Roman Polanski

For some reason, I keep rereading the news items and posted comments about Roman Polanski. These texts get very repetitious very quickly, but I still feel the need to keep reading and thinking about this, because I can't seem to feel comfortable with the intense emotions of either side. I don't want to join the mob condemning him, or the mob who wants to free him. I did read an article in the London Telegraph, however, and the reader comments I read on that article did give me some clarity on the issue.

This article described many of the horrible things that have happened to Polansky in his long and painful life. Wife killed by Charles Manson, Mother killed by Nazis etc. The comments were people who claimed that this writer is claiming that Polansky is innocent, or deserves to be forgiven. Not once does he say any such thing in the article. He simply tells Polansky's story. This I've decided, is why I can't feel comfortable with either side of this controversy. It seems that everyone feels it is necessary to assume that anyone who has done anything bad must be bad all the way through. What this article shows is that talented people, who have had terrible things done to them, sometimes do terrible things themselves. Some people are threatened by this kind of moral ambiguity in the world, and don't want to feel sympathy for someone who deserves to be punished. That's too bad, the world is a morally ambiguous place.