Or perhaps this isn’t so obviously – who knew of a modern wife willing to stand up for the honour of her husband? Or perhaps the French do these things differently. Perhaps not so much worrying about fidelity and a great deal more about such things about that honour*. Still, that’s what has happened, Emmanuelle Seigner has been invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures – the people who award the Oscars – and has rejected the invitation on the fairly useful grounds that they threw her husband out.
I mean sure, they had reasonable grounds for getting rid of him but still:
Roman Polanski’s wife has rejected an invitation to become a member of the awards body behind the Oscars, extended weeks after it expelled her husband.
French actress Emmanuelle Seigner accused the Academy of “insufferable hypocrisy” over the incident.
Well, no, I don’t think we can call it insufferable hypocrisy, not really. Polanski was convicted of unlawful sex with a 13 year old, Ms. Seigner not so much:
French actress Emmanuelle Seigner on Sunday rejected an invitation to join the body that awards the Oscars in response to its decision to expel her husband, director Roman Polanski, over a statutory rape conviction.
Expelling me from a pub because I’m drunk while allowing my wife in for a glass of wine the next day isn’t hypocrisy, is it? It might cause the odd ruction within my own family but that’s my/our lookout.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last month announced that it had swelled its ranks by more than 900 members, as part of its drive for a more inclusive Hollywood.
Presumably not inclusive enough to allow back in statutory rapists. Which is a pity as given the age at which most do lose their virginity these days that’s quite a large minority really.
“How can I ignore the fact that a few weeks ago the Academy expelled my husband, Roman Polanski, in an attempt to appease the zeitgeist — the very same academy which in 2002 awarded him an Oscar for The Pianist! A curious case of amnesia,” she wrote.
“The Academy probably thinks that I am enough of a spineless, social climbing actress that I would forget that I have been married for the past 29 years to one of the world’s greatest directors,” she added.
Well, yes. We might not agree here of course but there’s a certain justice to how she’s put that. There are enough out there that would overlook that hubby matter after all.
*There is an old story about the French wife having an affair who refused to tu toyer with her lover – that would be disrespectful to her husband.
Thank you for calling out the latest reckless use of the term “hypocrisy,” which denotes insincerity though it is casually used on any evidence of double standards on the accuser’s yardstick. The Academy of Motion Pictures was not insincere about its rejection of Roman Polanski by not extending it to a blood-feud against anyone named Polanski. Now, if we are to go beyond studying whether someone’s actions make sense, to whether they betray a flaw in that person’s character: Can we say that Emanuelle’s criticism of the Academy means she is okay with her husband having had sex with the… Read more »
“Statutory rape” sounds like only the age was a concern.
Polanski fled after conviction for raping that 13-year old – his acts were such that he would have been convicted of rape no matter what her age.
The shame for the Academy was that it took 40 years for them to kick him out.