soc_puppet | Thank goodness!

Thank goodness!

I know I haven't mentioned the Polanski thing here yet, but now I'm going to! I'm sure anyone who's been around either my LJ or DW will not be surprised that I'm on the side against Polanski, and am greatly disappointed in the long list of celebrities, both in the US and abroad, who have signed the Free Polanski petition.

I do want to say that we're now getting a growing list of celebrities speaking out against the Free Polanski movement and Polanski's actions in general. It's not nearly the length of the other list, but it is definitely still growing, and going strong. There's also a few more that aren't on that particular list yet, and more still linked in comments on the post in question, but they totally still count, and I'm sure the lists will be consolidated sooner or later.

Oh, and the question you all want to know the answer to: Yes, Neil Gaiman is on the good list :)

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I'm shocked, I tell you. I haven't (yet) seen anyone from DW/LJ/IJ/wherever who WAS on the Free Polanski side, (though I have heard they exist, ugh), and I am a happier person for it.

Yay Neil Gaiman! (And yay Jim Hines; I saw his post yesterday. HE IS AMAZING. \o/)

I saw a few on the ONTD post, and there's one in the comments to Jim Hines' post, but other than that, LJ and DW are full of some damn smart and compassionate people ♥

*flails* So much yay, yes! (Isn't he just? I love how I am completely unsurprised that he weighed in so awesomely ♥)

Ooh, I didn't see the one on Jim Hines' post; I'll consider myself lucky, ugh. ♥ But my circle and my flist have been full of awesome! And that makes me happy :D

The comment was fairly recent, and pretty far down page two, so I can see how you might not've seen it. And yeah, you're missing nothing =_= Oh, and we clearly hang out with all the right people ♥

Have I mentioned lately how much I love GNeil? I'm not surprised though, given how unbending he's proven to be about other principles--his involvement with the CBLDF comes to mind.

Also, I can't help but wonder about the folks on the badlist for possible self-interest. These are people of a similar status as Polanski, pleading clemency for him for a reprehensible crime on the basis of traits that most of them, arguably, share--charisma, popularity, art. Which... is a terrible line of thought to be pursuing, but. :/

It may be a terrible line of thought, but I bet that's definitely part of it.

I know, I know. It just--I just get really fucking skeeved out if I think too hard about it. More so than this entire mess already skeeves me out, I mean.

XD Quite possibly, yes. It's great to know that even outside his writing he's a cool guy.

Ugh ugh ugh /)_(\ I don't like to think about that, but worry still. At least, should the Polanski thing end well for the anti-rape cause (since it's already ended badly for pretty much everyone else involved, save perhaps Polanski himself, and I should damn well hope it'll end badly for him, too), this could set a good precedent for how future crimes of this nature will be tried. Rape: It's unacceptable from anyone.

*sigh* You know, I miss the old days when you'd just hang the rapist and get it over with. (and that may be extreme on the other end, but dangit, it's ~effective~, both as a deterrent and as a punishment.

While I agree with your sentiments, I'm afraid I have to differ slightly re: ability to deter :/ The only time I can think of that would apply is when women were the sole property of their fathers, and then husbands, and their value was determined by their "virginity". Raping a woman would then be considered theft or devaluing of property. I certainly can't imagine it stopped husband rapes or the like, and there was probably quite a bit of victim-blaming as well; for example, since pregnancy is more likely to occur when a woman in penis-in-vaginal intercourse has an orgasm, it was determined that all victims of rape who became pregnant actually wanted it and it was not rape after all =_=

But um yes. May justice be swift in catching up to Polanski, and basically all other rapists out there.

Do you remember hearing or have you ever heard of the incident in Israel when Golda Meir was the prime minister? The story goes that there was a rampant amount of violence against women occurring in the streets of Israeli cities at the time. All of the men in her cabinet were suggesting that a curfew be put into place for women (and women only) for their safety, since the sight of these women after a certain hour of the night clearly rendered the men unable to control themselves - thereby creating an unsafe environment for the women. Golda Meir replied by suggesting: why not have a curfew for the men instead, since they were the ones who couldn't control themselves and it might be best for them to stay in.

The idea to set a curfew was instantly dropped and not brought up again.

Why is Gaiman awesome at everything?

Well, the facts aren't telling me, but I suspect it's because he's made of 98% undiluted awesome (the other 2% is wicked awesome, a higher-density form of regular awesome; Neil Gaiman is the universe's largest deposit of this rare form of awesome).

I was so relieved that Neil Gaiman was on the good list -- but I'm not too terribly surprised, because his daughter Maddy is in her early teens. I will say, the two that broke my heart into a million pieces were Harrison Ford (Say it ain't so, Han!) and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth was one of those movies that hit me really hard and I love it).

I'd like to think that Gaiman would be on the good list even if he didn't have a daughter in her early teens. 'Specially since I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people on the bad list also had daughters in their early teens. There's also apparently a number of people on the bad list who played in or directed movies with strong anti-rape themes.

A friend of mine called Ford; apparently, he went to deliver a film award to Polanski personally in 2002 or so. Her other prediction is Depp, which I am really hoping won't happen.

Yeah, I called Harrison Ford too, way before his name was there. I was just waiting for his name to show up, since he handed Polanski his Oscar.

I've also been predicting Depp, who worked with him on a film. Despite his talent and the fact that he does nice things some nice things he's still part of Hollywood. He has the money, the fame, the celebrity, the lifestyle and there is no question in my mind that he has the same sense of entitlement. It will not surprise me at all if his name ends up on the petition to free Polanski. I certainly don't expect him to speak out against him.

He does have a daughter so maybe he won't get involved at all. If he has good publicity handlers they're advising him to keep his mouth shut and stay out of it and so far he seems to have the common sense to take that advice.

The person I'm really disappointed in is Natalie Portman, who actually works as the celebrity representative of an organization that's about empowering and assisting women. Way to go, Natalie.

XD You were the one to whom I referred, actually!

I could see Depp going either way. I'm personally hoping he's the sort of person who can work with someone without necessarily agreeing with what they do outside of work, but I am definitely not expecting him to speak out against Polanski. At the moment, the most realistic hope I've got is for the good publicity handlers :/

Yowch >_O Way to fail, Ms. Portman.

The person I've been most surprised to see is actually Martin Gero (SGA writer; see also GateFail) come out against Free Polanski. I mean, when the SGA writers can recognize this as horrible, not only does the opposition have no legs to stand on, it's trying to stand on negative legs.

Ah, I didn't realize that you were referring to me. :)

I'm glad that there are celebrities that are speaking out against giving him a free pass. Not an easy thing to do when so much of Hollywood is backing him up. There are plenty of people who haven't signed but are just not speaking up at all. Silence can speak volumes, for good or for bad.

I just hope Christina Ricci doesn't end up on the list. She is VERY active in RAINN. I would hope that someone like her would take a stand, but it's probably too risky for her career.

Someone on ONTD was talking about writing a complaint to the organization that Natalie Portman represents. I think it's CARE, but I'll have to check.

Ahahaha, I've been following everything about this. I was so glad when Neil's twitter came out.

Yeah, I saw your comments when I was digging through the ONTD post for celebs to put on my temporary good list :3 Let me tell you, it is a relief that there are still heroes in the world.

I had to twitter Neil as soon as I heard. I am so relieved I don't have to stop reading his books ^^

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Thank goodness!

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