In a time of chimpanzees, I was a penguin.
The religious right is motivated by the suspicion that someone, somewhere,
is having fun -- and that this must be stopped.
Let me get this straight. A middle-aged man gets a 13 year old girl high on quaaludes, has sex with her despite the fact that she says "No!", and... it's not really rape, Whoopie Goldberg claims, because the middle-aged man was in the entertainment business like herself rather than being a typical white trash pedophile?
Whoopie Goldberg just made my World's Worst Person list...
-- Badtux the "Rape is rape" Penguin
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There's been a lot of discussion of the case and the Polanksi apologists at Edge of the West.
ReplyDeleteI don't pay attention to Oprah, and I'm not defending either her comment or Polanski's crime. I do strive for comprehension. I think what she meant was that statutory rape is only rape because we call it rape - "nominal" rape, if you will. That is categorically different from real rape, which is an act of sexual assault.
But the "not real rape" concept presupposes not only consent, but informed, rational consent. While the rational consent of a 13-Yr old is possible, it is questionable, and shouldn't be assumed under any circumstances. The informed concent of anyone plied with drugs and alcohol is a priori negated. And all the evidence suggests that it was not consentual.
So this is a massive Oprah fail.
Also, the girl's mother was apparently complicit. The ick factor is really high on this one.
Totally off topic, but you might find some comfort here.
ReplyDeleteRemember, Whoopi also defended Michael Vick, saying he was raised in a culture where dogfighting was socially acceptable.
ReplyDeleteOf course, down south, lynching blacks was also socially acceptable, which fact she conveniently glossed over.
I have lost what little respect I had left for her.
Jazzbumpa, it was Whoopi Goldberg who made those comments, not Oprah Winfrey.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I made the same mistaken identification when I posted about Vick.
I don't know how so many people get them confused. They don't look alike, they sure as hell don't think alike.
I haven't followed it but unless it was a fourteen year old boy that had sex with her and she was willing, it was rape.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Captain Obvious, I think that makes it official now :-).
ReplyDelete- Badtux the Snarky Penguin
As far as I understand the law any sex an underage girl has is considered statutory rape .
ReplyDeleteBut man , you gotta remember the "cult of personality" " IF you are 'big' enough you can get away with anything in this day and age . Personally I thought Mikey Jackson was worse , if crimes like that can be considered better or worse . Mikey got off , OJ got off (the first time) , hell look at Shrub !
"what a world , what a world"
w3ski
618 -
ReplyDeleteWow. I looked at Whoopie and thought "Oprah." My bad.
w3ski -
Money and power. Enough of that and you can have any kid you want.
JzB the not-very-rich trombonist