Bill Cosby Kicked Out of the Academy, and the Forty One Years They Accepted Sexual Crimes

As the accusations against movie kingpin Harvey Weinstein kept making waves in the news and the movie industry, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him the boot.  He was the second person ever to get thrown from the Academy, with the first happening to Carmine Caridi in 2004 for leaking preview videos.  Today, Thursday May 3rd, Bill Cosby got the same treatment.  Last Friday, Cosby was found guilty of sexual assault.  That means they acted after six days, a speedy action to show the public that they won't tolerate people who break their Standards of Conduct.

At the same time, the Academy expelled director Roman Polanski.

Here's the problem, and an indication of how sad this situation actually is.  Polanski pleaded guilty to statutory rape in 1977 after he had a physical relationship with a thirteen year old.  The key here is the fact that this didn't turn into a 'he said, she said,' this was a person admitting guilt.  It was an undeniable sexual crime, one that he served forty two days in prison.  Hearing rumours that a plea bargain was going to be scrapped, Polanski then fled the United States and has been a fugitive since then.  The US has tried to get him extradited to face the crime he had admitted to.

It took six days for the Academy to show that it didn't tolerate sexual crimes in the case of Bill Cosby.  It took forty one years to take the same stance with Polanski.  It makes me wonder if they would have even gotten around to addressing the Polanski situation if not for the publicity of the Cosby incident.  I do think they need to get some credit for their actions, but their response to Polanski seems to be a prime example of the mentality in Hollywood that had run rampant up until, and through, the #MeToo campaign in 2017.

For forty one years, the Academy seemed to not have a problem with Roman Polanski's legal situation and the severity of the crime that had been committed.  Not only did they not expel Polanski, but the Academy has since seen him nominated with three Oscars, and winning one of them.  While the public face of the Academy for the last half year seems to be of an organization that will not put up with toxic behaviour from its members, their actions show something else.

They had over four decades to do something about Roman Polanski.  By seeing him getting Oscar nominations the Academy seemed to be saying that not only would they not expel him, but that they would still consider him a peer and colleague and celebrate him.

Yes, good on them for moving to embrace diversity over the past few years, and for the action against industry sexual predators.  But, seriously, how much credit do they deserve?  Once again, Polanski wasn't just suspected of a crime, he admitted it.  There was no, 'we will treat him as innocent until he is proven guilty.'  He WAS guilty, full stop.  And yet they keep him around and celebrate him.  Forty one years and three nominations and one Oscar win.  It is that history that shows perhaps just how the mentality of Hollywood was around sexual crimes in the industry, and it is that history that should be four decades of shame on a group of people who now all of a sudden take action.