Roman Polanski: controversial but worth it

In the fall, Portland State senior Eric Wilkinson will be teaching a Chiron Studies course called The World of Roman Polanski. It took Wilkinson two terms to get the class approved, and when he put posters up to promote the course, people scrawled “Child Rapist” on them, forcing Wilkinson to put up new ones. Yes, Polanski is a controversial figure, but it’s time to get over it.

The Polanski case is murky, like most sexual abuse cases lacking witnesses. Both parties have differing accounts of what exactly happened, and while Samantha Geimer was definitely a minor and an illegal act was committed, it was 35 years ago. She’s not a minor anymore, and Polanski isn’t the same person.

Geimer has publicly said she wants to put the incident in the past and that she believes Polanski feels remorse. It should be left at that. But apparently it can’t be. I will never understand why someone was bothered enough by Polanski’s past to deface the posters, but I believe the fact it still bothers people is reason enough to offer the class. People upset by Polanski should take a deeper look at his life.

Great works aren’t always the product of great people. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and had several illegitimate children by one of them; John Lennon was supremely arrogant and had an Oedipus complex; and Mel Gibson is a sexist, anti-Semitic blowhard. But they were respectively responsible for modern America, the Beatles and Braveheart. The greatness of artists’ work doesn’t excuse their bad sides, but their bad sides shouldn’t ruin their work.

Nothing that happened to Polanski justifies what he allegedly did. But Polanski had a hell of a life. He survived the Holocaust while his mother died at Auschwitz. He has a metal plate installed in his head from a beating he took while hiding from Nazis. Polanski’s childhood was spent on the run and he suffered at the hands of Nazis and Poles.

Years later, his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by followers of Charles Manson. Polanski’s life alone would justify an academic class about him, but he has more to offer than just a troubled life, because he is one of the most significant filmmakers in the world.

There’s no exaggeration there. He’s made films in many different languages and nations, and he’s been cited as influential by hundreds of today’s directors and actors. Without the work of Polanski the careers of the Coen brothers (True Grit, Fargo, The Big Lebowski), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Fountain, Requiem For A Dream) and Jack Nicholson (come on, everyone knows who Jack Nicholson is) wouldn’t have been the same.

The motivations of the people who ruined the posters are questionable. Someone who was passingly familiar with Polanski’s case would realize “child rapist” isn’t an accurate description of the situation. And furthermore, why does it matter to them? Unless there are family members of Samantha Geimer at PSU, taking personal offense at Polanski’s actions 35 years ago is ridiculous. It likely was done to cause trouble or be annoying, which is stupid. I’d like to think most PSU students are above that.

I’m not a fan of giving things attention solely because they’re controversial, by any means. If the class were about a less influential artist, I wouldn’t be as supportive of it being taught.

But despite the controversy, Polanski’s work fully deserves to be examined. Those who trashed the posters are either too shortsighted to realize that or simply need a new pastime. Whatever their intentions, the gesture backfired­—because if I hadn’t heard about the posters being defaced, I wouldn’t have heard of the class, and if I hadn’t heard of the class, I wouldn’t have registered for it this past weekend. I’m looking forward to it, and I have the feeling it’s going to be a pretty full class.