Interesting article about the extent of "Hollywood support" for Pulanski in the LA Times:
LINK.
I read the article and I would like to think we could put this controversy to rest now. There is almost
no support for Polanski in the Hollywood community. What
does trouble me is the actual petition that many foreign film people have signed. To have such a cavalier attitude towards the crime he committed is astonishing. It makes my skin crawl.
Oh, and jeffsg4mac, this thread went off on a tangent with the criticism of Hollywood, but it
really went off the rails with this:
And the latest trend out of hollywood is portraying our military in a bad light. It is always some evil military plot that is the cause of the evil.
As an "outsider looking in", I think that Hollywood's portrayal of the US military could
hardly be more supportive without a complete and utter suspension of disbelief. For every instance of an American military figure being cast in a negative light there must be dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of positive portrayals.
To think that Hollywood should be compelled to always cast American military services as if they can do no wrong is just..well...wrong! If you think there are no bad people in uniform, you must be incredibly naive. And, if you do know better, to expect filmakers to ignore any military misdeeds, would be self-censorship.
I spent 23 years in my country's Navy, most of it in the submarine service and during the cold war, hunted Soviet submarines off our coasts. So, don't get the idea that I'm a military-hating, dope-smoking, hippy.
If you want to see a military cast in a bad light, when not being completely ignored, take a trip up
here some time. A couple of years ago, the most ambitious war movie ever made in Canada came out. Called "Passchendaele", it was about the Canadian army's involvement in the WW1 battle. Well, the "battle" comprised only a small part of the movie, the rest was love-story filler.
Why? To entice Canadians to come out and see it. I didn't bite. It did cast the Canadian army in a positive light, and rightly so. It was one of their greatest and bloodiest victories. However, that positive light was just a flickering candle, compared to the rest of the film. Why don't Canadian filmakers produce more movies about our military? Because they'd rather make bizarre "art" movies that nobody wants to see, that's why.
So, I don't think there is much substance to your accusation that Hollywood likes to make your military services look bad. Look at "U-571" - they
re-invented historical facts to make the US Navy look good!
Well, I think I've joined you in going wayyyy off-topic. I guess we should get the train back on the tracks.
