all these heroes fall

Roman Polanski raped a girl and pled guilty to it (and let me add to this: RAPE. It involved force and drugs _and_ the girl was 13, and I don't care what she or her life was like, she doesn't deserved to get raped -- no one does).

The fact of this rape has nothing to do with the fact that Polanski is also a significant artist.

Polanski did not commit rape because he is an artist. He did not commit art because he raped. That art and rape can be present in one person, should not, but does, surprise us.

Because the person he raped wants the matter to be dropped, I am torn on what I think should happen next. But that is the only reason.

There is, if you have not yet heard a petition going around that has been signed by luminaries of the film world protesting Polanski's arrest in this case, with some specificity being made about the arrest transpiring at a film festival.

The list of signatories is breaking my heart. It includes not just people whose work I admire, but people whose existence and/or work I feel has made my existence safer (yes, I'm looking at you, Tilda Swinton). Perhaps more distressingly, it includes people I have also worked with, not just in the sense of yes, we got a check from the same production company and might have exchanged a smile, but in the sense of people who have given me direction, touched me in the act of scene composition and deemed me worthy not just of praise, but of work; in celluloid they decreed my existence.

How dare you all!

A child got raped, and while there are reasons to perhaps discuss what should happen to Polanski next and why, Polanski isn't less of a rapist because he makes important films. And he's not less of an important filmmaker because he raped.

But that's not even what's important.

What's important is that a horrible crime is not less significant because a bunch of people sign a piece of paper because they're upset something ugly happened amongst all their pretty. That those people are the people who inadvertently, or in a few cases by looking into my eyes and telling me how to feel, taught me that pretty isn't all that counts, has me utterly shaking, mostly, but not entirely, with rage.

I am not articulate about this. This is not how I wanted to see all my heroes fall. And I'm just sitting here watching the list grow and praying, praying, praying that no more names with personal meaning to me show up on it.

But more than that, I pray that we somehow manage to do right both by our judicial system and the person who was raped.

Believe it or not, this has nothing to do with art, and I don't get why people can't see that.

sundries

Patty is sitting at the dining room table making earings, while I sit here watching the Dancing with the Stars results show, because of my Baz thing (maybe I have a post brewing about all that? Or maybe I'll shut up and just take Patty to one of the local Aussie restaurants. Fuck I miss Sydney and my naivete in that adventure). Yeah, yeah, I know, and now I'm going to have that crappy song from the Disney Channel girl stuck in my head. I'm kinda digging the marching band thing that's going on now though. Um, you don't want to know how many times I've seen Drumline.

Having regained some small measure of sanity, we have decided not to go to a holiday ball in December, because it is the only weekend for the rest of the year wherein we will both be home and have nothing planned.

Speaking of this weekend, we are going to a Pepper Festival on Saturday and the air show and pumpkin festival for my birthday on Sunday.

I am actually kinda sorta starting to get excited about the Going to Zurich thing because I'm realizing that I'll probably be staying in a company flat and be able to wander around the city on my own in the evenings, and cities and solitude within them is good for me.

According to BookDepository.co.uk the next Torchwood novels should be here any day now. I'm excited, but also oh crap, Ianto about it.

Meanwhile all sorts of awesome Whoniverse things arrived from Mike's Comics today. This is good as it includes things I need to look at while working on the Bristol abstract, as well as Blink, which I need to rewatch because I'm writing Jack/Weeping Angels for the omnijaxual fest, and a couple of other episodes that are key in various proposals/abstracts I have littering my desktop.

So Primeval was brought back from the dead.... um, I still think it's crap, but folks I like (and in some cases know) write for it, so good for them. I can't figure out who actually likes the show as something other than background noise, though (sorry guys). Maybe if I watched from the beginning? Or maybe it'll give people who are pissed about CoE something cracky to watch (but why? they're all watching Merlin). I can't figure it out. I can't figure out why I am trying to figure it out.

Back to Dancing with the Stars -- Patty and I are now singing along with Son of a Preacher Man. One of the best compliments I've ever been paid was by my ex who said I walked like this song. I was smug about that for a long time, and am a little sad that these days my main reaction is sorta "eh, that was less cool than I thought, because all we did did was act like drunks." Ah, time. Fun to sing with Patty though.

Notice I'm not writing a rant about straight privilege right now. Just... I've hit and passed my anger quotient on the Internet today. Between the Polanski thing and the ever changing state of who's behaving badly as regards the LLAs situation and I've had a lot of work to do and, I just can't -- there's a quota of how much I can just go for it each day. But don't worry, there's probably another rant coming. Um, yay or something? It fucking sucks. I'd really like to save my eloquence for the Whoniverse and Severus Snape's gender identity and my city and Patty and all the great food that we eat and just random crap I'm obsessed with. But if this needs to be said, and sadly, apparently it does, there is a problem and I will be ranting soon. Fucking a, none of that should need to be said.

The flooding in the Philippines and Viet Nam has had an impact on the family of at least one of my friends. Help at the Red Cross if you can.

The flooding in the Southeast has also caused trouble for tons of people I know, although most seem have to have gotten off lightly in the scheme of things. Still, help is totally needed there too.

I should be America's Next Great Pundit, dontcha think?