There’s much hype these days around Polanski’s arrest in Zurich. American and European press bomb us with articles and updates on this issue: in 1978, Polanski, 43 at that time raped a 13-year old girl. NY-Times says: His victim, who has said she’s forgiven him, repeatedly made clear she preferred the charges be dropped.
What would you do in her shoes? Would you forgive the one who hurt you 31 years ago? A tough question. Maybe she HAS to forgive him because of some sort of amends she may have had of him? I don’t know. But looks like a special case, anyways. It is not common, to say the least. The typical pattern is that you ‘demand justice’.
Now what seems difficult to understand is the answers of some French (and American) celebrities. You’d think that if you’re a Great Artist you can escape Justice. Right, Mr Polanski is in indeed a Great Artist, no doubt. And he suffered enough, as German Bild newspaper puts it. At the core of this lies a simple question: can we justify our ‘bad deeds’ with our pain? I can’t provide a straight answer now.
Filed under: Issue of the day
