Forget it, Roman? Polanski and the politics of what we remember
Oct 09, 2009
from Gareth Higgins' post on The Film Talk:
A friend suggested I should comment regarding Roman Polanski’s arrest and the attempt to extradite him to the US to face charges stemming from his admitted sex offence against a 13 year old girl in 1977. I’m reluctant to do so, because the issues are complex and probably better handled in conversation where dialogue partners might arrive at a truth together, so I’d like to invite such a conversation in the comments below.
For me, for a start, that would mean no petitions to stop Polanksi’s extradition; and no lynch mobs lining up to destroy him for what he did; getting serious about a restorative justice process that seeks to respect the suffering of victims/survivors and hold people accountable for their actions, while taking defendants’ trauma into account, no matter how rich or creative they are; and figuring out that vengeance doesn’t serve to help victims/survivors heal any more than trying to pretend their pain isn’t real.
And that’s where I need to pause, and acknowledge that I am not an expert on any of this; and I’d love to have a conversation with you in the comments below in the hope that we can come up with some wisdom together.
