Roman Polanski is a ‘rape-rape’ rapist

The Swiss government refused to comply this Monday morning with a U.S. extradition request for filmmaker Roman Polanski on a 33-year-old charge of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Although the Swiss Justice Ministry cited technical problems with the extradition request, the Swiss officials also said they had taken “national interests” into consideration.

The Swiss, having freed Polanski, have confirmed that a good bit of PR and artistic talent can turn the vile rape of a 13-year-old child into a boys-will-be-boys, slap-on-the-wrist offense.

And though it was the Swiss who ended up deciding Polanski’s child rape wasn’t a big enough deal to warrant extradition, their attitude reflects on American society’s permissible attitude about rape.

First, there is no doubt that Polanski, having pled guilty to a count of unlawful sexual intercourse, is a child rapist.

In 1977, the then-43-year-old Hollywood director lured a 13-year-old girl to a house where he was staying.

There, Polanski loaded the poor girl with champagne, gave her a strong depressant and began photographing her naked in a hot tub.

Then, despite the girl’s pleas, he forced himself on her, raping and sodomizing her.

Having been found guilty of this crime, Polanski fled to France in 1978. He has since lived a luxurious life and continued to make films and socialize among the glitterati.

With an international warrant out for his arrest, Polanski was finally apprehended at Zurich Airport.

In Switzerland, he was briefly jailed before being put under house arrest — in his multi-million dollar chalet, which overlooks a ski resort.

Now, in the words of the Swiss justice minister, “He’s a free man.”

Although Polanski has just now been officially freed, he has never been guilty of serious crime in the minds of most Westerners.

Last year, Academy Award-winning producer Harvey Weinstein circulated a pro-Polanski petition signed by numerous international film icons demanding “the immediate release of Roman Polanski.”

Actress Whoopi Goldberg said Polanski didn’t “rape-rape” the girl. Goldberg was right. Polanski did not “rape-rape” her; he raped her, plain and simple.

Polanski’s sheepish attitude about the rape played into our society’s look-the-other-way attitude regarding statutory rape.

He claimed the sex was consensual, which is impossible because a drunk, sedated, 13-year-old girl is unable to give consent. Yet this preposterous claim has convinced many that it was not a big deal.

Most people don’t even bat an eye at the idea of statutory rape. I’ve actually seen people express sympathetic and wistful thoughts when discussing the idea of having sex with a minor.

Having sex with a minor below the age of consent is rape — and America needs to be reminded of and should care about this.

Polanski once said that “Everybody wants to (have sex with) young girls,” which must be true; otherwise there should have been an appropriate outcry against him.

If he had raped a 13-year-old boy in the same manner, I sincerely believe Polanski would be in jail right now, and there wouldn’t be a sympathetic movement for him.

Pedophiles who abuse members of their own sex seem to have worse public images than those who keep it heterosexual, though the crime is just as severe.

Our society needs to stop endorsing or supporting rape in any form.

Yet, currently, our society looks the other way in such situations ­— and people even espouse dangerous desires when discussing them.

Hank Moody, the protagonist of the popular Showtime series “Californication,” is idolized by male and female viewers alike despite the fact that he is the statutory rapist of a 16-year-old girl.

When we aspire to be like a rapist, our society needs to take a look at itself and realize that a paradigm shift is in order.

To rid ourselves of this dangerous notion that rape is not so bad, we must remember the rape survivor.

As one of the most violent and invasive crimes, rape often leaves survivors physically and emotionally injured for life.

So the next time you think about watching one of Polanski’s films on television or at the theaters, I ask you to think of the 13-year-old girl Polanski raped.

Go ahead and watch the movie if you must, but please stream or download it illegally online, so that a law-skirting rapist and globe-trotter doesn’t make any money from royalties.


E-mail: yzchaudh@indiana.edu