Via The New York Times:
The recent arrest of Roman Polanski, the film director who fled to France from the United States in 1978 on the eve of sentencing for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, has caused an international ruckus. [...] While it’s clear that the film industry forgave Mr. Polanski long ago, should society separate the work of artists from the artists themselves, despite evidence of reprehensible or even criminal behavior?
Damon Lindelof: “I traveled to Paris recently with my wife and had the pleasure of spending an entire day at the Louvre. Both of us thought it would be a good idea to rent those headsets that provide you with a walking tour of the museum — a behind the scenes look at the works of art. And here’s what struck me:
Man oh man, what a load of perverts!
I don’t want to name names, but it seemed artist after artist had engaged in what today we might call “inappropriate sexual relationships.” Sometimes with brothers or sisters … and yes, even children. There was underage drinking, implications of abuse and other things the calm feminine voice emanating through my headphones would simply deem as “subversive.” All I could do was shake my head and think that these people were incredibly lucky there was no Googling going on during the Renaissance.
But the art still hangs on the walls. It is still beautiful. It is still eternal. Because 200 years from now, when my descendants watch a Holo-Ultra-Virtua-Blu-Ray version of “Annie Hall,” they will have no idea that Woody Allen married his own daughter. And even if they did?
That movie still rocks.”
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