Thieving Thursday: EC and Polanski

First, let me tell you I appreciate the responses so far on yesterday’s blog, “What Is Love?” To be honest, I was expecting different answers than I’ve had so far, so it’s been a good experience for me. I’m learning. However, if you haven’t put in your two cents yet, there’s still plenty of opportunity. I really want to know what you think.

Normally, I pick a single comment I’ve made elsewhere and go with that. However, since one could affect those that frequent my blog, today I’m making an exception. So, first, Relax Max at Clarity 2009 clued me in to the latest headache at Entrecard. Now, I’ve been using EC since I got into blogging. I don’t hang out in forums or do anything clever, but I often use the toolbar to keep track of some blogs I’ve found interesting but wasn’t quite enamored with enough to put on my bloglist. But, for traffic building, I’m not too worried. My philosophy, from the first, for this blog has been quality rather than quantity and I mean that with regards to viewers, too. I don’t have advertising so the number of readers is largely immaterial. The interaction with those that comment (who are almost universally some of the smartest people ever) is what I really like about blogging and I don’t need hundreds of hits to get that interaction.

So, when I was told paid ads will be compulsory, I decided EC had done me all the good it was going to do. My widgets are gone and won’t be back. By all means, if you liked coming here, bookmark me. I'd love to see you. I love to have readers, but I’m not interesting in being strong-armed for advertising that buys me nothing in return.

Secondly, Roman Polanski. I don’t do celebrity gossip so, other than having vaguely heard the name before, the story headlines about Roman Polanski were brushed over. Why would I care what’s going on with a director I have barely heard of? Predator Press (and a few other sites) convinced me that this was more than I realized and I went looking for more information.

Sick.

Folks, I have no dog in this fight. If it had been my daughter, he would not have lived to stand trial (and I likely would have received the death penalty myself, but some things are worth dying for). I looked over his filmography and was entirely disinterested. The few of his films I’ve seen I have not enjoyed.

But the two have nothing to do with each other. What’s disgusting is not that he’s being dragged to court after wandering around free for thirty years, not that the judge decided to make him do actual jail time for the sexual crime he committed against a child despite the plea bargain, what’s disgusting is that this heinous crime was ever plea bargained in the first place or that no one has stepped up to see justice done in the past thirty years.

I don’t care if he’s made great films – he could be the Michelangelo or Mozart of films and it wouldn’t matter – no one has the right to do as he did. As a general rule, when a celebrity cheats on his/her spouse or gets a pocket of cellulite, has a political opinion I don’t agree with, I just couldn’t care less. If celebrities want to be stupid, I can’t stop them. And it’s none of my business. If they do something stupid to themselves and set a bad example, I don’t let that bother me. For instance, I don’t think Michael Phelps owed the world a squeaky clean image.

But someone who forces a child to have sex after ploying her with wine and drugs – that’s a monster. We lock them up for a reason. If there was real justice, he would never have had the opportunity to escape, he would have stood up for all the charges against him at the time instead of the most minor and no one would have sheltered him from justice. You folks who are defending him because of his “genius,” what the hell are you thinking?

He thinks it ought to be over? He should have taken his punishment when he had the chance and saved his victim several decades of scrutiny and pain. That’s just raping her over again.

Throw the book at the bastard.