Considering Polanski gave the girl drugs and alcohol, he was clearly trying to get her "in the mood." If she was truly interested in having intercourse with him, then why didn't he try his luck without the drugs and alcohol? I have never liked this aspect of the story.

Yes, it's possible that she lied about the rape to cover her ass and avoid censure from her parents and not be labeled a "slut" (as you and Cuteness to Die For noted) but I would be more inclined to believe this if he didn't use the drugs. And I am NOT going to assume that girls are usually liars when they say they were raped; every claim needs to be investigated and everyone accused should be presumed innocent unless guilt can be proven or at least strongly indicated beyond a reasonable doubt. You know me much better than to label me a "self-righteous reactionary," Henny. Too many antis think that we don't believe real and genuine rape to be reality, and I am not going to feed into this stereotype by defending every single man who get's accused, or to defend an MAA simply because he/she is an MAA. I have the firm belief that MOST genuine MAA's are not selfish monsters who engage in rape, but it CAN happen, and in this case it may have. Further, you KNOW that I am not swayed by popular opinion. Popular opinion is currently saying that Polanski should be put in jail for having sex with a 13 year old girl, and I do not believe the common attitude that intergenerational sex should automatically be a criminal act regardless of whether consent was mutual. Also, support for Polanski appears to be the majority opinion on this board, so once again you can't accuse me of going with the party line simply because it's popular. I knew making this post would tarnish my popularity on the board, but I made it anyway. So much for the claims by a few that groupthink rules on this board.

If Samantha wants the charges dropped, then they should be dropped. But if Polanski did actually commit an act of rape by nullifying the girl's ability to give consent, then he should have done some jail time. A woman who is given a date rape drug and falls into an insensate stupor obviously isn't going to resist. And no great physical force was used in such a case, but that is still an instance of rape because the woman was rendered incapable of consenting. And in all fairness, Samantha claims that she said "no" numerous times while Polanski was having intercourse with her.

I understand that the American government wouldn't be nearly as interested in arresting Polanski if he had sex with a woman over the age of 18, and they are treating the whole thing as a big deal simply because sex had occurred between two people of different age groups, and treating this factor as if it's more important than whether or not coercion had occurred, which shows how screwed up our priorities are. This I DO NOT support. But you can't expect me to support every single celebrity MAA simply because they are MAA's if they have truly done something wrong. If Polanski truly raped her, then he gave a black eye to our entire community.

And the thing is, Samantha stuck to her story that she was raped in 2003. The fact that she wants the whole thing dropped is a bit fishy, true, but many women who lied in the past have recanted their claims once they had a long time to think about it. I'm sure SOME liars have stuck to their stories, but I don't get the impression that Samantha lied.

I don't presume to know what actually happened, but the fact that Polanski gave the girl drugs and alcohol doesn't lean me towards supporting his contention over that of Samantha's.

And you know that I respect your opinion, too, Henny. As such, I am not going to insist that Polanski be arrested if Samantha herself said she wanted the charges dropped, but I do not support men using drugs and alcohol to win a girl or woman's compliance in sexual matters. Polanski totally fucked up by doing that and put the credibility of his word in doubt. Yes, many people get high and/or drunk together and have sex, and many people use at least alcohol to hopefully make a partner more conducive to having sex. But I don't think this is a wise thing to do, and I think Polanski should have known better.

I don't presume to know exactly what happened, but in my opinion Polanski did screw up.