High Art

Maybe Hollywood needs to learn not to take itself so seriously.

UPDATE: By Hollywood "taking itself seriously", I mean things like movie mogul Harvey Weinstein saying,

Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion.

before getting all emotional about Roman Polanski winning the Legion of Honour in France, where the people have "incredible love and affection" for him. (Though current polls in France run about 70% in favor of Polanski's return to face the justice system. Maybe Weinstein is thinking instead of the love for Polanski among all the more "grown-up" and sophisticated intellectuals in France).

Allahpundit responds concerning the type of compassion shown in Weinstein's world. Actually, his crack is a bit harsh, I think. But Weinstein's high regard for the importance of "art" clearly figures into his support for Polanski.

Like many liberals, Weinstein's compassion likely flows toward the face he sees in his mind, Polanski's. His concern is for the immediate suffering of his friend rather than the non-immediate, though highly predictable, suffering of future child victims of "artists" if the rule of law regarding sexual abuse of minors is not respected. He probably really believes that he is being more compassionate than people who want to uphold the rule of law.

And Remember: Art belongs to the world. Polanski belongs to the world.

Weinstein also cited Hollywood fundraisers for disater victims as evidence of Hollywood's superior compassion. These are a good thing, but glitzy fundraisers are not more "compassionate" than the actions of those who donate money to the fundraisers with no recognition, or those who provide hands-on help.

Of course, it's often not possible for the denizens of Hollywood to be compassionate toward strangers in the way other people are compassionate toward strangers. It's too dangerous for them to leave a highly controlled environment - fans, paparazzi, etc. often interfere with normal compassionate actions of the famous.

Mark Steyn, naturally, puts it more pithily:

Let us agree that Hollywood bigshots have "compassion" for people in general, for people far away in a big crowd scene on the distant horizon, for people in a we-are-the-world-we-are-the-children sense. But Hollywood bigshots treat people in particular, little people, individuals, like garbage. To Polanski, he was the world, you are the children; now take your kit off and let's have a "photo shoot."

A parallel concern for Hollywood's image is the pictore of the "stage mother from hell" who signed permission for her 13-year-old daughter to participate in the "photo shoots".

Roger L. Simon reports his personal discomfort concerning other supporters of Polanski in Hollywood, where he works. Intellectuals in Europe have joined in, too. Steyn again:

France's Society of Film Directors warned that the arrest of such an important artist "could have disastrous consequences for freedom of expression across the world".

Really? For the past two years, I've been in a long and weary battle up north to restore "freedom of expression" to Canada. On Monday afternoon, in fact, I'll be testifying on this very subject at the House of Commons in Ottawa, if France's Society of Film Directors or Debra Winger would like to swing by. Please, don't all stampede at once. Ottawa Airport can only handle so many Gulfstreams. If only I'd known how vital child rape was to "freedom of expression," my campaign could have taken off a lot earlier. (emphasis mine)

Steyn also summarized the famous tragedies faced by Polanski during his life, and puts them in perspective.

Simon laments that the police did not act decades ago, so this sordid subject could have been dealt with when it was more appropriate. I wonder if the police were concerned about backlash from the liberal elite even back then? I'm not really certain of the timeline, but I believe that it was at about this time that a prominent leftist on the East Coast fled to France after having been charged with killing his girlfriend and stuffing her body in a trunk. He also had a lot of support on the Left. He lived a quiet life in a small town in France for many years before the law started to catch up with him. Funny how people like this can get other people to support them financially, too. One of the perplexities of life.

In the case of Polanski, it appears that pressure from both the Left and the Right may have affected how prosecutors and the judge acted. Prosecutors were rather lenient toward him at first, allowing him to plea to reduced charges with an agreement to submit to therapy. But then they seem to have decided they had to "do something" (due to public outcry) to make it look like they were not giving him special treatment. Polanski thought that he would be in for something more than 90 days in therapy. When he recently tried to get the charges dismissed, lawyers cited the laxity of prosecutors in trying to bring him to justice as a reason for dropping the charges altogether. Thereby almost forcing them to defend their reputations. Politics makes all sorts of situations more complicated.