Althouse: "Roman Polanski's wife has rejected an invitation to become a member of the awards body behind the Oscars, extended weeks after it expelled her husband."

July 8, 2018

"Roman Polanski's wife has rejected an invitation to become a member of the awards body behind the Oscars, extended weeks after it expelled her husband."

"French actress Emmanuelle Seigner accused the Academy of "insufferable hypocrisy" over the incident.... Seigner, who was one of 928 artists invited to join the Academy as part of a bid to boost diversity last month... said: 'I have always been a feminist. But how can I ignore the fact that a few weeks ago the Academy expelled my husband, Roman Polanski, in an attempt to appease the zeitgeist - the very same Academy which in 2002 awarded him an Oscar for The Pianist! A curious case of amnesia! The Academy probably thinks I am enough of a spineless, social climbing actress that I would forget that I have been married to one of the world's greatest directors for the past 29 years.'"

BBC reports.

37 comments:

Gahrie said...: Own goal by the Oscars.; 7/8/18, 7:49 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "The Academy probably thinks I am enough of a spineless, social climbing actress that I would forget that I have been married to one of the world's greatest directors for the past 29 years.'"

-- See, I assumed she married him BECAUSE she was a spineless, social climbing actress. Most people consider drugging and raping children a red flag, at least, and in general a deal breaker when it comes to the romance department.; 7/8/18, 7:52 AM
Expat(ish) said...: She forgot “and successful baby rapist.”

-XC; 7/8/18, 7:53 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: God, what a relief it would be to encounter a woman whose opening line is:

“No, I’m not a feminist. Stuff it, bitches.”; 7/8/18, 7:54 AM
Bill Peschel said...: He can be one of the world's greatest directors (at least in his mind) and one of the world's most notorious child-rapists. They're not exclusionary.

Still, someone should have reconsidered her invitation. It's not like she's known for anything important.; 7/8/18, 7:55 AM
rehajm said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/8/18, 7:55 AM
Expat(ish) said...: @matthew - exactly she should just own it and go do some PSA‘s for NAMBLA.

-XC; 7/8/18, 7:56 AM
rehajm said...: Enough of one? I assumed it’s a digital and not a spectrum.; 7/8/18, 7:56 AM
Expat(ish) said...: @Bill - like Leni or Moore - great propaganda directors, but do you want them at the award shows?

-XC; 7/8/18, 7:57 AM
dreams said...: Given her husband's sordid history, maybe she should have just quietly ignored the invitation instead of indignantly showboating with a very public refusal.; 7/8/18, 8:07 AM
Fernandinande said...: awarded him an Oscar

Thanks for all the fish!; 7/8/18, 8:19 AM
Quayle said...: Are we still sure the sexual revolution was progress?

Cause the fallout seems to be increasing.

What if - I know, a crazy thought, but just go with me here - what if the old social restraints on sex outside of marriage weren’t actually about oppression and control of others, but were actually a wise, root cause avoidance mechanism to prevent or reduce the social strife and personal suffering (on all sides) with which we are now determined to resolve?

What if the 8th inning ill effects - the aggregate personal pain and intractable social strife we are now seeing - is many time more destructive of person and peoples, than the sum total of the admittedly satisfying, maybe even somewhat transcendent moments of “free love?”; 7/8/18, 8:19 AM
jpg said...: Well, there's no accounting for taste.; 7/8/18, 8:24 AM
CWJ said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/8/18, 8:25 AM
CWJ said...: I assume that the intent was that publicly we kick you out of the academy, but privately you get to keep your vote and influence through your wife.

The ploy fell through because either Seigner rejected the sexism of the arrangement (hence the feminist comment), Polanski was insufficiently mollified, or both.; 7/8/18, 8:27 AM
sykes.1 said...: She was the babe in "The Ninth Gate."; 7/8/18, 8:30 AM
CWJ said...: Seigner's quote can just as easily be read as if coming from an outraged Polanski rather than from her.; 7/8/18, 8:36 AM
gilbar said...: she married him BECAUSE she was a spineless, social climbing actress.
well, Yes she IS a SSCA, but the question is: is she ENOUGH of a SSCA to forget?
You see, it IS a spectrum; 7/8/18, 8:37 AM
Sebastian said...: "Seigner, who was one of 928 artists invited to join the Academy as part of a bid to boost diversity last month"

Feminist-wife-of-girl-rapist is now its own category, needed to boost "diversity"? What's next, a award for a documentary about the pilots on the Lolita Express?

"an attempt to appease the zeitgeist - the very same Academy which in 2002 awarded him an Oscar for The Pianist! A curious case of amnesia!"

True, dat. Curious indeed. And, knowing Hollywood types as she does, she is right to question their sudden moral scruples and view their moves as purely strategic "appeasement."

Shorter version: "I never cared about my great-artist husband drugging and anally raping a girl, and then escaping justice. You never cared about it. Let's be honest."; 7/8/18, 8:40 AM
Quaestor said...: Is there not something very Frenchy Revolutionary about #MeToo and all that? The Jacobins denouncing and guillotining one another, I mean.; 7/8/18, 9:03 AM
Rory said...: "Hill, we're sorry Bill had to go through all that crap about his perjury, so you can have the nomination next."; 7/8/18, 9:10 AM
walter said...: She's not going to take it in the ass like that..; 7/8/18, 9:31 AM
Leland said...: This is the best popcorn eating event Hollywood has created in a few years! Both sides, you are FoS, but do go on with your acting.; 7/8/18, 9:39 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: If the other choice was to invite obscure French actresses but not her...; 7/8/18, 10:21 AM
Wince said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/8/18, 10:23 AM
FIDO said...: Hmm...she's actually signified the limits of her feminism twice.

First, she isn't enough of a Feminist to leave the side of 'Her Man'

Second, she's not enough of a Feminist to reject a Pedophile of young girls.

So this is buffet Feminism, is it?

All the media deference, affirmative action privilege, reproductive rights...while keeping 'smoking hot' power, chivalry to be abused, and the ability to throw other women under the bus for her rapist husband.

Is she planning to run for office, because that sounds familiar...; 7/8/18, 10:25 AM
Wince said...: While Althouse consults her Oxford English Dictionary...

Pooh to those fancy pants actresses who deem themselves such brave artistes because they cradle a profile of teat or lift a rear cheek for an artfully shadowy mood piece. These posers pale, they are dashed to mediocrity, they pule and whine like mangy alley cats when exposed to the luminous, exultantly naked presentations of French and fabulous delicacy Emmanuelle Seigner. The Parisian pouter was discovered at the age of seventeen by pervy Polish genius Roman Polanski, who no doubt saw...

Join Mr. Skin for the full bio >>; 7/8/18, 10:26 AM
FIDO said...: Hmm.

In 1976, he had some kind of relationship with Natasha Kinski when she was 15. In 1999, when he was trying to get back into America, she said 'nothing happened' except flirtation...with a 15 year old girl. Does this pass the "Roy Moore" test?

In 1977, Polanski raped that girl in the photo shoot.

Emmanuelle Seigner was 22 when she started dating Polanski.

He seems to like veal and awful lot.; 7/8/18, 10:47 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Who can blame her? They did the same fucking thing to Kobe Bryant, apparently - and in his case all charges were dropped. They're going to have to get a little less scattershot with the reputational retribution thing.; 7/8/18, 10:52 AM
William said...: I see some sharp and funny comments here that you will not hear anywhere else, certainly not on Kimmel or Colbert. Her statement invites mockery. So, for that matter, does the action of the Academy. There's nothing she can say or do that will make Polanski look good. There's nothing that the Academy can say or do that can make their standing ovation to Polanski look good. The level of hypocrisy is stunning.; 7/8/18, 11:17 AM
n.n said...: Diversity or color judgments (e.g. racism) is the euphemism of the day.

Another bigot (i.e. sanctimonious hypocrite) raises her voice... Wait, what are her principles?

drugging and raping children a red flag, at least, and in general a deal breaker when it comes to the romance department

Not merely a child, but a feminine female child, a girl. Feminism is a chauvinistic, political ideology, not for the advancement of women, but for specific women who wield it, rape (e.g. casting couch, superior exploitation or power differential)... Was it rape-rape? are permissible, and so is selective-girl, boy, whatever, by the millions globally.

Are we still sure the sexual revolution was progress?

Monotonic, unqualified change? Yes. The tell-tale hearts beat ever louder.

Then there is the Aztec example. Women, men, girls, boys, and babies, too, are waiting for an allied force to abort the progress.; 7/8/18, 12:09 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Though I think Polanski's exile was well earned, it's delay speaks very badly about the Academy. Trying to get his wife on board is unseemly in a couple of ways. I applaud her for standing by her husband, though I don't think he really deserves it.; 7/8/18, 12:58 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I think Chinatown was one of the best movies ever made- it is my second favorite film.; 7/8/18, 1:01 PM
rightguy said...: I just saw Chinatown last night and it was a great movie. It looks like the script writer read a lot of Raymond Chandler as he purloined many of RC's favorite narrative elements, including the protagonist knock-out scene. The locales were familiar as you might expect. It wouldn't surprise me if some were exactly the same as in the Marlowe books.

Polanski is a great artist. Weinstein was no slouch either- he had great taste and a knack for making serious movies entertaining. So here we have two major artistic talents who have insatiable sexual appetites that get them in trouble.

Trust art, not the artist.; 7/8/18, 1:16 PM
n.n said...: #NoJudgment, #NoLabels... and, what the hel.. ck... #HateLovesAbortion; 7/8/18, 1:22 PM
Yancey Ward said...: rightguy,

Oh, most definitely borrowed heavily from Chandler. Robert Towne specifically said that the script was inspired by an article he read about the way Chandler describes L.A.

I had seen Chinatown before I had seen "The Big Sleep" or had read any of the Chandler's novels. When I read the novels later, it was obvious that they were a big influence on Polanski movie in some fashion.; 7/8/18, 1:39 PM
cubanbob said...: The Academy insulted her. Did they really think she was going to accept the invitation? The invitation should not have been extended.
As noted by several commenters here, Polanski is a great artist. He is also an execrable person. Not at all uncommon in Hollywood or in the arts.; 7/8/18, 6:02 PM