Kozlowski: Extradite Polanski

I would consider myself a fan of art. A good symphony, a fine book or a movie that doesn’t even feature a single exploding car are all quite enjoyable. However, there are many things about art I cannot understand.

What’s up with supposedly brilliant works of art that look like they belong in scrap heaps? How about films that have no plot? As much as I am perplexed by being labeled a Philistine for failing to see the comment on the human condition that an orange square in a frame makes, I’m perplexed by artists demanding the immediate release of Roman Polanski.

Polanski, director of the film “The Pianist,” among others, is also a director of international repute in many ways. Currently, he is under arrest in Switzerland, fighting extradition to the United States for a crime to which he pled guilty 31 years ago: unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

The crime actually committed appears to be worse than that. According to transcript excerpts cited by the Associated Press, the victim alleged that Polanski raped her. Additional charges dealing with the rape and with the use of Quaaludes to subdue the girl were dropped when Polanski struck a plea bargain with the district attorney. Polanski fled the United States shortly after the plea deal was worked out, afraid that the judge in charge of the case was about to renege on the deal.

Enter Polanski’s Hollywood backers. A petition has been signed by many famous filmmakers demanding Polanski’s release, but why they want him freed is rather strange. They object to the fact that he was nabbed at an international awards ceremony, that he might lose his freedom and that Franco-American relations might suffer as a result of this arrest.

Additional arguments for the release of Polanski come to something along the lines of: It happened 31 years ago, the victim has expressed a desire to end this whole business and, in the words of celebrated jurist Whoopi Goldberg, “It wasn’t rape rape.”

However, the wording of the petition is not only poor, it’s wrongheaded. First and most simply is the question of where he was arrested. Awards ceremonies are not places of worship, unless it is self-worship, nor are they like embassies. There is a tremendous hypocrisy at work here. I don’t think Woody Allen would object if a person picking his pockets at an awards ceremony was unceremoniously arrested.

The Franco-American relations argument in the petition is just weird.

The fact that Polanski might lose his freedom as a result of this extradition is exactly why the extradition is being sought in the first place. Somebody decided it’s high time he faces justice like anybody else would if they pled guilty to having sex with a minor.

Additionally, the argument that it “wasn’t rape rape” is irrelevant. Hollywood, in general, and Whoopi Goldberg, in particular, are not lawyers, judges, juries or lawmakers. What constitutes rape is a matter of law and is determined by that law and those qualified to interpret law. The thing I find most objectionable in the entire petition is the second sentence, “His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.” This is an irritating phrase, as it implies that, because everyone has different morals, it was just the opinion of those straight-laced, Puritanical, fun-hating Americans in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office that led to this arrest.

This implication is false and repugnant. The United States does not want to grab Polanski because what he pled guilty to was merely wrong. The United States wants him because what he pled guilty to was against the law.

The crux of the matter is that the law should treat people the same no matter how rich or famous they are, no matter how many famous people support them and no matter how far away they flee. Polanski has used his foreign citizenship, his wealth and his fame to avoid prosecution in a way that the average person simply could not.

If, as Polanski alleges, the judge in 1978 was trying to renege on the plea bargain, this can well be brought out at his sentencing hearing in Los Angeles upon his return. Polanski can appeal the case, as is his right. He can defend himself just like anybody else. He can even petition another Hollywood star whose opinion actually matters here, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for a pardon.

It’s high time, however, that Polanski is no longer able to evade his day in court.

Write Mark at kozthought@gmail.com.