Celebrity rapist Roman Polanski and celebrity murderer Jack Abbott

Much of Hollywood is boo-hooing the extradition of Roman Polanski, who in 1977 plead guilty to raping a 13 year old girl after giving her alcohol and a Quaalude. From Salon:

Roman Polanski raped a child. Let’s just start right there, because that’s the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested at age 76, after 32 years in “exile” (which in this case means owning multiple homes in Europe, continuing to work as a director, marrying and fathering two children, even winning an Oscar, but never — poor baby — being able to return to the U.S.). Let’s keep in mind that Roman Polanski gave a 13-year-old girl a Quaalude and champagne, then raped her, before we start discussing whether the victim looked older than her 13 years, or that she now says she’d rather not see him prosecuted because she can’t stand the media attention. Before we discuss how awesome his movies are or what the now-deceased judge did wrong at his trial, let’s take a moment to recall that according to the victim’s grand jury testimony, Roman Polanski instructed her to get into a jacuzzi naked, refused to take her home when she begged to go, began kissing her even though she said no and asked him to stop; performed cunnilingus on her as she said no and asked him to stop; put his penis in her vagina as she said no and asked him to stop; asked if he could penetrate her anally, to which she replied, “No,” then went ahead and did it anyway, until he had an orgasm.

Some of the celebrities coming to the defense of a child rapist include Harrison Ford and Debra Winger, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, Whoopi Goldberg, Harvey Weinstein, and (take a deep breath) Michael Mann, Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam, Julian Schnabel, the Dardenne brothers, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Wong Kar-Wai, Walter Salles and Jonathan Demme, Tilda Swinton, Monica Bellucci and Asia Argento.

This isn’t the first time Hollywood has lost its mind over a criminal they considered a fellow traveller. Before Roman Polanski there was Jack Abbott.

Abbott was a Utah inmate imprisoned for forgery, murder, and bank robbery. With the help of writer Norman Mailer he published a book from prison that became a literary sensation. Mailer and other celebrities then helped Abbott secure parole in 1981. Six weeks later outside a New York cafe Abbott murdered 22 year old waiter Richard Adan when Adan wouldn’t let him use the restaurant’s bathroom. From Crime Library:

Attending the trial were many of Abbotts friends and supporters, including Norman Mailer, his wife, Norris Church, writer Jerzy Kosinski, author of Being There, actress Susan Sarandon and actor Christopher Walken. I often go to court to watch peoples emotions, Walken told a reporter from the New York Post. Sarandon especially, became enamored by Abbott. Shortly after the trial, she gave birth to a baby. She and the father, actor Tim Robbins, named him Jack Henry. Abbott had become a celebrity himself, a social curiosity, a point of contention utilized by both sides of the political aisle.

His situation was debated on news programs and in the printed press. Let’s not destroy Abbott! begged Mailer to the New York press. Jack Abbott was described as a literary star, a Marxist revolutionary, a convicted murderer, an author of the highest magnitude. He was many things to many people. But lost in the quagmire of debate and obscured by the endless pleas of mercy for the misunderstood killer, was the forgotten life of Richard Adan. A man who did nothing more but advise a diner that the restaurant had no mens restroom.

The case went to the jury on January 20, after eight days of testimony. Norman Mailer earlier told reporters that he hoped Abbott didnt get a life sentence if he was found guilty. It would destroy him, he said to the press. Mailer also acknowledged some responsibility in getting Abbott out on parole. Its something Abbotts friends are going to have to live with for the rest of their lives, he announced. During a tumultuous press conference outside the courtroom, Mailer told reporters, I am willing to gamble with certain elements in society to save this man’s talent!

The “certain elements in society” presumably included anyone who was not a literary genius. Mailer later came to regret his actions:

“Another episode in my life in which I can find nothing to cheer about or nothing to take pride in,” Mailer said in 1992 according to the Buffalo News. “It was a study in false vanity,” he added.