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Roman Polanski book by Thomas Kiernan

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Tony Whitaker

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Nov 22, 2005, 7:47:12 PM11/22/05
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I've finished reading "Repulsion - The Life and Times of Roman Polanski" by
Thomas Kiernan. It's a very good read, but very unflattering toward Roman
Polanski. I never would have guessed after watching his movies that Polanski
was the kind of person described in this book.

Here is a quote from the book:

"A third friend recalls that, about 1973, . he (Polanski) was growing more
and more interested only in sex with young girls. By young girls I mean late
teens, maybe middle teens - certainly not children."

[I don't understand how "middle teens" are "not children".]

"Several of his show-business pals in London were the same way. A famous
English actor, and another fellow, an English singer who everybody knows.
Their sexual habits were no big secret around London."

Question: Can anybody name the English actor and the English singer
Polanski's friend referred to?


David Oberman

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Nov 22, 2005, 8:25:26 PM11/22/05
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"Tony Whitaker" <tony...@mindspring.com> wrote:

I can't, but the one Kiernan book I have read -- a Laurence Olivier
biography -- was pretty darn good.

Garondo...@hotmail.com

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Nov 22, 2005, 10:21:03 PM11/22/05
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Tony Whitaker wrote:
> I've finished reading "Repulsion - The Life and Times of Roman Polanski" by
> Thomas Kiernan. It's a very good read, but very unflattering toward Roman
> Polanski. I never would have guessed after watching his movies that Polanski
> was the kind of person described in this book.

Why wouldn't you? He's a convicted rapist for crying out loud.


..
Garondo Marondo!

Brigid Nelson

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Nov 22, 2005, 10:46:30 PM11/22/05
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I wonder if Gary Glitter is the singer.

brigid

cali...@yahoo.com

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Nov 23, 2005, 6:02:48 AM11/23/05
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"middle teens" are not "children" because, generally speaking, by
middle teens, adult sexual characteristics have developed in the wake
of puberty. The difference being, I suppose, that pre-pubertal teens
can't have children, ergo they are children.

Anyway, that all depends on where you live, doesn't it? There are
places -- in the US, by the way -- where the age of consent is 14 or
15, others where it's 18. The idea that a 16 year old is a child, aside
from being offensive to the 16 year old, is a legal concept, not a
biological rule.

Since you asked.

Tony Whitaker

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Nov 23, 2005, 6:42:28 AM11/23/05
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<Garondo...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132716063....@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

> Why wouldn't you? He's a convicted rapist for crying out loud.

I didn't know the details of the case prior to reading this book. There are
false convictions. There are set-ups. There are young girls who LOOK like
they're much older.

Unfortunately for Polanski's case, none of these factors seem to apply
according to the book.


Tony Whitaker

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Nov 23, 2005, 6:53:44 AM11/23/05
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"Brigid Nelson" <irja...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:8gp7o1pbctrjeih01...@4ax.com...

> On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:47:12 GMT, "Tony Whitaker"
> <tony...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> I wonder if Gary Glitter is the singer.

If so, the author exaggerated when he wrote that it's a singer "everybody
knows". I've never heard of Gary Glitter.


steve

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Nov 23, 2005, 8:55:27 AM11/23/05
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On 23-Nov-2005, smacked up and reeling, "Tony Whitaker"
<tony...@mindspring.com> blindly formulated
the following incoherence:

> If so, the author exaggerated when he wrote that it's a singer "everybody
> knows". I've never heard of Gary Glitter.

Lucky you.
--
"Local firemen improvised."
Benny Hill

steve

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Nov 23, 2005, 9:14:10 AM11/23/05
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On 23-Nov-2005, smacked up and reeling, cali...@yahoo.com blindly
formulated
the following incoherence:

> "middle teens" are not "children" because, generally speaking, by


> middle teens, adult sexual characteristics have developed in the wake
> of puberty. The difference being, I suppose, that pre-pubertal teens
> can't have children, ergo they are children.

Not that it's particularly relevant, but I heard from several sources over
the last coule years that girls on average are reaching puberty at younger
ages now than ever in recorded medical history. Some as young as 9.
Clearly a physically mature 9 year old is still a child mentally. Bizarre
world we live in.

Polanski was obviously not a pedophile. Young girls attract most men,
though it's not socially acceptable to admit it. The commercial use and
popularity of hot young chicks, however, speaks to that fact.

steve

Richard Schultz

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Nov 23, 2005, 1:30:06 PM11/23/05
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In article <EAYgf.4529$wf....@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>, Tony Whitaker <tony...@mindspring.com> wrote:
: <Garondo...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
: news:1132716063....@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

:> Why wouldn't you? He's a convicted rapist for crying out loud.
:
: I didn't know the details of the case prior to reading this book. There are
: false convictions. There are set-ups. There are young girls who LOOK like
: they're much older.

He was convicted of *statutory* rape. He claimed that the girl consented;
statutory rape means that she was legally in a position to give consent and
hence the act was one of rape. The difference may not have made his act
any less criminal, but it certainly affects the connotation of the word
"rape" in this instance.

-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system
of government."

Your Pal Brian

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Nov 23, 2005, 4:32:14 PM11/23/05
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cali...@yahoo.com wrote:

If there's grass on the field, play ball!

Brian


Magnus, Robot Fighter.

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Nov 23, 2005, 4:44:39 PM11/23/05
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Old enough to bleed old enough to breed.

Tony Whitaker

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Nov 23, 2005, 7:14:12 PM11/23/05
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"Richard Schultz" <sch...@mail.biu.ack.il> wrote in message
news:dm2cfe$bla$2...@news.iucc.ac.il...

> He was convicted of *statutory* rape. He claimed that the girl consented;
> statutory rape means that she was legally in a position to give consent
> and
> hence the act was one of rape. The difference may not have made his act
> any less criminal, but it certainly affects the connotation of the word
> "rape" in this instance.

In your post, did you mean to write "...she was NOT legally in a position to
give consent..."? If not, I don't understand what you mean.

According to the book, Polanski was indicted on "...all six felony counts of
the original arrest warrant: furnishing Quaaludes to a minor, child
molesting, unlawful sexual intercourse, rape by use of drugs, oral
copulation, and sodomy.". The book also says that Polanski agreed,
grudgingly, to plead guilty to "unlawful sexual intercourse" in a plea
bargain that got all the other charges dropped. The only reason the plea
bargain was allowed is because the girl's lawyer and her father didn't want
the case to go to trial because they feared how it would affect the girl
psychologically to be embroiled in such a public spectacle.

The book also says that, ironically, if Polanski had pleaded guilty to
furnishing drugs to a minor, France would have extradited him. "Unlawful
sexual intercourse" isn't an extraditable offense in France.


Paul B. Thompson

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Nov 23, 2005, 8:11:10 PM11/23/05
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I bet you fools don't have daughters.

PBT


"Magnus, Robot Fighter." <m...@key.com> wrote in message
news:rlo9o1dpbni4k46jl...@4ax.com...

Magnus, Robot Fighter.

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Nov 23, 2005, 9:30:14 PM11/23/05
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On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 20:11:10 -0500, "Paul B. Thompson"
<mra...@isp.com> wrote:

>I bet you fools don't have daughters.
>
>PBT
>
>

u lose.

S D

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Nov 23, 2005, 10:22:10 PM11/23/05
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Roman seems to come over almost half as bad as your average politician,
or average anybody

Richard Schultz

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Nov 24, 2005, 12:23:16 AM11/24/05
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In article <oB7hf.4758$N45....@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net>, Tony Whitaker <tony...@mindspring.com> wrote:
: "Richard Schultz" <sch...@mail.biu.ack.il> wrote in message
: news:dm2cfe$bla$2...@news.iucc.ac.il...

:> He was convicted of *statutory* rape. He claimed that the girl consented;
:> statutory rape means that she was legally in a position to give consent
:> and hence the act was one of rape. The difference may not have made his act
:> any less criminal, but it certainly affects the connotation of the word
:> "rape" in this instance.

: In your post, did you mean to write "...she was NOT legally in a position to
: give consent..."? If not, I don't understand what you mean.

Yes, that it what I meant to say. Unfortunately, in the act of editing the
original version of the post, I deleted the word "not" and failed to notice
that I had not restored it. Sorry about that.

: According to the book, Polanski was indicted on "...all six felony counts of

: the original arrest warrant: furnishing Quaaludes to a minor, child
: molesting, unlawful sexual intercourse, rape by use of drugs, oral
: copulation, and sodomy.". The book also says that Polanski agreed,
: grudgingly, to plead guilty to "unlawful sexual intercourse" in a plea
: bargain that got all the other charges dropped. The only reason the plea
: bargain was allowed is because the girl's lawyer and her father didn't want
: the case to go to trial because they feared how it would affect the girl
: psychologically to be embroiled in such a public spectacle.

That's according to the book, which may or may not be telling the truth.
Not that I am by any means defending Polanski's actions.

-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----

"I've lost my harmonica, Albert."

S D

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Nov 24, 2005, 11:40:12 AM11/24/05
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Roman be roamin` thru the gloamin`

Tony Whitaker

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Nov 24, 2005, 1:20:51 PM11/24/05
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"Richard Schultz" <sch...@mail.biu.ack.il> wrote in message
news:dm3io4$ubd$1...@news.iucc.ac.il...

> That's according to the book, which may or may not be telling the truth.
> Not that I am by any means defending Polanski's actions.

Yeah, there are some things about the book that bother me. On many occasions
while reading it, I asked myself "how on earth does the author know these
things in such detail?". I'm believe Tiernan filled in alot of gaps with
entertaining conjecture.

I really want to believe Polanski never hurt any kids. I think his films are
so incredibly good. For his art, he's my favorite director. The girl he was
accused of raping was on TV months ago, and seemed fine. She didn't even
sound angry at Polanski, but maybe she was just putting on an act to lure
him back to face charges.


Dave in Toronto

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Nov 24, 2005, 2:39:29 PM11/24/05
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Tony Whitaker wrote:

> I really want to believe Polanski never hurt any kids. I think his films are
> so incredibly good. For his art, he's my favorite director. The girl he was
> accused of raping was on TV months ago, and seemed fine. She didn't even
> sound angry at Polanski, but maybe she was just putting on an act to lure
> him back to face charges.

We've gone through this on another thread but having great talent does
not automatically make person particularly nice or a good law-abiding
citzen. One has to separate the private person from the public. Not
always easy to do I know. But there are many instances of public idols
with feet of clay like writer Georges Simenon and poet Robert Frost and
quite a few film directors.

I didn't follow the Polanski case very closely but as I understand it
he was aware of the girl's age but she was very mature and sexually
active. Not that that excuses Polanski but it's a factor.

Dave in Toronto

Tony Whitaker

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Nov 24, 2005, 3:31:21 PM11/24/05
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"Dave in Toronto" <dmatt...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:1132861169.7...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

> We've gone through this on another thread but having great talent does
> not automatically make person particularly nice or a good law-abiding
> citzen. One has to separate the private person from the public. Not
> always easy to do I know. But there are many instances of public idols
> with feet of clay like writer Georges Simenon and poet Robert Frost and
> quite a few film directors.

Never heard of Georges Simenon. What did Robert Frost do?


Message has been deleted

George Peatty

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Nov 28, 2005, 4:59:38 PM11/28/05
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On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 14:14:10 GMT, "steve" <st...@steve.com> wrote:

>Polanski was obviously not a pedophile

[snip]

I don't know what to say I am so amazed by this comment .. Polanski, like D.
W. Griffith before him, is an arguably human being with a talent for making
movies. When he's not behind a camera, he is a slug.

steve

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Nov 28, 2005, 5:43:53 PM11/28/05
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On 28-Nov-2005, smacked up and reeling, George Peatty
<peattyg...@copper.net> blindly formulated
the following incoherence:

> >Polanski was obviously not a pedophile


>
> [snip]
>
> I don't know what to say I am so amazed by this comment .. Polanski, like
> D.
> W. Griffith before him, is an arguably human being with a talent for
> making
> movies. When he's not behind a camera, he is a slug.

You dont have to be a pedo to be a slug.

Dave in Toronto

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Nov 28, 2005, 7:01:17 PM11/28/05
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Paul B. Thompson wrote:
> I bet you fools don't have daughters.
>
> PBT
>
>


It doesn't seem to make much difference. Chico Marx was fiercely
protective of his own daughter but she in turn had to protect her
fifteen year old friends from his advances.

Dave in Toronto

David Oberman

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Nov 28, 2005, 9:49:07 PM11/28/05
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"Dave in Toronto" <dmatt...@sympatico.ca> wrote:

>It doesn't seem to make much difference. Chico Marx was fiercely
>protective of his own daughter but she in turn had to protect her
>fifteen year old friends from his advances.
>
>Dave in Toronto

Forget it, Dave. It's Chinatown.

Dave in Toronto

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Nov 28, 2005, 10:12:49 PM11/28/05
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I actually worked for Chico Marx's son-in-law - Shamus Culhane - in
1975.

(Don't mind me - I'm just name dropping)

Dave in Toronto

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