Roman Polanski Doesn’t Like #MeToo

Who would have ever guessed that the Hollywood director who’s spent 40 years on the run from a statutory rape charge wouldn’t be a fan of women speaking up about shitty behavior? Oh, we all have our hands up?I guess we’re all in agreement that we all saw this one coming.

Roman Polanski has recently come out against the #MeToo movement. So brave, like a ghost launching an anti-Ghostbusters campaign. Roman spoke to Polish Newsweek (via Washington Post) about it. Roman calls the #MeToo movement a “collective hysteria,” a terrific choice of words when describing what can be seen as primarily a women’s movement.

“[#MeToo is a] collective hysteria of the kind that sometimes happens in the society. Everyone is trying to sign up, chiefly out of fear,” he said, comparing it to North Korea’s public mourning for its leaders when everyone cries so much that “you can’t help laughing.”

“To me this is total hypocrisy.”

It’s obvious someone is still a little bitter he couldn’t spend the holidays building a snowman and sipping hot cocoa with his best buddy Harvey Weinstein.

It may seem like Roman is lashing out because he’s very pissed that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revoked his membership, but that’s not the case. Roman’s interview with Polish Newsweek took place several days before the AMPAS made their decision. Roman’s lawyer in Poland, Jan Olszewski, spoke to The Associate Press after the decision was made, and he claims it shows signs of “psychological abuse of an elderly person.” Roman Polanski is 84. Elder abuse is a real low angle to play, but no one can ever accuse Roman of taking the high road. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Roman’s lawyer in the U.S. Harland Braun has threatened to sue the AMPAS.

Harland Braun says that Roman was denied the opportunity to appeal the decision, which the Academy’s standards of conduct calls for. He’s threatened legal action if Roman doesn’t get the appeal. However, Academy sources tell THR that Roman doesn’t really have a leg to stand on, due to one Academy bylaw that states any member may be suspended or expelled if two-thirds of all the Governors vote them out.

For now it looks like Roman might be shit out of luck with his lawsuit. And those comments about #MeToo probably haven’t won him any friends. Well, except Morrissey, who probably just became a huge Roman Polanski fan. But was “hypocrisy” the right word to use when describing #MeToo? The definition of hypocrisy is: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform. Actually, I think Roman might have been describing himself with that one.

Pic: Wenn.com