My take on the Polanski thing
Sep. 28th, 2009 12:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deirdreIf we were able to hold in our heads that people can be incredibly talented and brilliant and decent people in a great many contexts -- and yet still capable of incredible acts of evil -- then there wouldn't be a question about what to do with Roman Polanski.
The only reason the average child rapist doesn't get that kind of media sympathy is, frankly, their talent, brilliance, and decency in other contexts, presuming it exists, isn't so widely known.
We simply can't hold the complexity in our heads. I keep hearing this in interviews of crime suspects' friends and relatives over and over, such as these from the Annie Le murder case about suspect Raymond Clark:
The Salon article about Polanski is worth reading, but may be triggery for some.
The only reason the average child rapist doesn't get that kind of media sympathy is, frankly, their talent, brilliance, and decency in other contexts, presuming it exists, isn't so widely known.
We simply can't hold the complexity in our heads. I keep hearing this in interviews of crime suspects' friends and relatives over and over, such as these from the Annie Le murder case about suspect Raymond Clark:
"That's not the Raymond Clark I've talked to my whole entire life," Bobby Heslin said.
"I just can't picture him doing something like this," Maurice Perry said.
The Salon article about Polanski is worth reading, but may be triggery for some.