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Katha Pollitt, Roman Polanski, George Orwell, and Saul Steinberg Updated
Filed under: The Squib Report Tagged: crime, film, George Orwell, Hollywood, Katha Pollitt, law, Martin Schneider, movies, Roman Polanski, Salvador Dali, Saul Steinberg, Switzerland, television, View of the World From Ninth Avenue
Martin Schneider writes:
POE (pal of Emdashes) Katha Pollitt skewers the misguided Roman Polanski apologists.
It's funny: I suspect that at FOX News headquarters the defenses of Polanski are an instance of the moral relativism of the Left. I'm a liberal, and most of my friends are liberals, and I have never spoken to anyone who seriously entertained the notion that Polanski shouldn't be incarcerated, and here is one of the leading figures on the Left, ridiculing the idea that Polanski's masterpieces give him a free pass on rape. Last year I was at a dinner party with about ten Viennese journalists, the very picture of decadent "European" elite, and everyone present agreed that Polanski was guilty and should be sent to jail.
So I don't know who, exactly, is really defending Polanski. I wouldn't be surprised if the set of people who defend Polanski consists mostly of cultural elite types; the point is that it's a small group and that most liberals don't hold this view. Can someone generate a Venn diagram for me?
Pollitt's essay reminded me of George Orwell's "Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali," I was a big Orwell addict in the early 1990s, and I'm still a big fan, but what's striking about the essay is Orwell's cultural conservatism. Then again, it was 1944, pre-John Waters, pre-camp, pre-Lots of Things.
On the subject of Polanski: I should stress that I don't dismiss his post-exile works. I'm a big fan of Frantic, and I thought Bitter Moon was terrific, and I liked Death and the Maiden a good deal too. (I haven't seen The Pianist.) Polanski's an extremely talented fellow. And he should be sent to prison.
Unrelatedly: some wag has updated Saul Steinberg's famous map "View of the World From Ninth Avenue" (actually, it's possible that its creator has never heard of Steinberg). What I don't get about the update: What, exactly, is inaccurate about it? It looks just like a standard U.S. map to me.
Oh, one last thing: hail the jumper colon! I've sprinkled a few in this very post!
About us
Hello! I’m Emily Gordon, an editor, critic, copywriter, and pre-web internet nut. Emdashes, born in 2004, spent many years as a New Yorker fan blog. The project garnered some nice compliments and press.
The blog’s now treading the territories of punctuation, publications, movies, design, and other things that stir me.
Over the years, I’ve worked with a brilliant brigade of culture writers, editors, and artists. You can read all about the people who've helped build Emdashes here at “Who We?” (That’s a New Yorker joke. Old habits die hard.)
I welcome submissions, questions, corrections, and ardent, obsessive contributors. I also host occasional book-related contests and giveaways. Questioners and publishers, just email me.
Looking for The New Yorker magazine or newyorker.com? Kudos on your classy taste. Here’s how to find and contact The New Yorker.
Tell me more
Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like the em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Unsigned posts are by me; other columnists and contributors include Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, plus various guest stars.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of Emdashes webcomic “The Wavy Rule”).
Jennifer Hadley designed the original Emdashes pencil logo, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Some writing by Emily Gordon
- Liveblogging: the 2013 Street Fight Summit, a conference on hyperlocal business
- Reviews: as a theater critic at Time Out Chicago
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- At the scene: a festive downpour at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade; celebrating the lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Profiles: rising designers under 30 (for Print)
{Some more clips to snack on, pending a redesign of this whole clips business}
Blogroll highlights
- The Beautiful Sentence and Obscure Controversies (Emily’s distractions)
- Box Office Boffo (Martin Schneider on movies)
- World of Pollux (artist Paul Morris)
- Jonathan Taylor (scholar and critic)
- Carolita Johnson (cartoonist and rabble-rouser)
- My 2004-era blogroll (still current-ish!)
- Follow Emily on Twitter
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- Get Emdashes swag at the CafePress emporium
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