yonmei

09:39 am: On striving to think the best of people
I read on Shakesville that Emma Thompson had signed the petition supporting Roman Polanski's right not to be prosecuted for raping a 13-year-old girl - an act which the petition claims (translate) is normally prescribed in Europe.

Opinions may honestly vary on whether bringing Polanski to trial for raping an underage girl is the best thing for Polanski's victim (see Avedon on the Sideshow) but the idea that Polanski has some kind of right to go free because he committed the crime thirty years ago and he is a famous film director who ought not be treated like a "common terrorist", as the petition advocates, is beyond reprehensible.

I wrote to Emma Thompson's UK agent:

I'm a long-term fan of Emma Thompson's, and have supported and admired her work against the exploitation of young women in prostitution/statutory rape.

I was very distressed, and I assume Ms Thompson is also, to see that someone had attempted to damage her reputation by posting her name as if she were a supporter of Bernard Henri Levi's petition to keep Roman Polanski safe from being prosecuted for raping a 13-year-old girl.

This is so contrary to Ms Thompson's reputation as a campaigner against exploitation and abuse that I could only suppose that someone had sent an e-mail as if in her name, which naturally the compilers of the petition had not checked to make sure was valid.

The petition is here: (link redacted)

I hope you can manage to have this pro-rapist campaign take her name down and apologize for not confirming that she was a supporter of a petition that no one in their right minds could have supposed she would back.

I would very much appreciate if you would let me know when that has happened: although one of the people who linked me to the petition said that like me she could not believe it, I'm afraid that many will simply see the name and suppose that all of Emma Thompson's good work against the rape and exploitation of young girls was hypocritical. That would damage both Ms Thompson's reputation, and even more importantly, the cause for which she has worked so hard.

Yes, I admit, I'm politely lying through my teeth ("I'm sure you didn't MEAN to do that!") and I bet she did sign it, even if enough fan mail could get her to take her name off it. And there are other actors on the list I really also now hate for thinking that Polanski ought to be allowed to get away with rape because he's so famous and such a great film director that the law ought not to be applied to him as if he were just one of the terrorists kidnapped by the US. (Not that terrorists kidnapped by the US have a trial to look forward to, nor are they arrested on a warrant for which there is evidence that can be shown in court.) But as the petition makes clear, signing it affirms your support for the idea it's wrong for Polanski to be treated as if he was a common person, and the actors and other celebrities who have signed the petition have made clear their support for a two-tiered legal system, as well as for the principle that a famous rapist ought not to be forced to stand trial for his crime.



Tags: everybody lies, i am an angry feminist