The last article I wrote was about child sexual abuse, incest and rape. The topic was due to my response to Mackenzie Phillips admission of being in a sexual relationship with her father, John Phillips. In my article, I was frustrated by some people’s reaction to Phillips. Far too often we blame the victim was my main point. I stated that victims should be supported so that they will feel confident to step forward. Perverts are even smart enough to use societies’ reaction to sex crimes to further victimize the people they harm by saying that no one will believe them or the victim will be blamed.

I stated that a country (USA) that could award Roman Polanski an Oscar despite his being a child rapist, a bail jumper and a creep, could surely muster up some kind of sympathy for Mackenzie Phillips and victims of sexual crimes. Polanski has been living in France for the last thirty years, as a citizen there, and the French government had refused to return him to the United States to face his crimes. In France, Polanski married again and has two children with his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, a French actress. In a strange turn of events, Polanski was arrested this weekend in Switzerland due to his charges in the U.S. It has not been decided yet if Switzerland will return him to the U.S. The people close to Polanski wonder “why now?” This is not the first time, Polanski has ventured off to Switzerland in the last thirty years. Apparently, Polanski was in Switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award. His being in Zurich for a lifetime achievement award which basically highlights his career, brilliance in directing, and his classic films, Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist and then he is arrested at the airport prior to even receiving the award due to crimes from his past. This seems to be some sort of perverse irony or poetic justice of some sort.

There is this yin-yang effect at work here. “This Symbol (Yin-Yang) represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents 'everything,' while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other. While "yin" would be dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak, "yang" would be bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. The shape of the yin and yang sections of the symbol, actually gives you a sense of the continual movement of these two energies, yin to yang and yang to yin, causing everything to happen: just as things expand and contract, and temperature changes from hot to cold” This definition was given by Mark Coyle who has an online site dedicated to explaining this concept and delving into the many areas involved in yin-yang.

I think these aspects of yin-yang come into play quite often when you look at human behavior and human nature. As I state often, I am not a psychology expert by any means, but I do strongly believe that it is these two dueling sides that work together to make a whole of everyone. One of the reasons I believe that people are hesitant to believe Mackenzie Phillips is because people do not want to have to face this truth about someone as iconic, famous and talented as John Phillips. Fans of the Mamas & the Papas, California Dreaming do not want to know that someone they loved admired or aspired to be like was capable of something so horrible. It is hard to think of one without thinking of the other. Roman Polanski is no different from John Phillips in my mind in terms of the amazing talent being part of who he is but also having a dark side that is capable of victimizing a teenage girl. Would Polanski have had the same success with Rosemary’s Baby if this darkness was not a part of him? John Phillips was an admitted drug user for most of his life; would we have California Dreaming if Phillips was not overcome by drugs? Are these touches of madness key in creating brilliance? These are questions that just can’t be answered because we don’t know.

At this point, no one is sure of Polanski's fate but after thirty years justice is finally on the cusp of being served. Let us not forget that these crimes, committed by Hollywood royalty, were not victimless crimes. I think it is important to note that there is a forty plus year old woman out there who was raped as a child and all these years later still doesn’t have closure on a deeply painful event in her young life. Mackenzie Phillips for the rest of her life will feel the quilt and shame of what she went through with her father. I think it is pretty safe to say that no matter how well Polanski directs or how well John Phillips sang and wrote songs , the talent will never lessen their crimes; however to some it may make them more palatable.