Moral Midgets

There has been a lot of news about Roman Polanski, the child rapist film director, since his arrest in Switzerland last week. Regardless of what you think of his movies (I've only seen The Pianist), he admitted to rape & sodomy with a 13-year old, and skipped bail to hide in Europe during the past 30+ years.

The response to his arrest has been sharply divided. His supporter include Hollywood elites and European "cultural" types, while just about everyone else (including me), thinks he should be extradited back to the US for sentencing on the original conviction and skipping bail.

I saw this in the LA Times today.

From Michael Moore's politics to on-screen sex and violence, the movie business is constantly being assailed for not sharing the country's values. Rarely has the morality argument been as rancorous as with the Roman Polanski case.

Hollywood is rallying behind the fugitive filmmaker. Top filmmakers are signing a pro-Polanski petition, Whoopi Goldberg says the director didn't really commit rape, and Debra Winger complains "the whole art world suffers" in such arrests.

The rest of the nation seems to hold a dramatically different perspective on Polanski's weekend capture. Even if decades have passed since he fled Los Angeles before his 1978 sentencing, Polanski must be extradited and serve his time, the thinking goes. There's no excuse for forcing sex on a 13-year-old girl. People who defend him have no principles.

Here's the best part:

In an opinion piece in London's the Independent, Weinstein Co. co-founder Harvey Weinstein, who is circulating the pro-Polanski petition, wrote: "Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time. A deal was made with the judge, and the deal is not being honored.... This is the government of the United States not giving its word and recanting on a deal, and it is the government acting irresponsibly and criminally."

In an interview, Weinstein said that people generally misunderstand what happened to Polanski at sentencing. He's not convinced public opinion is running against the filmmaker and dismisses the categorization of Hollywood as amoral. "Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion," Weinstein said. "We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11. We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe."

OMG! I think Mr. Weinstein is either full of himself, retarded, or both. Hollywood is the last place to look for morality... it's all about money and fame. These cowards won't speak up against Polanski because they're worried about loosing their next gig/movie/project. Moral compass indeed... *spit*

When he mentions Katrina, does he mean this?

Sean Penn's Boat Sinks In Failed Katrina Rescue Attempt

New Orleans, Louisiana (AHN) - Political Activist and Actor Sean Penn made his way down to the city of New Orleans with a personal photographer and an entourage in an attempt to help victims stranded by floods caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Penn had planned to rescue children and adults in the flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch.

Penn who is known for his political activism, was seen wearing what appeared to be a white flak jacket and frantically bailing water out of the sinking vessel with a red plastic cup that eventually was not enough for the Academy Award winner.

When asked what he had hoped to achieve in the waterlogged city, the actor tells the Herald Sun: "Whatever I can do to help."

The paper reports that one bystander taunted the actor saying, "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"

Isn't he a millionaire? Why didn't he just donate money so people trained in search and rescue can better do their jobs? Spicoli and his entourage(!) just causes more problems for the real rescuers in NOLA.