Accessory to a crime or responsible parenting?

There is a controversy about a movie shown at the Sundance Film Festival that I thought, given our mutual backgrounds in performing, might provoke some interest:

Rape Scene Storm

There is a controversy about a movie shown at the Sundance Film Festival that I thought, given our mutual backgrounds in performing, might provoke some interest:

Rape Scene Storm

A MOVIE showing the simulated rape of 12-year-old actor Dakota Fanning has prompted outrage across the US after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. US religious groups and child protection organisations have called on police to investigate whether the makers of drama Hounddog had violated US child pornography laws with the rape scene.

In Hounddog, the character played by Fanning — best known for playing sweet child characters in Charlotte’s Web and I Am Sam — appears in her underwear, is sexually abused by her father and is raped on-screen by a teen.

It goes on to quote Bill Donohue as saying, “It matters not a whit whether Fanning’s mother, along with Fanning’s teacher or child welfare worker, gave their consent,” he said. “What matters is whether they are an accessory to a crime.”

To deny that these things take place in real life is to close your eyes to the real world. Relatives of mine have been sexually abused while a minor, and it’s startlingly common, particularly in Utah, the sex-abuse capital of the United States. Is it possible to depict these harrowing acts tastefully in film? Or is that a line we should not allow filmmakers to cross in this nation?

6 thoughts on “Accessory to a crime or responsible parenting?”

  1. Hard to say..

    Having not seen it.. My understanding is that most of the outrage is from the people who also haven’t seen it.

    I understand that Fanning is not naked.. that the rape is suggested, and that Fanning is more upset by the controversy than the film.

    If this is the case, then the controversy seems to be unfounded.

    Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website Music, Acting, and More! http://www.timpane.com

  2. yeah

    From what I’ve heard from people who have actually SEEN the film, the rape scene is very tastefully done, largely with close-ups on her face.

    Surely, the movie isn’t trying to glorify child rape. If we want to raise awareness of problems, we need to talk about those problems like adults. This sort of outrage reminds me of the people who complained about the presence of the n-word in “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

    — Ben

  3. What About Violence? Drugs?

    To follow their logic, wouldn’t we need to arrest any actors who participate in a fight scene for assault and battery? Or anyone who “takes” drugs in a film for contributing to the delinquency of a minor?

    People have got to get a clue. This is about as stupid as it gets.

    My $.02 Weed

    1. The law involved…

      The laws involved have to do with “depicting sex with a minor”. It isn’t that they think she was actually raped — they don’t — but that the movie depicts a sex act with a minor, and that’s a federal crime. I’ve long suspected that the US child porn laws need revisiting, though I’m not sure what changes, if any, are needed.

      There’s a related question which has been bandied about for a while about depiction using CGI models. In those cases, no child was harmed in the creation of the film, and no child was exposed. Yet it depicts something which is illegal to show in the US, and directors could be jailed over it.

      —
      Matthew P. Barnson

      1. However

        Point taken. However, I find it funny that we can show murder, torture, and violence in any way, shape, or form and no one protests, but as soon as an implied rape scene with a minor (with no nudity or even close) or .7 seconds of Janet Jackson’s breasts is involved, the conservatives come out in full force “to protect our children”.

        Granted that unwanted pregnancy is a huge problem in our country today, I’d still take my chances with sex over violence any day. I’m of the opinion that kids should be taught that sex isn’t bad or dirty, but it must be respected, because it can produce life. It’s the reason we’re alive, to have sex and propagate the species. That’s a huge responsibility, but one we’re born to shoulder once we’re ready.

        Violence pretty much only ends life, or harms it. Sex can only create life. And remember, rape isn’t sex, rape is violence.

        I’d be worried about Jack Bauer before I’d worry about what happened to Dakota Fanning.

        My $.02 Weed

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