I guess I’ve been living under a rock, because…

Roman Polanski was a wanted child predator for the last 30 years?

Apparently Roman Polanski had sex with a thirteen year old girl at Jack Nicholson’s house in 1977.

“He has argued that the sex was consensual, saying the girl was “not unresponsive”, though Gailey said he drugged her with painkillers and champagne before carrying out a ‘very scary’ assault.”

Not unresponsive? Does he really think that constitutes consent?

He pleaded guilty to the crime and was set to receive a reduced sentence, but he fled the US in ‘78 when it became clear that he was going to do some time. He had been on the run until this past Saturday, when he was finally arrested in Zurich.

Clearly none of this is news (it was even the subject of a 2008 documentary called Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.) I somehow failed pick up on this over the years, but I am never the less shocked to learn about it.

Polanski’s Chinatown is a certified classic and is one of my favorite films, and although I can not question his talent as a filmmaker, this revelation has definitely tainted my opinion of the man as a human being.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so shocked. This isn’t the first time in my life that I have been disturbed by the details of my heroes personal lives. It’s always difficult to come to terms with the fact that the people we idolize are indeed human and sometimes do some very nasty things — Michael Richards’ on-stage meltdown a couple years back is an example that comes to mind right away.

But it seems the world has forgotten, if not forgiven, Mr. Polanski’s crimes. I can’t help but feel disgusted when I recall the standing ovation he received after winning the Best Director Oscar back in 2002. Did the audience think of him as a political prisoner or something? It seems to me that he refused to attend because he would have been arrested the minute he set foot in the States, not for anything the least bit honourable or dignified.

Also, the majority of the reaction I’ve come across since his arrest has painted him as a victim. Granted, this all happened thirty years ago, but was what he did not wrong?  Does he not deserve to be held accountable for his actions?

Samantha Geimer, the woman he assaulted all those years ago, doesn’t think so. She sued Polanski and they settled out of court, and she has gone on to publicly forgive him. She has also filed to have the charges against him dismissed.

So  where does this leave us, the fans? Although I will always respect Roman Polanski as a filmmaker, I can’t help but think of him as a selfish man who violated a child and refused to be held accountable.

I believe in redemption, but I don’t think he’s done anything to redeem himself yet.