Roman Polanski season at BFI

[BelleCurve]

www.bfi.org.uk/roman-polanski

I think it is awful that the BFI is organising a retrospective to celebrate child rapist Roman Polanski - any MNers want to campaign against it?

I don't usually post here,though I do read threads often. I don't tend to feel I am informed enough not to come across like an idiot.

But this caught my eye. I would campaign against it.

I simply cannot understand how this man is being celebrated. It doesn't matter how talented he is. He raped a child talent cannot excuse it. It is shameful that Europe have harboured him for so long and he is now being celebrated by the British Film Institute.

Yes, I want to campaign. Shall we write a standard letter that people can fire off to the BFI? Or would an email signed by lots of people be more effective?

It's revolting. I'd sign up to a campaign.

I would too.

Perhaps we could suggest a Jimmy Savile retrospective instead?

Twats.

Count me in.

Bumping this, there MUST be more people interested? Or do people not really realise what the issue is, maybe?

Probably not, as a director his face and name are kinda hidden compared to the faces and names we see on the screen and can auto-identify.

I know a he has a couple things coming (or re-coming, I think one is an old moving being updated) to the cinema this year. It's appalling.

I intensely dislike him and won't watch his films. Count me in.

I'd love to see the uber famous stars explain how they can support a man who drug-raped a teenage girl, people like Johnny Depp for example.

Count. Me. In.

I feel a bit sick reading that. Count me in too.

BelaLugosisShed I KNOW. I LOVE David Lynch and was gutted that he signed that letter in support of Polanski. You know, the one that passed off the raping of a teenage girl as a "moral crime" as if it were some sort of grey area.

What shall we do? Tweet? Email?

I'll be tweeting, emailing and commenting on their FB page.

Twitter

Facebook

I'm in, and in London within reach of the BFi if anyone wants to go there and do something. I LOVE the idea of mocking up a "Jimmy Saville Season" publicity poster or cardboard cutout.

Some of his films are excellent. I hope that he gets the legal punishment that he ought to have, but I very much dislike the idea of a campaign of censorship against his work.

I hadn't seen this (I've seen the facebook page and BFI's useless response).

I'm in.

I don't see what the quality of his films has to do with it, and 'censorship' seems to me - sorry - a ridiculously OTT word to use.

No-one is, so far as I can see, suggesting his films should not be sold. But that is quite different from saying he should be publicly celebrated for them.

It's a bit like William Mayne's books, IMO: before I knew about him I read them, thought they were charming, and I wouldn't want to see them banned. But I would be pretty shocked if someone decided to do a great big celebration dedicated to him, unless they also acknowledged he was himself quite a deeply nasty person who abused children.

FloatyBeatie would you say the same about Jimmy Savile? If the BBC decided tonight that they were going to show all the episodes of Jim'll Fix It, on the grounds that some people found it to be an excellent programme, would you stand by that as well?

Genuine question, by the way.

This would be a campaign to pressurise the BFI not to run a retrospective in which his works are shown. I can't really think of another work for that than censorship.

Of course people can see his works in other ways: censorship is not the same as banning. But you would be pressuring one of the UK's central bodies for arthouse cinema to exclude a central director from its analytical display of major films.

They should be pressured Floaty. They are supporting a child rapist. Really, why would you want to support him?

I'd certainly question their judgement about what counts as an excellent programme JustaAHolyFool! I wouldn't campaign against their showing the pogrammes but I would noisily say that they lacked any merit that would justify showing them despite their associations.

A much better example might be Dennis Potter, (most of) whose work showed an appallingly troubling attitude towards women, but who is clearly enough of an artist for us to want to be constantly troubled by coming up against it on the BBC, despite the moral failings that it displayed.

I have no interest in supporting rapists. Ever.

By running this, BFI have shown that survivors of rape do not matter to them. As a film student and a rape survivor, I'm beyond angry. I'm also no longer supporting BFI. I have done for many a year.

Censorship is something imposed by the state, isn't it? It's not response to pressure from individuals - that's just market forces at work.

I do get what you're saying, floaty, I just don't think it's censorship and I do feel that there is a wide issue with the way that that term gets a certain knee-jerk response in some circles. I cannot count the number of times I've heard someone accuse feminists of 'censorship'. It's 'censorship' to want women-only meetings. It's 'censorship' to object to women being heckled or taunted on marches. It's 'censorship' to object to misogynistic writers being taught.

I do feel it is a word that is (irony meter going through the roof) used to shut women up.

The BFI get to choose who they celebrate, and it is an honour. I don't see how that is ok.