# You're a starving artist: would you have worked with Roman Polanski (before this week)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172 "2009-09-30T22:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/1 "2009-09-30T22:54:51Z")
More IMHO perhaps, but since it’s about Polanski I’ll put it here. It’s inspired by one of the “Roman shouldn’t be extradited because he’s a great film maker” pieces, but one that’s written by a man who was hired to screenwrite Polanski’s next movie. (He’s American IIRC.) The scenario: you’re a struggling artist of some sort- actor/actress, writer, dancer, set designer, etc… Your work is seen and liked by Roman Polanski (this being before his arrest). That he’s a world class film maker is beyond dispute and this would open major doors for you career wise- basically it’s the difference in working nights at IHOP to pay such bills as you pay and being able to support yourself comfortably/getting recognition in your chosen field. Knowing that he’s a fugitive from justice for multiple sex crimes against a minor 32 years ago, would you still work with him? ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/2 "2009-09-30T23:00:58Z")
Not if it was the choice between legitimate money and having to become a prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/3 "2009-09-30T23:15:47Z")
The only people who’d say no to your question are idiots and liars. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/4 "2009-09-30T23:33:17Z")
If the movie I’m in involves sticking a broken broomstick up Polanski’s ass (and rotating in 3D slow motion) then yes, otherise no. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/5 "2009-10-01T00:30:08Z")
Leon Trotsky said, “you don’t need to believe in the trolley car to let it take you where you want to go.” So in other words, fuck yes I would ride Polanski’s coattails to my own successful career. I don’t give a damn what anyone says, I have too many good ideas for them to just go to waste; if I decided to pursue a career in film, there’s no way I’d pass up an opportunity to advance my career. It’s not like I’d be raping anyone personally; it’s not like I would even have to like Roman Polanski as a person or respect him, as long as his influence could get MY movies made. I also think this thread is probably going to be a lot of people patting each other on the back and talking about how moral and righteous they are that they would rather work in a fucking IHOP than be a successful Hollywood director…right. Keep telling yourselves that’s what you’d really do if this situation somehow presented itself in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/6 "2009-10-01T01:46:10Z")
Sure, I would. It’s more likely that I’d be involved in some technical aspect of film-making, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/7 "2009-10-01T01:58:17Z")
No. And I turned down the chance to work with a star of my field for less. People don’t have to be forcible rapists, no matter how important, for you to not want to deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/8 "2009-10-01T02:17:17Z")
I’d work with him in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t feel bad about it at all. It would make my (fictional) artist/acting career. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/9 "2009-10-01T02:58:39Z")
Didn’t Polanski serve time under an agreement with his trial judge, who then reneged on his own deal? ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/10 "2009-10-01T04:03:56Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Didn’t Polanski serve time under an agreement with his trial judge, who then reneged on his own deal? This has been covered. Polanski pled guilty and was remanded to a psychiatric facility for 40-odd days for pre-sentencing evaluation. This was not his sentence, this was not meant to be the entirety of the time he would serve. The trial judge is not a party to a deal, a plea arrangement is made between the prosecutor and the defense attorney/defendant. He was given a deal that was ridiculously inappropriate for the charge he was pleading guilty for, and the judge was under no requirement to accept the deal. The indication was that he _was_ going to, but Polanski’s pre-sentencing behavior had him re-evaluating things. All of that is within the purview of a judge in such a case. ---
**Author:** ![St.Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@St.Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Anger)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/11 "2009-10-01T04:05:37Z")
It’s not a fair question, of COURSE I would. Still doesn’t mean he shouldn’t go back to the US and face the music however. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/12 "2009-10-01T04:19:47Z")
I’d have to say yes. Selling a screenplay is not the same thing as endorsing the morals of the person who bought it. I would draw the line, however, at making public statements in Polanski’s defense. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/13 "2009-10-01T04:22:47Z")
Hmmm… yes, I think I’ll take the opportunity to work with the brilliant artist. I will not, however, ask him to babysit. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/14 "2009-10-01T04:26:54Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Leon Trotsky said, “you don’t need to believe in the trolley car to let it take you where you want to go.” So in other words, fuck yes I would ride Polanski’s coattails to my own successful career. I don’t give a damn what anyone says, I have too many good ideas for them to just go to waste; if I decided to pursue a career in film, there’s no way I’d pass up an opportunity to advance my career. It’s not like I’d be raping anyone personally; it’s not like I would even have to like Roman Polanski as a person or respect him, as long as his influence could get MY movies made. > > I also think this thread is probably going to be a lot of people patting each other on the back and talking about how moral and righteous they are that they would rather work in a fucking IHOP than be a successful Hollywood director…right. Keep telling yourselves that’s what you’d really do if this situation somehow presented itself in real life. Well, since my own sentiments are pretty much identical to yours, there’s at least strength in numbers.😉 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/15 "2009-10-01T04:29:54Z")
Since his crime, he’s worked with artists like Ronald Harwood, Ben Kingsley, Geoffrey Unsworth, Claude Berri, Johnny Depp, Darius Khnodji, Lena Olin, and Ennio Morricone. Why wouldn’t I want to learn from those people? Film is a collaborative artform. If working with him meant being stuck in a room, just the two of us, for months, that would be one thing. But cinema isn’t like that, so of course I’d jump at the opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/16 "2009-10-01T04:54:51Z")
You’re a struggling political consultant / speechwriter / pollster. Karl Rove sees some of your work and decides that he’d like to take you in to work for him and give your career a big boost in the process. Would you take it? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/17 "2009-10-01T04:57:36Z")
Bad analogy. Working with Karl Rove associates you with the Republicans, which is, of course, not helpful if you’re a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/18 "2009-10-01T05:00:40Z")
Hell, I’d fuck him, and I’m a straight guy. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/19 "2009-10-01T05:35:33Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Bad analogy. Working with Karl Rove associates you with the Republicans, which is, of course, not helpful if you’re a Democrat. Similarly, working with Polanski might be unhelpful with future employers who find it distasteful that one worked with a sex criminal. But if it helps the analogy, suppose you’re a writer: Would you ghostwrite Karl Rove’s memoirs? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172/20 "2009-10-01T05:41:15Z")
before I was 30 and broke, I had the freedom to tell anybody to fuck off and I often did. now that I’m older, a parent, worth considerably more money (but ironically not ‘fuck you’ money), I’m a lot more likely to cut a deal my younger self would bitch slap me over. my younger self would have absolutely told Polanski off and might have kicked the shit out of him on principle. and I did give up a couple of shots at big bucks when I was younger over principle and/or pursuit of my writing art. Polansk nowi though maybe not because of my 3 young daughters and visceral knowledge of how I would still react if it was my child that he did that to. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-starving-artist-would-you-have-worked-with-roman-polanski-before-this-week/512172.md?page=2)