the sacrifice of tossing him a boy every once in awhile?
it was a serious question. and since i was the only one asking it, it never got answered.
today, in light of recent events, i'd approach the question differently--if i could, i'd walk my middle-aged ass up to nicolas sarkozy, compliment him on his loyalty to mr. polanski, and ask
so, mr. president, when your son turns 13 next year, is it all right if i take him out for his birthday, get him drunk and fuck him?
and when he lunged at me with a roar, i'd step back and ask him why it's ok for his friend mr. polanski, but not for me--or why it's ok for some other kid, but not for his.
because obviously there's a threshold there somewhere, and that's all i'm tryin to get at.
i want a number: exactly how rich, talented and famous does one have to be before this shit becomes ok?
maybe one of these days i'll get an honest answer. whoopi? anyone?
10 comments:
beautiful.
i want to know why it took my most of my lifetime for him to be arrested.
extradition, schmextradtion.
wouldn't it have been far more beneficial all the way around if he'd been arrested 31 years ago?
judi, I've always assumed that he made sure to travel only in places where U.S.law couldn't touch him. Mike, am I correct with this?
I'm pretty sure you're right, Will.
The only connection I ever make with Polanski is Sharon Tate.
Just odd that the whole Manson Family thing is kind of coming full circle: Squeaky Fromme gets out of jail, Susan Atkins dies, Roman Polanski finally gets arrested.
bn: thanks, man.
judi & will: actually, polanski has been traveling freely around much of europe for years, even owning property in switzerland, all under the indulgent eye of the authorities.
his mistake, i believe, lay in not paying closer attention to the way the swiss have lately been knuckling under to american demands in ways that would've been inconceivable a few years ago--giving up americans' numbered-account information to the IRS, for example--in exchange for, among other things, the TARP bail-out money that has been fed to their ailing banking system through surreptitious routes (i.e., AIG).
just my theory, but it's not a bad one.
I think you're absolutely right on the money about all this. Excellent post!
geoff: right? thanks so much--and welcome.
Well, Roman Polanski is never going to win babysitter of the year (and it was at Jack Nicholson's Malibu house I believe where he committed the sexual assault.
Wagner was a vehement anti-Semite. Tostoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky were not easy people to be around.
There are countless examples through history of really really bad things from creative people.
The point is not that creative people should have a pass on truly awful behavior. They should not.
The point is that awful people can still do great work. Wagner is one of the greatest classical composers of all time.
And Chinatown is, at least for my money, the best movie ever. OK, maybe not the best, but certainly on a lot of top 10 lists.
The problem is that we use someone's skill in one area to assume that they must be competent in something else. This is what I call "the halo effect." Essentially, why should anyone care what Angelina Jolle says about anything other than acting. But there she is, a UN ambassador of good will or something like that.
And just because Roman Polanski was and is a truly great director does not mean what he did 30 years ago was not and is not awful and deserves an appropriate punishment.
As for guttermorality and his ability to have sex with Sarkozy's young boy...the French have a very different definition of rape. In order to be prosecuted for rape under French law, you must be aware that it is not consensual. At least, as I recall, that WAS the standard. Maybe the French have grown more enlightened.
noblesavage: actually, the point of my post is that, regardless of how "good" or "bad" a talented person intrinsically happens to be, the degree to which he'll allow himself--or, more importantly, be allowed--to sink into depravity is directly proportional to the pass he receives from his adoring public.
and thanks for deliberately and totally missing the point of my sarkozy metaphor.
I think Roman just needs to face the music man. He did what he did and it was wrong, now pay up damnit.
Post a Comment