Tuesday 6 October 2009

Prisoners

If I had an ounce of creativity in me, I'd sign up to do a segment of the Star Wars uncut movie, where fans from around the globe, re-make a fifteen second section of the film in the manner of their choosing. Mine would have Whisky as Chewbacca and Laurence as Luke Skywalker, dressed in his karate gear.

My friend went to visit an imprisoned Russian on Saturday morning. It is an self-imposed imprisonment, you could say.
The man in question has been in our local news for some time now, he has been living and working in the country for a number of years now, but on an extended work visa. His son has grown up and attended school here and thinks of himself as Canadian. When the couple decided to apply for Permanent Residence, the woman and son were granted it, but the man was turned down because he was at one time a member of the KGB. In order to avoid deportation, he has taken refuge in a church, and there he must stay, because should he leave, that will be the end.

And the churches wonder how long their sanctuary status will be allowed. Their employees can be sacked for their sexual preference, or harassed and insulted without redress for being female, because religion it seems, is beyond the law. How ironic if, instead of the homophobia or the misogyny being dealt with first, they should lose their right to offer sanctuary.

Another friend, who went back to her country of birth earlier in the summer, to testify against her father who had abused her and her sisters as a child, heard recently that her 81 year-old father had been sentenced to six years in prison. An incredible result considering that two of the four sisters testified for him. But he had lied to the judge, painting a picture of a happy, united family, when in fact, three of the children had been estranged from him for 35 years. My friend's sister, who was in court for the sentencing, said that he appeared, cocky and arrogant, not expecting for a second that he would not be walking out of the courthouse a free man. In fact, given his age, he'll probably never again be a free man. Shucks.

Funny, leads me back to thinking about Polanski. All the people, famous people trying to excuse him for abusing a minor, trying to cover up, just like my friend's two sisters, only writ large.
How people want to sweep it under the carpet.

Btw, blood vessels emerging from the optic nerve.

4 comments:

Pep Cougar said...

you have bags of creativity mum, perhaps you're not nerdy enough! xx

Unknown said...

I'm encouraging Adam to film a Starwars clip. I made him a Jedi costume when he was in college. Your news of the conviction of the 85-year-old gives me hope. I'm so very sorry for your friends' pain.

Sleepy said...

Old bastard!
Hope he dies in there.
*Wanders off, humming the tune to Born Free*

Schneewittchen said...

Pep Kitten - I will try to free my inner nerd!

Dawn - I'd have thought Adam would have jumped at that!

Sleepy - I think that's her hope too, but her sister's description of how his face changed from complete smugness to complete disbelief in court when the sentence was pronounced, went a fair ways.