The sordid lives of Polanski’s supporters

Let’s start with this one fact: Roman Polanski is a child rapist. No debate makes sense once you have that admission at the table. He raped a young girl, and he deserves prison–not a holiday in France for 30 years.

He is also a movie director, so some in the field have come out and supported freeing Polanski, and have even sympathized with his plight.

Roman Polanski raped a kid, and some people still give him rewards, and praise his work. (Photo source: Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary)

But I think this little bit of info may have gone by the wayside in all the Polanski talk recently. There are two names on his list of international celebrity supporters that should pop out automatically: Woody Allen and French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand. The reason is this: both men have been part of child sex controversies, and both deny it.

Famed director Woody Allen and his partner Mia Farrow broke up in 1992 after Farrow discovered some improper activity perpetrated by Allen. Saddened, Woody soon began dating his former “stepdaughter” Soon-Yi Previn. Previn shared a home with Allen and her adopted mother Mia Farrow, for over a decade while the two adults dated. Then, Farrow found nude photos of the then 21-year-old on Allen’s computer and dumped him.

Remember, that was in 1992. I’ll do the math for you: Allen had known Previn since she was 11.

Allen and Previn dated for five years and wed in 1997, tabloid scandals still ensconcing the union for the obvious reasons. To prying eyes it looked like a father figure preying on a young girl who, by virtue of his stature in her life, was trusted and was exploiting it. At least it looked that way to me (in hindsight; I was seven at the time) because it was a father figure preying on a young girl who, by virtue of his stature in her life was trusted and was exploiting it. I’m not alone in this opinion. Allen’s son Ronan Seamus Farrow says:

“He’s my father married to my sister. That makes me his son and his brother-in-law. That is such a moral transgression. I cannot see him. I cannot have a relationship with my father and be morally consistent…. I lived with all these adopted children, so they are my family. To say Soon-Yi was not my sister is an insult to all adopted children.”

Allen (right*) with the girl he first exploited more than twenty years ago. (Photo source: Wikipedia Commons)

Now, French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand is a whole other ball of bastard.

In 2005 Mitterand wrote a book called The Bad Life (French: La mauvaise vie), a novel inspired by his actual life–an autobiographical novel, if you will. This is curious since the book follows a protagonist (presumably the author, since that’s what autobiography means) as he enjoys sex with boys in Bangkok. Since coming out in support of Polanksi, Mitterand has had to face an obvious question: Did you sleep with boys?

He denies it, of course because while he’ll support freeing a child rapist, he’d like to avoid the label. But let me be on the level with you. The novel I’m working on has certain autobiographical elements. The protagonist grew up in Montana, fell in love a few times, works through some loss issues, and not once does he ever rape a child. You know why? Because the novel has certain autobiographical elements and I do not rape children. No one in their right mind would write something autobiographical and include scenes of adult-on-child sex, unless they were indeed — on some level — proud of some prior adult-on-child sex act.

Frederic Mitterrand, (presumably) proud child rapist (Photo source: Wikipedia Commons)

Is there any wonder why Polanski, a bastard of epic proportions, has the support of people like this? Those who exploit and use are of course going to fully support someone just like them. Polanski supporters can point to the fact that the man was afraid he would go to jail so he ran, or they can argue that he was a bit “off” after the Manson Family brutally murdered his wife. The cold hard truth, however, is that he raped a 13-year-old girl. He drugged her, and took advantage of her. He admitted to it. Call him a great director and a fine artist all you want, but that doesn’t change what happened.

If you want my pity, I have none. And if you want some advice…find better friends.