Oh Come On Whoopi, Not You Too!

I've found myself disgusted lately with all of this uproar among celebrities about the Roman Polanski case. I've posted here the video of Whoopi Goldberg's defense of Polanski and her odd distinction between two imagined terms: "rape" and "rape-rape".

Now, I don't watch "The View" regularly, as shocking as that might seem. I find it only makes me frustrated with people for bickering so heatedly about things I feel they rarely understand entirely, or in such a removed-from-all-logic way that I feel my head might explode. So when I heard news of Whoopi's controversial remarks about Polanski online I had to look up the video myself.

I'll be honest. I'm disappointed in Hollywood. We all know it's true that, for the most part, celebrities can pretty much get away with things us mere mortals could never be proud of. But do they really need to make it so obvious that there's a drastic difference between the rules us regular joes play by and the ones the celebrities have? I mean, all the arguments make the case the same way, in the most simple, logical and irrefutable terms.

Roman Polanski raped a child.

Now, it's not rape because she was young. It's rape because she said no repeatedly. She was given champagne and a Quaalude. No matter her age, no matter whether or not her mother said it was ok, the girl said no. And isn't that what we all learned in sex-ed was the difference between it being consensual and it being rape?

I guess some people (see video of Whoopi) didn't learn that in middle school. I guess basically everyone on that petition has really thought it over in their minds and decided that Polanski fleeing the country in fear of being reprimanded too harshly for a crime that he partially admitted to was the best possible moral decision for him at that time. I guess making movies that people like is like a free pass to commit as many crimes as you want, as long as you flee the country. I guess being a rapist is something that should be applauded by your peers if you're enough of a talented human being.

I guess the world is upside down, but at least Saturday Night Live can still give me a little bit of hope that maybe all of my favorite celebrities aren't terrible people.