All I Will Say About Roman Polanski

One year after Roman Polanski went on the run he said this:

“If I had killed somebody, it wouldn’t have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But… f—ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f— young girls. Juries want to f— young girls. Everyone wants to f— young girls!”

Any excuses as to how old he thought the girl was, etc., etc., etc., are moot for many reasons. But this...this quote should disassemble any apologist arguments for two very simple reasons:

1. Polanski admits that he "wants to fuck young girls" and attempts to normalize it.

2. He knows that rape is a crime, and compares the act to a crime as violent and serious as murder.

Hollywood, and the entertainment industry in general, survives on the sexual exploitation of women - particularly young women. Polanski is at once the symptom and cause of the system, but what is so gut-wrenching is that he admits it unapologetically.

And to those who say his "art" somehow places him outside the confines of human decency, I have this to say: Rosemary's Baby and Repulsion are only classics because they have become historical documents that embody the fear of feminist liberation and the attempts to control women, whether through religion, economics, body image, or the threat of rape. The movies are creepfests, and now we have a better understanding of why.