The annual César Awards, more commonly known as the “French Oscars,” are coming up in a couple of weeks and, as usual, it appears that the panel of judges still haven’t caught on to the whole #MeToo thing that’s been going on. When the big show takes place, the majority of the nominations have been given to convicted rapist and child predator Roman Polanski. He apparently released yet another film named “An Officer and a Spy” (or “J’accuse”) and the French critics can’t get enough of it.
Thankfully, there are at least some folks across the pond who understand what an obscenity this is and are going public about it. (Raw Story)
“12 César nominations for Roman Polanski’s ‘J’accuse’. 12, like the number of women who accuse him of pedo-criminal rape,” feminist groups wrote in an open letter to the French press on Monday, referring to other accusations of sex assault levelled at the director over the years.
“With these 12 nominations, the film industry has given its open and unconditional support to a fugitive rapist, who has admitted he drugged and raped a 13-year-old child and has fled US justice. Two years after #MeToo, while Harvey Weinstein faces a possible life sentence in the United States, here in France we acclaim and celebrate a fugitive pedo-criminal rapist,” they added, vowing to stage protests outside the Salle Pleyel in Paris, where the Césars will be awarded on February 28.
The hashtag #BoycottCesars was soon making the rounds, but it appears that the Academy is turning a blind eye to the objections. They’ve been getting an earful, however, from celebrities such as Adèle Haenel, who published her own story of being sexually assaulted when filming her first movie at the age of 12. (That’s roughly the age of the child that Polanski raped, starting the entire criminal case against him.)
Filmmaker Audrey Clinet, who founded a group that showcases the work of female directors, brought up the volume of outrage, invoking Haenel as an example.
“If you support Adèle Haenel, why would you go watch a film by someone who committed acts of paedophilia?” she asks, arguing that French media also have a habit of mischaracterising the crimes involved, most notably when it comes to child abuse…
“We forgot that Haenel was a child at the time [of the alleged abuse]; we’re talking about paedophilia, period,” she says.
Perhaps one of these years the message will finally set in for the César Awards, but it obviously hasn’t happened yet. They continue to shower honors on a monster who was convicted of drugging, raping and sodomizing a 13-year-old child. The list of other women who have come forward telling of their abuse at Polanski’s hands is lengthy and continues to grow.
As a closing note, let’s all remember to set up a news alert for this award show when it happens in a couple of weeks. I’d be interested to see how many American celebrities are willing to show up there, knowing that Polanski is being feted in this fashion.