Is catching a beating a lesser crime than rape? or murder like Mathew Broderick did while driving drunk?

  • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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    2 days ago

    Polanski admitted raping a child and still worked without any issues for decades. Top actors didn’t see any issues in working with him and he even won an Oscar. Why? I have no idea.

    People totally ignored all the creepy things Micheal Jackson did because his songs were so good.

    Woody Allen had to do some explaining but wasn’t canceled.

    Chris Brown is still getting to the top of Billboards 200.

    It’s not a simple “guilty/not-guilty” issue. It’s a mix of how much money you have, how much money you can still make (how loyal is your fan base and what do they care about) and how good PR team do you have.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      1 day ago

      Polanski had plenty of issues, including that he could never come to America, which is a liability when you are trying to make movies within the Hollywood system. He found people to work with, but we don’t hear about all those that refused to work with him, and I’m sure there were plenty. He managed to have a decent career, but to say he had no issues at all simply isn’t accurate.

      Michael Jackson’s allegations are tough. I’ve been a big fan all my life, I seen all the allegations and evidence, and I’m still on the fence.

      Woody Allen is definitely a weird guy, but I looked into those allegations, too, and there are a lot of problems with them. Family dynamics can be complicated, dramatic, and toxic, and that could explain this. Woody being such a bizarre character makes it easy for others to believe bad stuff. Or maybe it’s true. Without a court case, evidence, witnesses, etc., it’s impossible to know.

      Chris Brown’s guilt as a serious abuser is proven. Perhaps his continued popularity is due to his reputation. Even Domestic Abusers need tunes, and he’s their man.

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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        5 hours ago

        Did you see the MJ documentary where the kid (now adult) and his family came forward to tell what happened?
        Even if you thought the info about MJ masturbating to the kid bent over is fake for some reason, the provable logistics are consistent with a grooming pedophile.

        Flatter the kid, promise him fame, same with family. Pay for their trips to be with you on tour. Book kid into same room as MJ, but book parents on a different floor or other end of building. Etc

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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          6 hours ago

          Yeah, I know, but I also know that at least some of the allegations really looked suspicious, too. I wrestle with it to this day. It’s hard to see your heros fall. I was a huge fan, my entire life.

          • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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            5 hours ago

            I mean it’s like Bill Cosby who played the Wholesome dad, and did Jello Pudding Pop commercials, then revealed he’s a young girl drug and rape guy. It sucks but people can be monsters beyond the facade. Fame gives a privilidge that seems a lot of people take advantage of.

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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        1 day ago

        He managed to have a decent career

        Dude, he won an Oscar in 2003. Best Director. Calling this “decent” career is extremely disingenuous. He worked with Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, Ewan McGregor and Johnny Depp. All at the top of their careers, very much able to decide who they want to work with and they worked with him. He is still well respected in Poland and France and many different governments protected him from prosecution. When US tried to detain him Polish government ignored the laws to shield him.

        With Woody Allen I’m taking about him marrying his step daughter, not the unconfirmed allegations.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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          6 hours ago

          Yeah, he won an Oscar, and it was incredibly controversial, and it was one of the things that started the conversation that eventually led to the Me Too movement. For the first time, Hollywood women let their outrage be seen and heard, and that kind of mysogyny in Hollywood began to meet resistance.

          Again, I would not say that Polanski has had “no issues” in his career. I don’t see Speilberg or Scorcese having to defend 50+ year old scandals literally every time their names are mentioned.

          • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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            6 hours ago

            Me Too movement started after Harvey Weinstein scandal, over a decade after Polanski got his Oscar. I don’t remember any controversies around The Pianist. The wiki doesn’t mention anything. It got great reviews and got a lot of awards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accolades_received_by_The_Pianist

            You’re either making stuff up now or just misremembering it. Polanski is an admitted rapist. Of course he didn’t have same career as Spielberg or Scorsese but he wasn’t a pariah either. He worked all his life and was well respected in the industry. I don’t know, maybe you just want to believe that Polanski faced some consequences. He didn’t. He wasn’t punished. There was no justice there. He raped a child and lived a happy life after that.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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          1 day ago

          I know people who are plugged into film studies, academia, etc., and there is definitely a bias against him, and his legacy will be stained. You can point to as many stars as you want, but you will never know how many turned him down.

          She wasn’t his step-daughter. He wasn’t married to Mia Farrow, and she wasn’t a biological daughter to Mia, either. Still gross, but technically, y’know?

          • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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            1 day ago

            I’m just saying that many directors would kill to have a career like him and he admitted to rape. Could he achieve more if he didn’t rape a child and was allowed entry into US? Maybe but it’s really hard to argue he was punished by the industry.

            Both him and Woddy simply show that some people can get away with things others can’t. Depends on the factors I mentioned.

            • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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              6 hours ago

              There is no doubt that his fame and talent bought him a LOT of sanctuary, but it definitely indelibly stained his legacy. We’ll never know how much more he could have achieved, but looking back, he would have been better off serving the couple of years in jail, and moved on with his life. He’d still have that old stain, but it would be mostly forgiven as a youthful slip, blame it on drugs, and the times, and it would be overlooked for the most part. But he would have been welcomed back to Hollywood, and would have have had full access to the Hollywood system.