Controversy is a curious thing. The old adage that “any press is good press” seems to hold true most of the time, and when a public personality becomes embroiled in some seedy scandal, the added buzz around them only elevates their status even more. Whenever the chatter reaches a certain volume and a consensus begins to form, you’d think a coherent moral course of action would be just as apparent. So what happens when an actor like Mel Gibson is arrested and caught spewing hate, or when a filmmaker like Roman Polanski is finally arrested for fleeing the country? To date, apparently not much at all.

For someone like Mel Gibson—once a box office king and now a talented filmmaker—to not only be arrested and unleash his tirade on police officers doing their job, but to then find himself at the center of a public dispute with his girlfriend in which he utters almost every sort of hateful thing a man can say to a woman (and everyone else) is not only shocking, but it’s disappointing. Other celebrities—especially those who ultimately mean well, like Tom Cruise or Sean Penn—might see themselves become the target of ridicule or parody, but nothing is quite as disgraceful as when someone who’s considered a “leading man” proves themselves to be downright unsavory.

As for Roman Polanski, the last thirty years might have been troubling, but you’d never know it by looking at his work. As a filmmaker, he’s made some of the most indelible films in the history of cinema, and while those will forever be treasured works, how does that reconcile with the horrible things he’s done as a man? When he was arrested in Switzerland in September of 2009, it almost seemed as if his thirty years of evading authorities had come to an end and that justice would finally be served. Almost.

With Swiss authorities announcing this past Monday that Polanski would not be extradited to the US and the case would not be pursued further—essentially making him a free man—any hope of bringing the case against Polanski to a close was lost. Instead, he’ll likely go on to continue making films without serving his full 90-day sentence (which, frankly, is nothing compared to most less-privileged folks might be held in custody for years, much less convicted) and will continue to live in the lap of luxury known as the Swiss Alps for the rest of his life.

To be clear, there are people in the world who do far worse things than Gibson has, and his personal life is really none of our business, but for whatever reason, it’s out in the open now. For the public at large, it’s easy to chalk it up to the pressures of fame and fortune because, if nothing else, we don’t really know Mel Gibson. And as horrible as what he did was, the same can even be said for Polanski. But do you really have to know someone to recognize that what they’ve done is wrong? Isn’t it enough to say that if a celebrity is caught or convicted that they should be subject to the same treatment as anyone else?

And yet, none of this is new. It’s happened time and time again with all sorts of public personalities in sports, business and politics, and through it all, the world goes on. Those who are famous and wealthy will get special treatment from authorities simply because they can afford it and because, especially in Hollywood, they’re simply too valuable to be treated as anything less.

However, for me, as a moviegoer and enthusiast, it’s hard to turn a blind eye to it. We can all feign disgust at what Mel Gibson said or at Roman Polanski’s release, but at what point do they ever face the consequences for what they’ve done? Aren’t we, the patron audience responsible for their ultimate success or failure, obligated to exercise our power as consumers?

With that in mind, I decided to take stock, and after a quick count, I noticed that I personally own several of Mel Gibson’s movies and none of Polanski’s. As of now, I can easily say that I’ll never own any more than that. I think Chinatown and The Pianist are among the best films I’ve ever seen, but I’ll never buy them. That’s my personal decision. Critics and pundits can rationalize and justify all they want, but I think for the majority of us, there are only a few simple questions at the heart of the matter. Does the power of art outshine the faults of the artist? Or does the trouble in their personal life make their work just as unfavorable? At what point do you separate the art from the artist when they themselves are so morally reprehensible?

Those are questions we should probably all ask ourselves before spending our money. Sure, these celebrities aren’t spilling oil into the ocean or stealing billions of dollars from our savings, but for the influence and power they hold over our culture and collective conscience, they should be held accountable just the same.