Having had a 14 year old gf when I was 22, I personally don't put much weight in "statutory rape" when both people are reasonably young. Much older than that, and the divide between the two generations becomes too big to comfortably cross and it becomes a matter of pure lust and on that basis alone, I don't believe it's right (unless the two people really DO love each other and manage to bridge that gap). If it's a case of sex and nothing else, I'm against it in any case. Heck, I don't even believe in one night stands let alone having a minor involved. I DO believe in love, however, and think people don't choose who they love and from the age 14+ onwards, some teenagers are well capable of having a close relationship. My gf was very mature for her age and a heck more mature than most other girls I knew my own age which says it all. I've never regretted it and neither has she - in fact, she recently told me that what we had back then changed her for the better.
Anyway, what Polanski did was NOT statutory rape, I just wanted to get the above off my chest since the discussion was revolving around that topic as well. What he did was wrong. What the girl's parents did was wrong. The industry is full of hidden shameful secrets and if they were to lift the lid, I think you might be surprised how many worse skeletons than this would fall out of the closets all over Hollywood. Too many parents are over-eager to get their children to become successful - many many models have sex with managers, designers, etc. at the age of 14-15 to get a job, to climb the ladder. It's an open secret of the industry that this happens everywhere. I've personally talked to East European girls who admitted that sex was a "must" for them to even be taken seriously as a model. So let's not pretend Polanski is the only bad apple.
