Polanski’s art

While I do not necessarily agree with the decision of Roman Polanski to flee the United States on moral and legal grounds, neither do I understand the minds of those who choose to condemn his art and movie making for it (“Polanski’s Past,” letters, Feb. 9). How easy it is, in today’s society, to label a man a “child molester” or jump to conclusions regarding his acts rather than to understand them from a point of view of someone who survived one of the worst and darkest periods of history, the Holocaust. Here is a man who was imprisoned, literally, as a child, from his people, his home and his land and survived and had the courage, himself a Holocaust survivor, to tell the great story of Wladyslaw Szpilman. Rather than be harsh and condemn you, Mr. Polanski, I distinguish between your legal problems and your art as a filmmaker. Therefore, I applaud you ... for having the heart, soul and spirit to tell this very deep and heartfelt story, which will surely be remembered for many years to come.

Barbara S. Cohen

Walnut