Much is being said today about the arrest of Roman Polanski stemming from charges placed against him in 1978 when he plead guilty to having sex with a 13 year old girl that he drugged at a party.  I'm a little suprised by the amount of folks coming to his defense.  Yes, the woman no longer wants to press charges.  That isn't the issue here.  Polanski plead guilty to a crime and then fled the country.  Then there's the folks who are saying he deserves a break because he is a Holocaust survivor and his pregnant wife was tragically murdered.  I'm not going to deny that those are horrible things that I can't even imagine happening to me.  However, that doesn't excuse someone from the consequences of their actions and in this case they are pretty darn horrible actions.  I mean, I might have had some sympathy for the guy if he had actually faced a court of law, but he didn't.  HE FLED THE COUNTRY.

I don't usually get up on a high horse like this, but for some reason this case just really bothers me.  However, I am a huge fan of Polanski's work.  I have always stood firm on the belief of separating the art from the artist.  It is a very slippery slope when you start judging the personal lives of folks like that.  I know people who won't watch Polanski's movies but they'll watch Woody Allen movies.  Or a multitude of other folks who have commited horrible acts.  People, including actors, filmmakers, and the like, all do horrible things.  Once again, that's not the issue here.  I think it really is a matter of justice, plain and simple.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Feel free to post your comments on the issue.