I can find no better article on the Roman Polanski rape case and the film industry’s reaction to it than this one by Dennis Prager. Here’s part of the article:

As virtually no one has ever suggested the girl lied, it is universally acknowledged that at age 43, Roman Polanski raped a 13-year-old girl.

One would think that anyone with a functioning conscience would condemn the terrible act. Or to put it another way: If a middle-aged man raping a 13-year-old girl is not obviously terrible, what is?

Yet, leading members of the film world in Europe and America world do not see it that way.

As Britain’s Guardian newspaper wrote: “The list of supporters giving Polanski their impassioned support read like a Who’s Who of the cream of the movie-making world. It included, among many others, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Harvey Weinstein, Pedro Almodovar and Ethan Coen.” […]

As noted by many observers, imagine if Polanski were a Roman Catholic priest — or a Republican politician — accused of the same crime. All hell would have fallen on the man’s head. The Boston Globe cited the Rev. James Martin, associate editor of America magazine: “If Polanski were in a collar there would be no boo-hooing about his recent plight. There would be zero pity for him. … Can you imagine a petition being circulated among actors, directors, and producers in the United States to have a Catholic priest reinstated in his parish after he had abused a 13-year-old child? If you believe this about Polanski — that his good deeds offset his guilt and that enough time has passed — do you believe the same about pedophile priests?” […]

We have reason to be grateful to the Polanski affair. It offers that most needed of virtues: clarity. It has made the average citizen aware of how broken the cultural elite’s moral compass is. [… T]he next time you see the Hollywood elite come out on behalf of or against some public issue, you can most likely assume the opposite is the morally correct position.

I was disappointed to see that Tilda Swinton also signed the petition supporting child-rapist Polanski. Swinton played the White Witch in the recent Chronicles of Narnia films.

It’s interesting that some in Hollywood are protesting that critics are painting with too broad of a brush. Screenwriter Josh Olson wrote a piece quoted on this Los Angeles Times blog lamenting the hasty generalization of some reporters who imply or state outright that “Hollywood” is supporting Polanski. I found this bit entertaining:

As a rule, when I read the news that a fugitive from justice has been caught, my standard response is to think, “How nice,” and turn the page. If it’s a particularly interesting story, I might tell my girlfriend about it, but until this moment it never occurred to me that I was supposed to alert the media as to my feelings on the subject. It’s hard enough keeping up with all the injustice in the world. Now we have to stand up and shout every time it goes the way it’s supposed to? No offense to Ms. Silverstein, but some of us have jobs. […]

But as far as Hollywood’s concerned, we’re not rallying behind anyone, and it sure would be nice if folks could find a way of discussing this issue without creating ridiculous and childish caricatures of people who have nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Right. What was the plot of American Beauty again? How many Oscars did it win? How does Hollywood feel about Elia Kazan? How did they feel about George W. Bush? No, no, they never alert the media as to their feelings on a particular subject, especially about a specific injustice. And far be it from Hollywood to ever take part in ridiculous and childish caricatures.

I think Dennis Prager got it exactly right.