Robert Mitchum, arguably the coolest actor to ever hit Hollywood, probably had the place pegged correctly, if this particular story is true.
It seems the late actor was quite the marijuana smoker early in his career. In the late 1940s, he was arrested for possessing the dreaded weed and did a stint in jail. Upon his release, a reporter asked him to give his assessment of what jail was like.
“Kind of like Hollywood,” Mitchum answered, “only with a better class of people.”
If that tale isn’t true, it ought to be. With the recent arrest of on-the-lam director Roman Polanski in Switzerland, we have some idea of what the current class of people in Hollywood is like. They love cop killers and child molesters, but woe betide anyone who drops the dreaded “f” bomb.
No, no. Not that “f” bomb. The other one, that’s a negative reference to gay men. Actor Isaiah Washington, who had a regular role on the television series “Grey’s Anatomy,” dropped the “f” bomb a couple of years ago in reference to one of his co-stars. He was fired from the series.
In 1977, Polanski, then 43, drugged a 13-year-old girl, plied her with champagne, and then forced her to commit various sexual acts.
Originally indicted on charges of rape, child molestation, giving drugs to a minor and suspected sodomy, Polanski pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
He cut a plea deal that supposedly would have given him no prison time for his despicable act, but bolted when he learned the judge in the case planned to treat him just like any other child molester.
According to a February 1978 news story, “Polanski’s probation report said he was profoundly affected by the brutal murder of his wife, actress Sharon Tate, in 1969. Court sources said the film director, imprisoned in Auschwitz by the Nazis during World War II, was repelled by the thought of possibly serving more time behind bars.”
It’s more likely Polanski was repelled by the thought of what happens to child molesters in prison, and by the very real possibility he’d end up washing out the underwear of some husky inmate named Bubba The Violator.
Other men survived Auschwitz; none went on to drug and rape 13-year-old girls. Other men have also had family members murdered as brutally as Tate was – she and others were the victims of Charles Manson’s so-called “family” – and never raped 13-year-old girls either. But, unlike Washington, Polanski the child molester gets a pass.
He was nominated for a best director Academy Award for his 1979 film “Tess.” Polanski won an Oscar for his 2002 film “The Pianist.” After his arrest in Switzerland, where he awaits extradition back to the United States to do time for his crime, actress Debra Winger decried the “philistine collusion” officials in both countries used to nail him.
Other Hollywood directors have rallied to his cause, among them David Lynch, Martin Scorcese, Michael Mann and Woody Allen, according to news reports.
Abu Jamal shot Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner in the head at point-blank range in 1981. Faulkner managed to fire one round from his service weapon that wounded Abu Jamal, who was found at the scene of the crime with a gun that ballistic tests showed was consistent with the one used to murder Faulkner.
Abu Jamal’s Hollywood supporters look at this wealth of evidence and conclude that he’s innocent. They look at Polanski’s guilty plea and conclude that he shouldn’t do prison time and is still worthy of their highest awards. They look at Washington’s use of the “f” bomb and conclude. …
That the man should never work again? Am I missing something here?
Look, I’m all for being offended when the “f” bomb or any other anti-gay slur is used. But can we have a little perspective here? Who committed the more grave offense: Polanski or Washington?
Hollywood types say it’s Washington. Looks like cool Bob Mitchum had this bunch pegged right years ago.
Examiner Columnist Gregory Kane is a Pulitzer-nominated news and opinion journalist who has covered people and politics from Baltimore to the Sudan.
