Hollywood has just crossed the line...
"Cute-as-a-button child star Dakota Fanning, who turned 12 in February, is venturing into sexually disturbing territory in a movie being filmed in North Carolina.
The screenplay for "Hounddog" - a dark story of abuse, violence and Elvis Presley adulation in the rural South, written and directed by Deborah Kampmeier - calls for Fanning's character to be raped in one explicit scene and to appear naked or clad only in "underpants" in several other horrifying moments.
Fanning's mother, Joy, and her Hollywood agent, Cindy Osbrink, see the movie as a possible Oscar vehicle for the pint-size star."
I cannot for the life of me imagine to what grotesque levels is Hollywood going to go to...this by far is the most inhuman, insensitive, greedy, ridiculous thing I have heard in recent times.
I don't have anything against Nudity, it's upto the actors and the movie makers, to deal with it, but there has to be a starting point and for me 21 would seem appropriate, definitely not 12....
I don't care about Oscars, about art, about the form of expression, this is plain despicable. A 12 year old prancing around nude is not any form of art, how can a Mother allow that, how can she take pride in this and will she sit in this kind of a movie, what about the Dad, what about me...I cant sit through this uncouth drama of child abuse...nothing justices this, Oscar or no Oscar, every person in their right minds, I think, should condemn this and make the makers, actors, parents and everyone and anyone associated with this movie not show the rape scenes.
ok first off...Dakota Fanning is Far from being "cute as a button." She is an ugly kid with bad teeth (I know it will all change when she grows up but as of now this is what I think of her)...
ReplyDeleteSecondly...what do you think of those kids who act in movies where vulgar dialogues are being spoken in front of them? I think all this is bad...children in the entertainment are those who are exploited. I do not think many of them really have the choice...I am also sure that this was not their "choice" profession...
i wanted to write more but now i am feeling lazy and hungry!
Anu, even if this not where those kids personally want to be, what is wrong with the film fraternity that they cud think of a 12 yr old doing a nude scene as appropriate, it is not.
ReplyDeleteWhen children are exposed to vulgar language, it's not the same, nudity is just something so wrong...i cant even imagine how someone can dream of filming it...it's demeaning to my sensibilities.
But i think she is a very talented little girl and cute too...
In a way I think kids like Dakota in the film industry are exploited to a great degree, with having them do scenes like these, and as anu said "vulgar dialogues been spoken around them".
ReplyDeleteHowever, if the parents take UTMOST care in explaining to the child star why she's being made to do this role, and that it is something that is socially ridiculed (rape, child molestation, etc) and is wrong, and the main purpose this film is to show this as one of the evils of our society - i think it is not THAT bad as it sounds.
cos firstly, even though it's depicting a rape scene, what we might end up seeing on screen and how ACTUALLY the shooting took place are gonna be two entirely different situations, i'm guessing. also, there surely are rules and laws to this....as we know child pornography is taken pretty seriously here, especially if it's a well-known Hollywood movie (and of course a well known child artiste) involved.
But to have Dakota do this role only with the Oscars in mind is just plain absurd on part of the mom.
i agree wid u maggie...as socially correct ppl hollywood mite wanna sound...the bottomline is fame and the subsequent moolah...men, women and children...everybody is exploited in the industry. i think we have accepted it coz it is just too big a monster to fight. but i like what quintan tarantino did in kill bill 1...all gory scenes of Oren Ishii watching her parents being killed and then her being molested were animated...somehow linked the story along and didn't gross one out!!!
ReplyDelete@ sammy, I dont know how the filming is done, it just disturbs me that something so indecent is being done. And i think Oscar is the motivation for the Mom and Agent.
ReplyDelete@ Rajat,
oh yesss...that was brilliant, animation made the scenes bareable...so true! Wish someone wud stop this stupidity!
Megha,
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious that you care about Dakota's wellfare. Question: If Dakota is being abused by her parent/agent, how do you think Dakota will be harmed as a result of that abuse?
Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteI think Dakota is being harrassed, this is plain and simple promotion of somethign so wrong...a 12 yr old made to be shown naked on screen is simple abuse of her innocence. When she is old enough to decide, i have no problem with it...but with the aim of oscar in mind...is so very very wrong...her innocence i think is at stake here...
Wouldn't you agree?
Megha, I'm not sure which definition of "innocent" you're using. The two most common definitions I'm familiar with are:
ReplyDeleteinnocent - Uncorrupted by evil, malice, or wrongdoing
innocent - Ignorant of the existance of evil
What's your definition?
Using the second definition, I do agree that it's possible that Dakota's involvement in the rape scene could result in a loss of innocence, but I also think it's possible that she'd already have lost it before. Think about it: if her mother is willing to let Dakota act in such a scene, her mother probably hasn't tried to keep Dakota igorant of such societal evils and may have exposed her to more info about rape than many parents would be willing to do. Who knows what kinds of movies she lets Dakota watch.
Question for you: Using your definition of innocence, how do you think a child is harmed by losing his or her innocence?
Another question:
ReplyDeleteThe world can be a very unsafe place. There are a lot of threats out there: disease, natural disasters, poverty, lack of education, bad family situation, cruel humans of all sorts, etc.
When should children learn about these things?
Jeremy this is not just about Dakota Fanning, it is also about sensibilities in adults, how to film scenes which speak of social problems, how can they let a little girl reveal her privates.
ReplyDeleteThe loss of innocence will harm Dakota because she looses her ability to look at things in a child-like way, in the way that is most appropriate for someone her age to look at. She grows up to these evils before it is time for her to.
I am not too sure about the age, for kids these days know too much too soon, I have heard of 14 year old moms, I dont know by choice or not, but they do know what's going on around them, be it sex, violence, language anything. I would think though 12-14 years is where i would set the bar, for I wouldn't want some little kid to be taken for a ride only coz they didnt the right knowledge to defend themselves.
Dakota's parents are sure to blame for all this, but even the film makers need to have more sense of what they show on screen.