Well, the Swiss can no longer been seen as neutral.
Using logic with holes in their reasoning bigger than the holes in Swiss cheese, the Swiss have failed to hand over convicted child rapist Polanski to the American authorities for sentencing.
That was not a neutral act. They have taken their Swiss Army knife to the extradition documents and cut, corkscrewed, filed, snipped and canned them to shreds. Maybe Polanski has a healthy balance in his Swiss Bank account? Maybe the Swiss don't have many 13 year old daughters? Maybe the original crime was so old, that it was in betamax and the Swiss couldn't be bothered converting the format?
So Polanski gets off, and even worse, top notch actors still seem prepared to work with him, because I hear another Polanski blockbuster scheduled for release soon. Well, I wont be watching it.
Hollywood appears to be treating the event as simply an "R18" classification fantasy. "Caution, some content will offend". That might be okay if it was just make-up and special effects, but it's more a case of "debased on a true story."
Meanwhile, Mad Max appears to be the more sane side of Mel Gibson. Another great performer with a dark side that has placed all his good work into deep shadow. The only silver lining I can see is that, as he loses everything he should have held dear, he may be able to use this to turn his life completely around in the areas it should really count.
That's one possibility still open to Gibson. One wonders if Polanski too could use this experience to reflect on his past crimes and properly atone for them, but there has been no indication in the media I've seen that he is thinking that way.
Polanski had an extremely tough life in his early years (and that is an understatement), and maybe Gibson did too. It might explain their actions, but it doesn't excuse them. I hope they can truly atone for their sins in this life, because the going could be a lot harder for them in the next.
Update 16/7: Mel gets a significant endorsement from some-one whose opinion should count: Mel Gibson's estranged wife has filed a court declaration stating she and her children never experienced any abuse by the Academy Award winner. Robyn Gibson filed to divorce her husband of 28 years in April 2009. The divorce is ongoing.
Using logic with holes in their reasoning bigger than the holes in Swiss cheese, the Swiss have failed to hand over convicted child rapist Polanski to the American authorities for sentencing.
That was not a neutral act. They have taken their Swiss Army knife to the extradition documents and cut, corkscrewed, filed, snipped and canned them to shreds. Maybe Polanski has a healthy balance in his Swiss Bank account? Maybe the Swiss don't have many 13 year old daughters? Maybe the original crime was so old, that it was in betamax and the Swiss couldn't be bothered converting the format?
So Polanski gets off, and even worse, top notch actors still seem prepared to work with him, because I hear another Polanski blockbuster scheduled for release soon. Well, I wont be watching it.
Hollywood appears to be treating the event as simply an "R18" classification fantasy. "Caution, some content will offend". That might be okay if it was just make-up and special effects, but it's more a case of "debased on a true story."
Meanwhile, Mad Max appears to be the more sane side of Mel Gibson. Another great performer with a dark side that has placed all his good work into deep shadow. The only silver lining I can see is that, as he loses everything he should have held dear, he may be able to use this to turn his life completely around in the areas it should really count.
That's one possibility still open to Gibson. One wonders if Polanski too could use this experience to reflect on his past crimes and properly atone for them, but there has been no indication in the media I've seen that he is thinking that way.
Polanski had an extremely tough life in his early years (and that is an understatement), and maybe Gibson did too. It might explain their actions, but it doesn't excuse them. I hope they can truly atone for their sins in this life, because the going could be a lot harder for them in the next.
Update 16/7: Mel gets a significant endorsement from some-one whose opinion should count: Mel Gibson's estranged wife has filed a court declaration stating she and her children never experienced any abuse by the Academy Award winner. Robyn Gibson filed to divorce her husband of 28 years in April 2009. The divorce is ongoing.
Interesting to note Hollywood's rush to condemn Gibson compared to their slavish defence of Polanski.
ReplyDeleteIf Gibson did indeed knock his girlfriend's teeth out he deserves criticism, but hell, its hardly anywhere near the same scale of offending as Polanski.
Apparently most of Hollywood would disagree with that analysis.
Funnily enough I deleted my final three paragraphs which explored the point that Hollywood was quick to dump on Gibson but quite the reverse with Polanski. Recall Whoopi Goldberg's now infamous "it wasn't rape-rape"!
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the claims against Gibson were too horrendous for me to feel it worth the quibble.
The Polanski fans probably all wear Che Guevara T-shirts anyway.