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This Day In History: February 1, 1978
Note: This story originally appeared on my blog on February 1, 2018.
Forty years ago today, movie director Roman Polanski skipped bail and fled to France after being convicted of having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl. Polanski, who is best known for directing the horror movie classic, Rosemary’s Baby and for being the widower of murdered actress, Sharon Tate, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, I am surprised that a brighter spotlight hasn’t been aimed on Polanski. After all, Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Matt Lauer, Kevin Spacey, Charlie Rose, Bill O’Reilly, Roy Moore, et al were all brought low by decades-old allegations of rape, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct.
Polanski could be getting a pass simply because the general public already knew. After all, the controversy surrounding Polanski’s crime and escape from justice was rekindled when the director received an Oscar nod (and eventually won) for The Pianist in 2003. In 2008, a documentary about Polanski and Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland the next year reopened the debate again. The story was then revisited last year when his victim, Samantha Geimer, now in her fifties, asked a judge to sentence Polanski to time served.
