Dakota Fanning movie blasted for her rape scene

[mjak]

her agent says, ".. this is something that's really challenged her talent". geez.... just what we need, even more violence-against-women (and in this case, an assault of a young girl)-- as-entertainment. don't we have enough of this around.....???

This is one talent a 12 year old girl does not need to have!!! Shame on her parents.

mjak

 

[concernedperson]

Yes - I LOVE The Sopranos - I had forgotten all about that scene with Dr. Melfi. It was intense.

We are both in the metro Atlanta area and are exposed to all things big city. I am also a film buff...if it is done well...but I am more concerned with exploitation as the years go on. I feel that so many haven't read enough before they see a film and, therefore,use the film as a yardstick. It could mean that with independent thought a judgement is made but I am afraid there isn't enough of that.

I am not advocating censorship but am advocating reading more. I wonder how many HS students have read any classics? Or care too.

 

[shopper]

Yes - I LOVE The Sopranos - I had forgotten all about that scene with Dr. Melfi. It was intense.

Will April ever get here fast enough, lol? Dh and I are devout.

At the hospital where I work, I park in the parking garage and when I leave when it's dark, I make sure to be on my cell phone, while being alert to my surroundings, because of that scene. I make sure to tell whoever I'm talking to where I am, what floor, etc so if anything happens, they can call 911.

 

[southcitymom]

We are both in the metro Atlanta area and are exposed to all things big city. I am also a film buff...if it is done well...but I am more concerned with exploitation as the years go on. I feel that so many haven't read enough before they see a film and, therefore,use the film as a yardstick. It could mean that with independent thought a judgement is made but I am afraid there isn't enough of that.

I am not advocating censorship but am advocating reading more. I wonder how many HS students have read any classics? Or care too.

I hear you. I am a book hound and was an English major in college and can honestly say I've never seen a film without first reading the book. That's just my deal - I doubt it's the norm, but I'm trying to raise my boys that way. (For now, they are young enough that I have a say!)

I often wonder - is it as exploitive to read stuff like this as to see stuff like this? I can't really answer that. Plenty of excellent books (classics included) detail all sorts of terrible things.

 

[southcitymom]

Will April ever get here fast enough, lol? Dh and I are devout.

At the hospital where I work, I park in the parking garage and when I leave when it's dark, I make sure to be on my cell phone, while being alert to my surroundings, because of that scene. I make sure to tell whoever I'm talking to where I am, what floor, etc so if anything happens, they can call 911.

Yes - dh and I talk every day about when will it start again!! We are detoxing.

Yikes - dark hospital parking garages freak me out. Many many moons ago I did some volunteer work at a rape crisis center at an Atlanta hospital - I had many nighttime shifts and quite a few spooky moments...this was before the days of cell phones!

 

[southcitymom]

.....I haven't seen Hide and Seek......

Here's some info on Hide and Seek, another pretty terrifying vehicle Fanning starred in:

"... the movie does contain disturbing images, among them, a distressingly explicit scene involving Emily watching from the doorway as her father discovers her mother, wrists slit, lying dead in a blood-soaked bathtub (which alone justifies the film's R rating).

Late in the game, a terrified Emily cries, "I don't want to play with Charlie anymore," and by that point neither will viewers.

The film contains recurring violence, including a graphic suicide and several murders, as well as intense scenes of menace involving a minor. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted."

Full article at http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/05mv480.htm

 

[southcitymom]

Another movie Fanning starred in was Man on Fire, an R-rated vehicle with terrible language and strong violence to include the torture and murder of children. This is a dark and depressing film that deals with the abduction and murder of small children.

Where was the stink when Fanning played a child who gets kidnapped in this movie? Why is a make believe rape more horrible than make believe torture and murder of children?

 

[southcitymom]

In 2002, Fanning starred with Kevin Bacon in Trapped, an R-rated movie featuring violence and sex. Again, Fanning was a kidnapped child separated from her parents and she acted in a number of scary scenes. I don't recall seeing any hullabaloo over this movie either. Was she promoting the kidnapping of children by chosing to be in this movie?

 

[Anngelique]

It is so not the same thing and you should know that. Being sexually assaulted is one of the worst things that could ever happen to a child or adult. I wouldn't think twice about watching a show about a child being kidnapped. It's like comparing apples to oranges. The new movie is basic kid smut and something pedofiles will use as a vehicle for gratification. It's disgusting. There is a difference between sex and violence. Sex is a wonderful thing between ADULTS but it is NOT for children, especially rape.

Edited to say just read the script Julianne posted. That's why there's such outroar about this film.

 

[southcitymom]

It is so not the same thing and you should know that. Being sexually assaulted is one of the worst things that could ever happen to a child or adult. I wouldn't think twice about watching a show about a child being kidnapped or about the child being kidnapped. It's like comparing apples to oranges. The new movie is basic kid smut and something pedofiles will use as a vehicle for gratification. It's disgusting. There is a difference between sex and violence. Sex is a wonderful thing between ADULTS but it is NOT for children, especially rape.

Edited to say just read the script Julianne posted. That's why there's such outroar about this film.

I'd rather be sexually assaulted than kidnapped, tortured and murdered (see Man on Fire) but that's just me....

The bottom line is we have no idea if Hound Dog is kid smut because we haven't seen the movie. And pedophiles will use any movie or material involving kids for their own gratification - some even prefer the sweet Charlotte's Web arena of children to a scene of a child being raped. It depends on the pedophile. Pedophiles, like the rest of us, have different fantasies.

Perhaps we should ban the under 18 crowd from being in films and print all-together. That would show those pedophiles!

I also don't remember all this outrage when Grisham's A Time to Kill came out - book and movie - which opened with a scene of several men raping a young girl. Both the book and the movie were runaway hits.

 

[Anngelique]

I don't have to touch a fire to know it is hot. I don't have to do drugs to know they are bad for me. I do not have to watch the movie to know it is smut. I will NOT watch the movie because I've read the premise of the movie and I believe it is wrong.

 

[southcitymom]

I don't have to touch a fire to know it is hot. I don't have to do drugs to know they are bad for me. I do not have to watch the movie to know it is smut. I will NOT watch the movie because I've read the premise of the movie and I believe it is wrong.

And I utterly respect that right of yours. I felt the same way about The Passion of the Christ. But I don't comment on The Passion of the Christ as a film because I haven't seen it.

I don't want to be like this woman:

http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2007/01/18/0118gwxpotter.html

who has never even read the books!

 

[chiefs_fan_4life]

All of you have excellent points that I have taken into consideration. I have 3 daughters and 1 son. I would not allow my 12 year old daughter to play a role so violent. Nope. Never. None of them would want to. However, Fanning has played in so many violent/sexual/dark movies now, so maybe the parents think this is just one step further. I honestly don't know. But no, I can't see letting any of my girls act this type of scene. I do not shelter them from ways of the world either, meaning I probably allow them to watch more questionable things than most people here. That's a whole different subject, I know.

I really liked TRAPPED...awesome movie. I still wanna kick Kevin Bacon's a$$...lol. The Woodsman..well, that was a good movie, too. I might watch this movie, I might not. So really, I guess I have no opinion on what the parents allow her to do, but my girls would not be acting this scene.

 

[Masterj]

southcitymom, thank for articulating your viewpoint (and mine) so eloquently. You really did say it perfectly.

 

[southcitymom]

southcitymom, thank for articulating your viewpoint (and mine) so eloquently. You really did say it perfectly.

Masterj,

Thank you for your kind words. This really has been an interesting thread with lots of well-articulated opinions. Certainly these things should give us all pause for thought to ask and answer some tough questions!

SCM

 

[Hbgchick]

I have to disagree with the poster who stated that "sexual assault is the worst thing that can happen to a child". If that's your opinion, fine. But it's not mine, and it shouldn't be put out there as "fact".

Before you ask what "authority" I have, I can tell you that I know from experience. And it was NOT the "worst" thing that happened to me as a child. Why? Because I had supportive parents and counselors who assured me it was not my fault, that a bad man did a bad thing and would be punished for it. As a result, I learned at a young age that bad things happen to good people and those good people have two choices: A.) Live through it, learn and grow from it and succeed in spite of it or B.) Blame that incident for all of your problems for the rest of your life and wallow in misery. I chose the former.

Having said that - if Dakota Fanning's parents, Dakota herself, and the directors and counselors invloved in this picture feel that she was capable of doing it without sustaining any long term effects, so be it. None of us know her or the circumstances surrounding this scene.

And newsflash - this kind of thing goes on EVERY DAY. You see it in the news, in television, in the movies. Rape, murder, insest, drugs, torture, terrorism, kidnapping, on and on and on. This is happening in your childrens' schools, and they hear about it and see it all of the time. A movie is not going to teach them anything they don't already know. It really bothers me that just because "sex" is associated with this particular film people are all freaked out and saying how horrible it is. Yeah. Another newsflash, rape and pedophelia aren't about sex. They're about control, they're are both a crime, and children should know that. There are children out there HANGING THEMSELVES after watching a clip of Saddam Hussein's execution. We all said that hanging Saddam "fair and just" thing to do, right?

For those of you who choose not to allow your children to see a film like this, that's fine. But don't condem those of us who WILL let our children see the movie so they know that if anything like that EVER, EVER, EVER even comes close to happening to them that it is a CRIME. That they can come to me and tell me if something happens to them, to never be ashamed or afraid that they will be punished.

This type of movie, watched with a parent and discussed afterward, can absolutely be beneficial to children. It might even help some of the parents out there who still have their heads in the sand.

 

[shopper]

In 2002, Fanning starred with Kevin Bacon in Trapped, an R-rated movie featuring violence and sex. Again, Fanning was a kidnapped child separated from her parents and she acted in a number of scary scenes. I don't recall seeing any hullabaloo over this movie either. Was she promoting the kidnapping of children by chosing to be in this movie?

Sorry to get o/t but that movie was based on a book by Greg Iles, "24 Hours". Needless to say the book was a lot better. If you haven't read anything by Greg Iles, and if you like suspense/legal type books, then you should check him out. I just finished his latest novel "True Evil" right before Christmas and couldn't put it down.

 

[southcitymom]

I have to disagree with the poster who stated that "sexual assault is the worst thing that can happen to a child". If that's your opinion, fine. But it's not mine, and it shouldn't be put out there as "fact".

Before you ask what "authority" I have, I can tell you that I know from experience. And it was NOT the "worst" thing that happened to me as a child. Why? Because I had supportive parents and counselors who assured me it was not my fault, that a bad man did a bad thing and would be punished for it. As a result, I learned at a young age that bad things happen to good people and those good people have two choices: A.) Live through it, learn and grow from it and succeed in spite of it or B.) Blame that incident for all of your problems for the rest of your life and wallow in misery. I chose the former.

Having said that - if Dakota Fanning's parents, Dakota herself, and the directors and counselors invloved in this picture feel that she was capable of doing it without sustaining any long term effects, so be it. None of us know her or the circumstances surrounding this scene.

And newsflash - this kind of thing goes on EVERY DAY. You see it in the news, in television, in the movies. Rape, murder, insest, drugs, torture, terrorism, kidnapping, on and on and on. This is happening in your childrens' schools, and they hear about it and see it all of the time. A movie is not going to teach them anything they don't already know. It really bothers me that just because "sex" is associated with this particular film people are all freaked out and saying how horrible it is. Yeah. Another newsflash, rape and pedophelia aren't about sex. They're about control, they're are both a crime, and children should know that. There are children out there HANGING THEMSELVES after watching a clip of Saddam Hussein's execution. We all said that hanging Saddam "fair and just" thing to do, right?

For those of you who choose not to allow your children to see a film like this, that's fine. But don't condem those of us who WILL let our children see the movie so they know that if anything like that EVER, EVER, EVER even comes close to happening to them that it is a CRIME. That they can come to me and tell me if something happens to them, to never be ashamed or afraid that they will be punished.

This type of movie, watched with a parent and discussed afterward, can absolutely be beneficial to children. It might even help some of the parents out there who still have their heads in the sand.

Thanks so much for your honest, heartfelt post. Survivors fill my heart with hope. I agree that bringing truth to brutal darkness is the first step towards finding light.

You raise an excellent point - it is often when we see the world around us mirrored in film or literature that we are awakened to taking action in our own lives and the lives of others. My youngest sister was a victim of childhood sexual assault, and it was actually a nightmarish scene from a film that led her to speak up and begin her journey towards healing.

I get confused by the opinion that a film containing a rape as part of a larger story promotes that type of behavior (ie - violence and rape). I've never read/watched a rape scene in a book/movie and felt anything but disgust. To me, it always drives home the point that such violence is soul-numbing and immoral and that we must continue our real-life efforts to eradicate such behavior.

 

[southcitymom]

Sorry to get o/t but that movie was based on a book by Greg Iles, "24 Hours". Needless to say the book was a lot better. If you haven't read anything by Greg Iles, and if you like suspense/legal type books, then you should check him out. I just finished his latest novel "True Evil" right before Christmas and couldn't put it down.

Hey thanks - I will check them out - I am always looking for good authors.

 

[Hbgchick]

Thanks so much for your honest, heartfelt post. Survivors fill my heart with hope. I agree that bringing truth to brutal darkness is the first step towards finding light.

You raise an excellent point - it is often when we see the world around us mirrored in film or literature that we are awakened to taking action in our own lives and the lives of others. My youngest sister was a victim of childhood sexual assault, and it was actually a nightmarish scene from a film that led her to speak up and begin her journey towards healing.

I get confused by the opinion that a film containing a rape as part of a larger story promotes that type of behavior (ie - violence and rape). I've never read/watched a rape scene in a book/movie and felt anything but disgust. To me, it always drives home the point that such violence is soul-numbing and immoral and that we must continue our real-life efforts to eradicate such behavior.

Thanks Southcitymom. I don't post often here, mainly because my opinions are often met with...let's say...less that open arms. But this one got to me and I had to say something.

Your posts on this topic have been well thought out and much appreciated!