It's not Sex

[kaninchenzero]

With the arrest -- finally! -- of Roman Polanski thirty-some years after he raped a child, pled guilty, and fled the country before sentencing, there's been a lot of failtastic media coverage. Anne Applebaum's rape apologia and attack on... the American rule of law? It's hard to process well when your stomach is trying to crawl out of whatever

Comments

[poeticalpanther]

Ooo, pretty song. Whoa, isn't that the guy who raped his daughter for like years? Euyrgnh.

Almost word-for-word my reaction to any music by Gary Glitter anymore, for a very similar reason. This particular type of association definitely happens for me. And it means I've long since become unable to watch his otherwise-brilliant Romeo and Juliet. :/

[kaninchenzero]

Which is an entirely valid response. As would be being able to continue to enjoy the music while acknowledging that humans are complicated things and sometimes people who create gorgeous stuff commit very ugly acts upon other people. What's not okay is saying "I like the music so he can't have actually been a bad person that bitch is totes lying to get attention and bump book sales."

Which you know already of course. I think out loud a lot.

[rikibeth]

Yes, all of that.

Plus, being pleased that sports teams now tend to use Joan Jett's cover of "Rock and Roll, Part 2" instead of Gary Glitter's original, to deprive him of royalties; and deciding to choose lyrics from a song OTHER than "California Dreamin'" for the names of my Dragoncave autumn dragons, because the associations made me feel icky; and having that "brilliant-movie-but-eurgh" reaction to Rosemary's Baby.

I feel very disappointed that someone who could create such lovely music could do such an ugly thing. My kid learned (taught herself) to sing harmony following Mama Michelle's vocal line on "Monday, Monday." She was three.

[kaninchenzero]

I had to go to The Wiki to find out who Gary Glitter was (my knowledge of pop culture is deep in places but has large holes in it). I sort of wish I hadn't. And want to go huck copies of that goddamn book praising Western men's sexual exploitation of South and Southeast Asian women at the asshole who wrote it. "Did you include this guy in your research?"

Jesus fuck.

[kaninchenzero]

Found it. The asshole is Richard Bernstein; the goddamn book is The East, the West, and Sex: A History of Exotic Encounters.

[rikibeth]

BLECH.