In 1977, a 43 year old man pushed Champagne and Quaaludes on a 13 year old girl and then proceeded to perform “oral, vaginal and anal intercourse on her despite her demands to keep away”. That sounds pretty much like the definition of a rapist to me, one who should have been sent to jail for a while. But in the case of Roman Polanski, that is not what happened.

The details of this case have been scrutinized by the media many times, so I’ll keep it short. The 13 year old (I am choosing not to use her name, although it is all over the news, because she has asked to be left alone and does not want anymore attention) was introduced to the famous director, by her mother, who was hoping it would further the girl’s acting career. Her talked her into doing a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson’s house involving situations that made her uncomfortable, including topless photos and photos of her drinking champagne. This then progressed to him drugging and raping her while she quietly protested. Anjelica Huston was in the house, but the girl was too scared to tell her what happened. The next day, the girl’s family found out and Roman Polanski was arrested.

Polanski claimed it was consensual, and even Huston claimed that the 13 year old looked like she could have been 25. He took a plea deal of “having sex with a minor” (a lower charge than the original rape charge) and served 42 days of psychiatric testing in prison. When he learned that the judge in the case was preparing to sentence him with more time, he fled the country. Because he had (and still has) French citizenship, he could not be extradited to the United States until this past week.

People bring up lots of reasons that Polanski should not be extradited and tried. The first is that he served his time, and the Judge was just corrupt and unfair in wanting to sentence him for longer. Another is that Polanski is a Holocaust survivor, whose wife was murdered. Another is that Polanski is a genius director, and his great art outweighs his mistakes. Some cite the fact that the victim has forgiven Polanski and wants this all to just be over. Weirdest of all, some now seem to be upset because he was arrested while travelling to a film festival where he was going to be honored and that is “not fair”. A petition of support for the director is currently circulating Hollywood and far too many big names have signed on .

Let’s look at these one by one. First, if the Judge was truly corrupt (which is not necessarily true), then his decisions could have been turned over on appeal, which Polanski had plenty of money to pursue. Running away from the American justice system is not an acceptable way to deal with the cards being stacked against you. The cards are stacked against many Americans facing trial, but law enforcement generally doesn’t allow that to be a reason they don’t need to show up in court.

Next, any context about his life, his art, etc. is irrelevant. Yes, Roman Polanski’s life has seen extremely hard times, and I would wish these experiences on no one. And while I haven’t seen his work, I’ll accept that it is as good as people say. But these in no way change what he did- raped a 13 year old girl.
Finally, I am glad that the victim has found her peace with this case and has been able to move on with her life. She won her civil settlement, and I can see why, as a person with an adult life and family, she would not want this all over the news yet again. But the plaintiff in the criminal case is not her, it is the people of Los Angeles.

What this case is about at heart, even with its rumors and scandal and twists and turns, is whether or not a man gets special treatment because of his fame, his art, his money, his race etc. I don’t usually quote Star Jones, but yesterday she tweeted (jezebel link) that if Spike Lee were the one at the center of all this, he would have been extradited and in jail years ago. I'm inclined to agree. If Roman Polanski is not tried, than like the over 100 signatories on the petition, we believe that by being a person with influence and privelege, you can get away with rape of a minor that is 30 years your junior.