It’s pretty hard to grasp the massive cultural chasm between the Hollywood elites of the left and normal Americans as manifest in their respective reactions to the recent arrest and possible extradition of Roman Polanski to finally face his punishment for rape, sodomy, and other sexual abuse of a 13-year old in 1977. First, it’s unfathomable that there could be any debate at all about the propriety of returning him to face justice. You don’t even have to imagine the different standard that would apply to a Republican or conservative celebrity, not to mention a Catholic priest, the outrage about which would be off the charts. Just imagine Joe the plumber–it’s a no-brainer. But for the Neverland of fruits and nuts, the entire notion of holding one of their superstar creative icons to account for “a case of morals” and a “so-called crime” is beneath them. For, after all, according to film producer Harvey Weinstein, “Hollywood has the best moral compass because it has compassion.” A petition demanding Polanski’s release was signed by about one hundred of Hollywood’s best and brightest, many of the primary manufacturers of what passes as the world’s dominant cultural product. Can there be any wonder why we are so engulfed in a culture war?
