Polanski
Polanski
- Thread starterLloydy
- Start date
I also refer you to Serafina's post here as well, "The Pianist" ( thanks to RJD for pointing it out )
This is the film the "British Acadamy of Film and Television Awards" have just awarded the best picture award to.
Obviously "he couldn't be here in person" ( he's hiding somewhere with no extradition treaty ) but the applause and toadying were up to the usual standards.
Dave
This is the film the "British Acadamy of Film and Television Awards" have just awarded the best picture award to.
Obviously "he couldn't be here in person" ( he's hiding somewhere with no extradition treaty ) but the applause and toadying were up to the usual standards.
Dave
Dave,
I don't know whether people are too stupid to add 1 + 1 and get 2, and realize that by awarding this
jackass they also award his behavior, including sexual offenses. Or if it's just that people don't give a damn about people who are sexually abused, especially boys & men.
I don't know what's worse: people who are stupid asses or people who don't give a shit!
Or both!!...
Victor
I don't know whether people are too stupid to add 1 + 1 and get 2, and realize that by awarding this
I don't know what's worse: people who are stupid asses or people who don't give a shit!
Or both!!...
Victor
Mike Church
Registrant
Tis a wonderful world in which we live. People cannot begin to fathom that a person with so much obvious talent& wealhcould be what he is. People as a general rule want to believe that everything but what they can see is merely conjecture. As an example When CHEY-WY went to the police. The only thing that was important to them was did John say NO. That is the whole sad tale.. Another popular and widely held belief is that we had to have bee a willing partner in it. I mean if this is not the case why did we wait so long to come forward.
I dont know what else to say. It is so damned unfair. I have a great deal of empathy for those young men who went off to fight that idiotic war in nam and did what they were told to do by incompetant leaders, lost their friends, their limbs and man their sanity only to return home to a very ungrateful nation. Their emotions from PTSD are the same as ours. And others felt that if they went they believed in it. Another brave young man I can think of is Matthew Sheppard. I have heard many people say "Well he was just a queer and he probably got what he desrved". That is a belief that I have repeated over and over in this country and I am sure the same goes for yours. Young Mathews only problem was he was in the wrong place at the right time. If he hit on them I say SO WHAT. Did anyone ever know about a young girl being hit on by a guy and because of it got her friends togther and make the guy suffer so terribly before he was murdered. In Mathews case it was murder. Another example of public apathy is that youg colored boy who was dragged behind a pickup truck and murdered by some good ole boys. How many people have thought that the colored boy must have precipated the whole effen thing.
The great unwashed masses think that the only reason we come forward is purely monetary. And they hate us for it.
What I am driving at here is for the most part they would rather stay in the prison that we have created. Our problems are our own. I mean my god look at those people (meaning us) theya are dragging the name of decent people and institutions through the mud. They must be liars or money grabbing low lifes.
MY ANSWER TO ALL THIS IS NOT EVER WILL WE SHUT UP BECAUSE IF WE DO THE FUTURE LIVES OF NEW VICTIMS WILL LIKE WE HAVE. AND THAT CANNOT HAPPEN. I am just so terribly sad and enraged that there will be others to follow us/ Gotta close my emotions are getting the best of me. I just cant seem to stop the tears anymore.
I dont know what else to say. It is so damned unfair. I have a great deal of empathy for those young men who went off to fight that idiotic war in nam and did what they were told to do by incompetant leaders, lost their friends, their limbs and man their sanity only to return home to a very ungrateful nation. Their emotions from PTSD are the same as ours. And others felt that if they went they believed in it. Another brave young man I can think of is Matthew Sheppard. I have heard many people say "Well he was just a queer and he probably got what he desrved". That is a belief that I have repeated over and over in this country and I am sure the same goes for yours. Young Mathews only problem was he was in the wrong place at the right time. If he hit on them I say SO WHAT. Did anyone ever know about a young girl being hit on by a guy and because of it got her friends togther and make the guy suffer so terribly before he was murdered. In Mathews case it was murder. Another example of public apathy is that youg colored boy who was dragged behind a pickup truck and murdered by some good ole boys. How many people have thought that the colored boy must have precipated the whole effen thing.
The great unwashed masses think that the only reason we come forward is purely monetary. And they hate us for it.
What I am driving at here is for the most part they would rather stay in the prison that we have created. Our problems are our own. I mean my god look at those people (meaning us) theya are dragging the name of decent people and institutions through the mud. They must be liars or money grabbing low lifes.
MY ANSWER TO ALL THIS IS NOT EVER WILL WE SHUT UP BECAUSE IF WE DO THE FUTURE LIVES OF NEW VICTIMS WILL LIKE WE HAVE. AND THAT CANNOT HAPPEN. I am just so terribly sad and enraged that there will be others to follow us/ Gotta close my emotions are getting the best of me. I just cant seem to stop the tears anymore.
The UK Sunday Times.
March 16, 2003
He raped me ? but give him an Oscar
Samantha Geimer tells Margarette Driscoll she has tried to forget the
director assaulting her as a child, and Hollywood should too
As the limos glide up Hollywood Boulevard next Sunday night Samantha
Geimer will be kicking off her shoes, ready to curl up in front of the
television, as usual. But this year?s ceremony is of more than usual
resonance.
Nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture, is The Pianist,
directed by Roman Polanksi, who sexually assaulted Geimer when she was
13 years old.
The ensuing scandal almost finished Polanski?s career. The film, based
on the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who survived the Nazi
occupation of Warsaw, has already won two Baftas in London for best
picture and best director and also won the Palme d?Or at Cannes.
In normal circumstances such laurels would make it a dead cert for an
Oscar. But some believe that Polanski?s history will count against him.
Last week, with deadly timing, the entire transcript of Geimer?s
evidence to a grand jury soon after the event was posted on an American
website, casting a further shadow over The Pianist, which many believe
to be Polanski?s finest work.
But to the director?s rescue has come a most unusual champion: the
victim herself. Geimer, now 39, says Polanski has already paid a heavy
price and it is time the incident was forgotten. ?A lot of people worked
on that movie and if it is as good as everyone says it is I would hate
to think they lost out because of what happened to me,? she says.
Today, Geimer lives in Hawaii, five minutes from the beach on the tiny
island of Kauai. She and her husband Dave work for an estate management
company and have three sons, Jesse, 20, Alex 14, and Matthew, 10.
All of her sons know what happened. ?It wasn?t something I really wanted
to tell them, but sooner or later I knew it would be public and the
phone would start ringing, so I had to,? she says.
?The oldest one is just beginning to understand what a big deal it all
was,? she says, ?but the others aren?t really interested. I don?t make a
big deal of it, so they don?t either.?
Her generosity towards Polanksi has surprised many, not least, the
director himself, who, in a rare reference to Geimer said it was ?very
nice of her?. But Geimer says she is indifferent towards him. ?I have no
hard feelings towards him,? she says, ?but no sympathy either. I just
decided early on: you don?t have to be a victim all your life. I always
knew it was in my best interests to put this behind me and get over it.?
In 1977 Geimer was an aspiring actress. It was her mother who first met
Polanski, whose films, Chinatown and Rosemary?s Baby, were widely admired.
His troubled private life made him an object of fascination. As a child
he was left to fend for himself in the Krakow ghetto when both his
parents were arrested. His mother, who was four months? pregnant, died
in Auschwitz. In 1969 his wife, Sharon Tate, who was also pregnant, was
murdered by Charles Manson and his gang of fanatics at the couple?s
Hollywood home.
After her death Polanski had a number of affairs, most notably with the
actress Nastassjia Kinski, who was then 15. When he met Geimer he had
just photographed Kinski for French Vogue.
Geimer?s mother saw an opportunity and persuaded Polanski to photograph
Samantha. Geimer was dazzled: ?I was excited about having my picture in
a magazine but I think it meant more to the adults. My mother was really
flattered by his attention, but I was not so aware of who he was.?
There was no sign of a sexual undercurrent when Polanski took the first
set of photographs. After a shoot on a nearby hillside, he delivered her
home unharmed. Next time he drove Geimer to Jacqueline Bisset?s house
and took a few shots, then drove on to Jack Nicholson?s house. On the
way, he asked Geimer if she has ever had sex. She had, once: with a
16-year-old boyfriend, though she told Polanski it was twice in case he
thought her unsophisticated.
Polanski opened a bottle of champagne and started shooting pictures of
her drinking, by Nicholson?s pool. After four or five glasses Geimer was
naked in the Jacuzzi. Polanski produced a Quaalude, one of the era?s
most popular drugs, known to reduce inhibition. He gave her a piece of
the ?lude? then joined her in the tub.
Geimer, realising the atmosphere was changing, retired to a nearby
bedroom to dress. Polanski followed her: she was in her underwear and a
towel. She says she kept telling him she wanted to go home but he
persisted in having sex with her. On the way home he told her ?this is
our secret?.
But her mother found out and, two days later, every paper?s top story
was Polanski?s arrest for the rape. ?Not counting OJ, it was the biggest
court case in Hollywood in human history,? says Lawrence Silver,
Geimer?s lawyer. Polanski was charged with six counts of assault but
having served 43 days in jail agreed to plead guilty to the least
serious charge ? statutory rape ? in exchange for his freedom.
At the last minute the judge, Laurence J Rittenband, changed his mind
and demanded Polanski stand trial. Faced with up to 50 years in jail, he
fled to Paris and has been unable to return to the US since for fear of
being arrested.
Geimer thinks this is wrong. ?We should have been able to settle all
this in court 25 years ago,? she says. ?Even at the time I felt the
damage to Polanski?s career and all the publicity would be enough to
deter him from doing anything like that again.
?I didn?t want a trial. I was tired of having to talk about it and
relive it. I wasn?t gung-ho to have him put away. It was a rape, yes,
that?s the truth, but I have always been uncomfortable with that word. I
don?t want to overdramatise it. To me, rape implies a violence and
nastiness that didn?t happen here.
?He made me have sex with him and I was not a willing partner but it was
all a long time ago. Polanski should be able to get on with his life
now. It may sound generous but to me it isn?t: it?s just fair.?
Now, having said her piece on the Oscars and suffered the embarrassment
of her explicit evidence to the grand jury being made public (?Nice guys
who do that internet stuff, huh??) she is hoping to retreat back into
the anonymity of Hawaii, 2,500 miles from Hollywood.
She hasn?t seen The Pianist, she says, ?but lots of people have told me
how good it is. Maybe I?ll catch it when it comes out on DVD?.
***************
Dave
March 16, 2003
He raped me ? but give him an Oscar
Samantha Geimer tells Margarette Driscoll she has tried to forget the
director assaulting her as a child, and Hollywood should too
As the limos glide up Hollywood Boulevard next Sunday night Samantha
Geimer will be kicking off her shoes, ready to curl up in front of the
television, as usual. But this year?s ceremony is of more than usual
resonance.
Nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture, is The Pianist,
directed by Roman Polanksi, who sexually assaulted Geimer when she was
13 years old.
The ensuing scandal almost finished Polanski?s career. The film, based
on the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who survived the Nazi
occupation of Warsaw, has already won two Baftas in London for best
picture and best director and also won the Palme d?Or at Cannes.
In normal circumstances such laurels would make it a dead cert for an
Oscar. But some believe that Polanski?s history will count against him.
Last week, with deadly timing, the entire transcript of Geimer?s
evidence to a grand jury soon after the event was posted on an American
website, casting a further shadow over The Pianist, which many believe
to be Polanski?s finest work.
But to the director?s rescue has come a most unusual champion: the
victim herself. Geimer, now 39, says Polanski has already paid a heavy
price and it is time the incident was forgotten. ?A lot of people worked
on that movie and if it is as good as everyone says it is I would hate
to think they lost out because of what happened to me,? she says.
Today, Geimer lives in Hawaii, five minutes from the beach on the tiny
island of Kauai. She and her husband Dave work for an estate management
company and have three sons, Jesse, 20, Alex 14, and Matthew, 10.
All of her sons know what happened. ?It wasn?t something I really wanted
to tell them, but sooner or later I knew it would be public and the
phone would start ringing, so I had to,? she says.
?The oldest one is just beginning to understand what a big deal it all
was,? she says, ?but the others aren?t really interested. I don?t make a
big deal of it, so they don?t either.?
Her generosity towards Polanksi has surprised many, not least, the
director himself, who, in a rare reference to Geimer said it was ?very
nice of her?. But Geimer says she is indifferent towards him. ?I have no
hard feelings towards him,? she says, ?but no sympathy either. I just
decided early on: you don?t have to be a victim all your life. I always
knew it was in my best interests to put this behind me and get over it.?
In 1977 Geimer was an aspiring actress. It was her mother who first met
Polanski, whose films, Chinatown and Rosemary?s Baby, were widely admired.
His troubled private life made him an object of fascination. As a child
he was left to fend for himself in the Krakow ghetto when both his
parents were arrested. His mother, who was four months? pregnant, died
in Auschwitz. In 1969 his wife, Sharon Tate, who was also pregnant, was
murdered by Charles Manson and his gang of fanatics at the couple?s
Hollywood home.
After her death Polanski had a number of affairs, most notably with the
actress Nastassjia Kinski, who was then 15. When he met Geimer he had
just photographed Kinski for French Vogue.
Geimer?s mother saw an opportunity and persuaded Polanski to photograph
Samantha. Geimer was dazzled: ?I was excited about having my picture in
a magazine but I think it meant more to the adults. My mother was really
flattered by his attention, but I was not so aware of who he was.?
There was no sign of a sexual undercurrent when Polanski took the first
set of photographs. After a shoot on a nearby hillside, he delivered her
home unharmed. Next time he drove Geimer to Jacqueline Bisset?s house
and took a few shots, then drove on to Jack Nicholson?s house. On the
way, he asked Geimer if she has ever had sex. She had, once: with a
16-year-old boyfriend, though she told Polanski it was twice in case he
thought her unsophisticated.
Polanski opened a bottle of champagne and started shooting pictures of
her drinking, by Nicholson?s pool. After four or five glasses Geimer was
naked in the Jacuzzi. Polanski produced a Quaalude, one of the era?s
most popular drugs, known to reduce inhibition. He gave her a piece of
the ?lude? then joined her in the tub.
Geimer, realising the atmosphere was changing, retired to a nearby
bedroom to dress. Polanski followed her: she was in her underwear and a
towel. She says she kept telling him she wanted to go home but he
persisted in having sex with her. On the way home he told her ?this is
our secret?.
But her mother found out and, two days later, every paper?s top story
was Polanski?s arrest for the rape. ?Not counting OJ, it was the biggest
court case in Hollywood in human history,? says Lawrence Silver,
Geimer?s lawyer. Polanski was charged with six counts of assault but
having served 43 days in jail agreed to plead guilty to the least
serious charge ? statutory rape ? in exchange for his freedom.
At the last minute the judge, Laurence J Rittenband, changed his mind
and demanded Polanski stand trial. Faced with up to 50 years in jail, he
fled to Paris and has been unable to return to the US since for fear of
being arrested.
Geimer thinks this is wrong. ?We should have been able to settle all
this in court 25 years ago,? she says. ?Even at the time I felt the
damage to Polanski?s career and all the publicity would be enough to
deter him from doing anything like that again.
?I didn?t want a trial. I was tired of having to talk about it and
relive it. I wasn?t gung-ho to have him put away. It was a rape, yes,
that?s the truth, but I have always been uncomfortable with that word. I
don?t want to overdramatise it. To me, rape implies a violence and
nastiness that didn?t happen here.
?He made me have sex with him and I was not a willing partner but it was
all a long time ago. Polanski should be able to get on with his life
now. It may sound generous but to me it isn?t: it?s just fair.?
Now, having said her piece on the Oscars and suffered the embarrassment
of her explicit evidence to the grand jury being made public (?Nice guys
who do that internet stuff, huh??) she is hoping to retreat back into
the anonymity of Hawaii, 2,500 miles from Hollywood.
She hasn?t seen The Pianist, she says, ?but lots of people have told me
how good it is. Maybe I?ll catch it when it comes out on DVD?.
***************
Dave