Melissa Silverstein, who runs the feminist movie blog Women & Hollywood and does online marketing for films aimed at women, was angered by the industry’s reaction to Polanski’s arrest and found the silence of disapproval “deafening.”
“I think people are afraid to talk in Hollywood. They are afraid about their next job,” she said. “I don’t know where the women of Hollywood are. This is an opportunity for them to stand up for their daughters.”…
In an interview, Weinstein said that people generally misunderstand what happened to Polanski at sentencing. He’s not convinced public opinion is running against the filmmaker and dismisses the categorization of Hollywood as amoral. “Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion,” Weinstein said. “We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11. We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Registration is currently closed. That means if you're not already registered, you can't comment. We will let you know if and when registration re-opens. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Compassion for whom?
ahem on October 1, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Ridiculous nonsense. How compassionate can amoral narcissists be?
BottomLine5 on October 1, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Compassion for child rapists. Interesting.
Explains their apathy at the ACORN scandal.
Nethicus on October 1, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Morals and Hollywood are not two things I’d put together in the same sentence. Not even close.
mjk on October 1, 2009 at 11:49 AM
“Hollywood” and “morality” should rarely be in the same phrase without “lacks” directly between them.
eforhan on October 1, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Doing what, exactly?
Darksean on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Compassion for…ONLY THEMSELVES
PappaMac on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Hollywood is it’s own little fascist totalitarian state.
Caper29 on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
What Harvey MEANT to say:
“Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion….
….oh but I can’t say anymore because I’m late for my ‘Keep Abortion Legal’ rally at Planned parenthood”
battleoflepanto1571 on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Compassion. Right. How about letting Roman babysit your teenage kids, a**hole? Anyone want to measure their compassion if the scumbag in question wasn’t a part of their social set?
austinnelly on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Child rape really seems to bring out the worst in people.
LibTired on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Delusional.
NebCon on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
NB — they held a pep-rally and urged others to actually sacrifice.
Any sane observer of events would realize that the people who were actually “THERE” were the US military, followed by volunteers. Hollywood actors did little more than get in the way, spread lies, and strike poses.
Crawford on October 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Hollyweird isn’t just out of touch, it’s in its own bizzaro world.
Fletch54 on October 1, 2009 at 11:53 AM
My own exit question, if I may: Does this mean we’ll get a fresh round of Oscar nominees based on [i]Lolita[/i]-like subjects?
eforhan on October 1, 2009 at 11:53 AM
This headline reminds me of the title of a Teddy Kennedy biography I saw in a bookstore today. It was called “True Compass”. Gag!
aengus on October 1, 2009 at 11:55 AM
I’d like for someone to find me a prominent McCain voter who agrees with Hollywood on this issue.
WisCon on October 1, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Then why aren’t you clowns spending your millions and millions buying people health care? According to democrats, 45,000 people a year are dying because scum like you won’t part with a tiny bit of your money to buy them health insurance.
Compassion my a$$.
darwin on October 1, 2009 at 11:55 AM
The fundraising telethon. Wow. This guy is truly moronic.
That post-9/11 telethon was a ridiculous joke, because anyone with a brain knew that those turds were going to turn on the nation as soon as they felt safe, again – which they did.
progressoverpeace on October 1, 2009 at 11:56 AM
OT: Where’s the Headline about Michael MooreON.org declaring that “Capitalism did nothing for him.“
Rogue on October 1, 2009 at 11:56 AM
shoot him in the head.
ThackerAgency on October 1, 2009 at 11:56 AM
I haven’t been inside a movie theater for years…this won’t help get me in there any sooner.
PappaMac on October 1, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Hey, buttercup, people like me (who volunteer with the Red Cross) are the ones who actually do the real work. You just show up, look good for yourselves and walk away. Until Weinstein and Clooney and the like are helping me with victims of forest fires and hurricanes and terrorist attacs, the only thing they’re good at is shooting their mouths off.
mjk on October 1, 2009 at 11:59 AM
….as long as your lucky enough to have already been born.
CDeb on October 1, 2009 at 11:59 AM
your = you’re
Dammit!
CDeb on October 1, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Let him move in with ThackerAgency. They can party together.
How much more ridiculous are you going to become? You’ve made your point. Others disagree.
You seem to get a thrill out of being a contrarian just for the sake of being one.
SteveMG on October 1, 2009 at 12:00 PM
I’m disappointed in the number who have kept silent. Also, I heard but have not been able to confirm, that Lisa Kudrow has spoke up against Polanski. And she with the French husband and inlaws, it can’t be easy.
Blake on October 1, 2009 at 12:00 PM
I don’t feel one bit sorry for Weinstein for losing control of Miramax when they sold it to the Disney Corp. (though I’m well aware that they’re likely no different.) Hollywood really doesn’t deserve our money. Maybe it’s time already to start paying more of it for theater plays, but even there, leftism has taken over.
Avi Green on October 1, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Um…
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!!!!
Pull the other one, you hack.
And THIS is precisely why I decided NOT to use my Film degree for my living.
tickleddragon on October 1, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Hollywood is an abstract concept and therefore cannot possess “compassion.”. It’s probably worth pointing that out.
But it’s interesting how these shallow narcissists in the movie industry consider themselves to have a monopoly on compassion, considering that there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who work tirelessly every day and sometimes risk their lives to save and care for others, none of whom are being paid millions of dollars to prance in front of a camera and none of whom spend their evenings at glitzy movie premieres or extravagant Hollywood parties.
Sharke on October 1, 2009 at 12:02 PM
They are also the most modestest.
Christien on October 1, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Oh, the contempt by Weinstein for Red State dwellers, but there is no remedy for those who live in the State of Denial.
mwbri on October 1, 2009 at 12:04 PM
they have compassion for either members of their own guild and class, or compassion whenever it would benefit them
that’s called CYA, not compassion
Defector01 on October 1, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Well, we “little people” outside of Hollywood raise money for needs and then when possible actually put boots on the ground. Hollywood may put out some money, but do they actually work during disasters? Rarely if ever.
Just another example of out of touch Hollywood is from the rest of our country.
Voter from WA State on October 1, 2009 at 12:06 PM
No one believes that if Mr. Polanski was not a member of the Hollywood crowd that Weinstein would be defending him.
This compassion argument is hooey.
SteveMG on October 1, 2009 at 12:07 PM
That’s a poorly written article. They don’t refute a number of the pro-rapist arguments. Also, they are just repeating the defense position as to what happened with the plea, which is contested.
Blake on October 1, 2009 at 12:09 PM
All y’all neanderthals need to back off. Remember Sean Penn and his Little Red Cup saving thousands in NOLA during Katrina?
Christien on October 1, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Don’t forget to pick up your Qualludes for the afterparty!!!
Abby Adams on October 1, 2009 at 12:11 PM
I absolutely don’t understand this. None of it. The man plead GUILTY to the crime but somehow skipped out before being incarcerated. Justice should be blind. A law was broken, a man convicted, and yet he hasn’t served the penalty. It’s really that simple.
I’m not surprised people are outraged in either direction. There are still people in Hollywood and elsewhere who believe OJ is innocent.
Harvey Weinstein, etal, run your mouths. Get in front of the cameras so we’re all made aware of who you are and what your feelings are on the matter. You’re free to make that choice and I’m free to not see another movie. Really. I can live without movies.
Oink on October 1, 2009 at 12:12 PM
While I am “outrageously outraged” at this…
…I am NOT surprised at all.
In fact, I LOVE it when idiots and immoral pieces of crap decide to publicly announce that they are idiots and immoral pieces of crap.
I just can’t imaged what kind of insular life these people lead that makes them double and triple down on stupid.
Or how did they get such a huge hole in their soul that they continue to defend (and lie for) a convicted child rapist.
Religious_Zealot on October 1, 2009 at 12:15 PM
It really is time for the American public to boycott Hollywood and its quality-declining products on a grand scale. There are far better ways to be entertained. And that’s all they are in a nutshell: entertainers. WE are the consumers of said ‘entertainment” and should turn them away–dent them their precious profits.
I know, good luck with that, but in due time they will be bled out slowly once people start shunning them and their crap.
RepubChica on October 1, 2009 at 12:18 PM
What about ’shoot him in the head’ is contrarian? Why waste words? Most people here would agree with me that we should shoot him in the head. I changed my mind. I don’t want people to think I’m an apologist for a child rapist.
Please shoot him in the head. The world will be a better place for it. Aren’t we agreeing?
ThackerAgency on October 1, 2009 at 12:21 PM
So now, you’ve resorted to advocating violence??? Hmmm…
Abby Adams on October 1, 2009 at 12:22 PM
“Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion, …”
Hollywood is the reason The National Enquirer and other scandal rags exist. Latest example: McKenzie Phillips. Apparently, cousin-lovin’ has been demode in Hollywood for many years.
Hollywood treats perversion and licentiousness much like it treats Fall Fashion.
.
“We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11” . . .
. . . only because after several of you people were publicly spanked and boycotted for your uneducated views of 9/11, did you then check with your agents to see what you should do. It was all publicity on your part.
How much money did you raise? Remember you each make $20MILLION per movie (roughly the LIFETIME GROSS INCOME of 20 of us average plebians)
.
“We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe.”
Where? In a TV studio, acting, emoting, reading from a teleprompter, guiding us little people to the proper type and amount of grief (that Ray Nagin should’ve and could’ve prevented), and exhorting us to give?
Arbalest on October 1, 2009 at 12:26 PM
I don’t know about puttin’ one in Polanski’s head, but I do enjoy a good fistfight.
radioboyatl on October 1, 2009 at 12:28 PM
I don’t know if I can live without seeing another movie–cinema is an amazing and captivating art form on occasion. But I can sure plop 5 bucks down for an impressive bootleg or pirated copy of something mildly interesting where the likes of Weinstein and co. won’t see a dime just for being a**holes.
RepubChica on October 1, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Good grief. This whole affair is giving us some good textbook examples of special pleading.
Bill Ramey on October 1, 2009 at 12:32 PM
Look, all I know is that I started out questioning how our judicial system was handling this case at this point, and I got accused left and right of ‘defending a child rapist’. When all of my comments had to do with the sentencing rather than the crime.
I don’t even know who this guy is. I haven’t seen any of his movies. I’m not defending a child rapist, nor am I enamored with his skills in the movie industry. I was looking at the system and what was available now.
I figured ’shoot him in the head’ was a safe statement in this crowd. But now I’m considered a ‘contrarian’ and I am in trouble for making that statement.
ThackerAgency on October 1, 2009 at 12:33 PM
They have compassion for a child rapist, but not the child who was raped. Disgusting.
I’ve been taking note of every Hollyweird celeb who is supporting this POS and I will not watch anything they
direct, produce or star in.
I don’t mind it when a celeb is a leftist hack, but I will not support a celeb who defends and supports a child rapist.
emilykathleen on October 1, 2009 at 12:42 PM
He’s no one important, really. His movies mostly sucked. Some people liked Rosemary’s Baby, but I thought it was pretty pathetic.
It is. Though kneecaps and elbows probably would have been a little better.
I missed your earlier comments on this, so I’m just coming in, in the middle.
progressoverpeace on October 1, 2009 at 12:44 PM
We – or most of us – are saying that the laws should apply to Mr. Polanski and that the other factors – his age, his great artistic skills, the age of the victim and her statements that she wants to move on – are not sufficient to let him walk because of the severity of his crimes.
Yes, some are saying overheated things – understandably for the most part – because of the nature of his acts.
SteveMG on October 1, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Sorry, but ‘Chinatown’ is a powerful and brilliantly filmed movie along with, I’ve heard, ‘The Pianist’.
His talent is pretty obvious even to a neophyte like me. And I’m not a big film fan.
SteveMG on October 1, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Since when is “compassion” the definition of “moral”?
MarkTheGreat on October 1, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Meh. Guess what, if Chinatown had never been made, the world would not be changed one iota.
progressoverpeace on October 1, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Harevy Weinstein is correct, Hollywood does have the best moral compass. You just have to remember that it is pointing in the opposite direction, sort of like a navigation compass that points south instead of north. Once you factor that in, it is helpful for your life:
just replace:
compassion for child rapist with compassion for child rape victim.
open marriage with monogamy
hardcore drug use with healthy lifestyle (including red wine)
screwing others in business deals with honoring your word.
rbj on October 1, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Hmm, one can say the same thing about King Lear or Hamlet too I guess.
But as Orwell said over 60 years ago -
SteveMG on October 1, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Except it’s pointed towards his ass.
Erich66 on October 1, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Years ago there used to be an expression: “Wearing your heart on your sleeve.” And it wasn’t usually considered a compliment.
Of course it’s asinine – even psychotic – to imagine that media figures and liberals in general actually CARE more than other people about life, the Universe, and Everything.
All they do is EXPRESS their feelings far, far more melodramatically than any normal person does. These professional drama queens live in an incredibly tiny little world where that their whining becomes not just equal to, but in their minds even more important than what everyone else refers to as “reality.”
To liberal minds, Mother Teresa was an arrogant poseur who tried to steal their thunder. She was “self-righteous” because she believed in something other than her own ego. All she ever did was grub around in the dirt with her hands and hang out with a bunch of ugly folks. She did absolutley nothing except actually, physically feed hungry people and actually, physically shelter the homeless. Where’s the glory in that?
But, to them, Roman Polanski is a God who “created” entire worlds out of nothing but celluloid. So who are we to try and judge him by the same standards as mortal men?
logis on October 1, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Hmmm……..
Compare and contrast:
and
And then we go into TA’s remarks that:
- the victim dropped the charges (she couldn’t because she wasn’t the one who brought charges against Polanski, it was the state of California)
- Polanski has paid for his crimes (sure, by continuing to make movies, make money, own several different houses in different countries and even earned an Oscar)
- Polanski was “exiled” and “can not return to the USA” (Polanski FLED the country and can return any time he chooses. In fact, California WANTS him to return)
Religious_Zealot on October 1, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Religious_Zealot on October 1, 2009 at 1:15 PM
I love it when you judge me zealot. I feel the burning of hell already from your righteous indignation.
You must be gay if you don’t think men like young women because all the models in the magazine are old by the time they hit 30. But of course, to you, being gay is perfectly acceptable.
‘Thank heaven for little girls, because little girls get bigger every day’. . . wasn’t that a song? I guess the guy singing that song was a pedophile who should be shot in the head.
The victim did drop the charges, Polanski did pay her an undisclosed sum, Polanski could not come to America without being arrested.
These are FACTS. . . but don’t let that get in the way of your judgment of me you jerk.
ThackerAgency on October 1, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Faith No More’s first single had it spot on when mocking these fools: “We care a lot about disease. We care a lot about starvation. We care a lot about disasters, fires, floods, and killer bees. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.”
By the way, did the fundraising for 9/11 and Katrina actually help anyone that wouldn’t have been helped otherwise? Aside from the entertainers who performed, I mean.
calbear on October 1, 2009 at 1:43 PM
You are a jerk. . . that’s not a fact, that’s my opinion.
But understand that I really don’t care what you say. Your opinion makes no difference to me. I use facts. You use innuendo and accusations.
So have you watched any of his movies? I haven’t. If you have, why are you supporting a child rapist? I mean, you might as well just join NAMBLA and pay your dues. This paragraph uses your own reasoning (innuendo and accusation).
ThackerAgency on October 1, 2009 at 1:47 PM
It doesn’t matter what the victim did AFTER disposition of the case or even wants at this point.
The verdit was that Polanski was guilty. Polanski pled guilty.
The case was disposed. A verdict was handed. GUILTY!
At this point, it makes no difference if the victim sucks his wang and proclaims him as her knew older boy-toy.
No. Difference. At. All.
It might have had difference at sentencing, but that was blown when Polanski skipped and was on the lamb for 30 some odd years.
Trial is over. Polanski was found guilty. He must now face his sentence. His victim supposed wishes are moot.
THOSE are the facts.
TexasDude on October 1, 2009 at 1:51 PM
Ah yes, the classic defense of those who have already lost.
You must be gay.
So you honestly believe that there is no difference between lusting after a woman who is 24, and one who is 13?
The song celebrates the fact that little girls eventually become big girls. It doesn’t say that it’s OK to rape little girls. The fact that you think it does is very interesting.
The victim can’t drop the charges in this case. Since they were brought by the state, not by her. The fact that she received a payoff is meaningless in this case.
As to your claim that he was exiled, you obviously don’t know the meaning of the words that you use.
MarkTheGreat on October 1, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Man, you do get upset when others fail to worship you as much as you worship yourself.
As to your claim to using facts, would you please point out the post where you did so, I can’t find it.
MarkTheGreat on October 1, 2009 at 1:56 PM
Yea, Hollywood has compassion for babies being murdered a couple days before their born…Oh wait…
Tim Burton on October 1, 2009 at 2:14 PM
Hey, Thacker, I never got a response from you. Based on the way I dress when I dance (tango, salsa, chacha, etc), do I deserve to be violated? I mean, it’s three inch heels, fishnet stockings, sleeveless shirts, and short skirts, usually. And the way I slink around the guys I dance with, I’m pretty much asking for it, right?
Just making sure I know when I deserve to be violated and the like.
mjk on October 1, 2009 at 2:32 PM
WOW! SIMPLY WOW! I’m truly GLAD I cannot relate to these people. I’d rather be poor than rich and a nut.
Sultry Beauty on October 1, 2009 at 2:47 PM
“We were there for Katrina.”
For amoral political reasons.
Where have you guys been for the dozens of genuinely hurricane caused disasters?
noblejones on October 1, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Yes, “facts”, which in your addled mind seem to make sense, but really aren’t facts at all.
Of course, what else can we expect from a person who defends, apologizes for and even LIES for a convicted child rapist.
And one who shares his same pedophilic view on little girls.
Religious_Zealot on October 1, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Aside from the case being settled, there is nothing that is going to pop up to vacate the verdict. The victim and the rapist agree to the facts of what happened.
There is nothing that will happen to change the verdict.
Living in Europe and who knows where else is not a sentence fitting the crime.
TexasDude on October 1, 2009 at 6:52 PM