Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
So, last night I watched the Roman Polanski documentary on HBO. Interesting stuff. A tragic figure, clearly done an injustice by a judge not looking out for the interests of the American legal system. And his wife was a victim of Charles Manson; I feel nothing but awful for Ms. Tate, and I can’t imagine what Mr. Polanski went through. I learned a great deal of stuff about the man, like his deal with Dino De Laurentiis to direct a crappy little film while he was on trial. Oh, and that
Roman Polanski had sex with a 13 year old who he fed Quaaludes and champagne before he had sex with her.
After being caught having sex with said 13 year old, he spent 48 days in a psych ward under observation, by no means a real sentence. When confronted with the chance to serve a minor sentence (as promised by the aforementioned judge), he promptly fled the country. France refused to extradite him for
having sex with a 13 year old who he fed Quaaludes and champagne before having sex with her.
I feel like it’s important to highlight what he actually did, because the documentary really skirts over what he was on trial for. Namely
having sex with a 13 year old who he fed Quaaludes and champagne before having sex with her.
A 13 year old, dude. 13.
As brilliant as Chinatown is, and as brilliant as all the rest of his oeuvre is
Roman Polanski had sex with a 13 year old who he fed Quaaludes and champagne before having sex with her.
In the documentary, Polanski is quoted as asking “do you think there is something more to my life than my relations with young women?” And I would respond “Yes, of course–no man is the sum of one crime,” even a crime as ugly as kiddie-rape. If he had just served his time, this would have been little more than a footnote in his Wikipedia entry. I doubt anyone would mention it today.
But he didn’t serve his time. He went to LAX and flew to France and refused to ever set foot on U.S. soil again. You know why?
Because he had sex with a 13 year old who he fed Quaaludes and champagne before he had sex with her.
(I’d be relatively surprised if anyone made it this far, and I’m sorry for being pedantic. But this really gets under my skin. Thanks for reading.)