A file photo of actress Dakota Fanning in Burbank, California (September 22, 2005). Photo Credit: REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLondon, Jan 25: 12-year old child star Dakota Fanning’s “rape” scene in her new film Hounddog has caused an uproar, with religious groups calling for people to boycott the film.
The call came shortly after the film was premiered in Sundance Film Festival-Utah on 22 January 2006, with groups maintaining that the appearance of Fanning in such a scene is child abuse.
”Even if they're not actually performing the explicit act, we are dealing with a legal issue here," The BBC quoted Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, as saying.
Baehr also disagreed with Fanning’s claim that she knew what she was taking on, and insisted that kids at 12 do not have the ability to take decisions on subjects such as this.
"Children at 12 do not have the ability to make the types of decisions that we're talking about here,” he said
He added that if a comedian’s racial slur can cause so much disagreement, then people ought to express their resentment, when someone takes advantage of a 12 year old child.
”If we're offended by some comedian's racial slur, why aren't we offended by somebody taking advantage of a 12-year-old child," he said.
However, the film’s director Deborah Kampmeier has defended her film and said that issues such as child abuse have to be highlighted, for there are many silently suffering the agony portrayed in the film.
"This issue is so silenced in our society. There are a lot of women who are alone with this story," she said.
Meanwhile, Fanning, who starred earlier in films like War of the worlds and I am Sam, tried to tone down the controversy after the film’s premiere and said that element of rape is not the sole point of the film.
"It's not a rape movie. That's not even the point of the film,” she said.
During the rape scene, only Fanning's face, neck, shoulders, hand and foot are shown on screen. Much of the scene takes place in darkness, with the sound of Fanning's screams background.
The young actress said that she and writer-director Kampmeier talked about the story for months before the film was made and that she did not think about the scene after it was shot.
"It's not really happening, It's a movie, and it's called acting. I'm not going through anything. And for me, when it's done it's done. I don't even think about it any more," she said.
The director took almost a decade to complete the film that narrates the story of a 12- year old girl brought up by her abusive father and alcoholic grandmother in America’s south region.
She takes comfort in blues music and sets out to buy tickets for an Elvis Presley concert but is raped by a teenage boy (ANI)
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As people begin to actually see this movie, those who chose to condemn the makers of Hounddog before seeing it for themselves and getting all the facts straight are being shown for the idiots they truly are, many continuing to live in denial of the facts.
Sean Hannity is perhaps the best example, as last Monday he interviewed someone who saw the movie at its premiere at Sundance. I forget the lady's name, but I believe she was introduced as a conservative District Attorney and a child advocate for 30 years, so Hannity was a bit surprised when she revealed that all the negative claims about Dakota's infamous rape scene simply aren't true. According to her, all we see is Dakota from her shoulders on up and the guy's arm. There is no touching, and the rape is actually achieved through editing tricks, and not on the set as some have claimed. She explained that it occurs more in the viewer's mind than in the movie.
But Hannity was not satisfied, claiming that what she saw was a "sanitized" version, and that he wanted to see everything that was left on the cutting room floor. Um, right, Sean. You haven't seen the movie, you weren't involved in the editing process, you weren't involved in the production whatsoever, yet you somehow know what "really" went on. What a jackass.
But probably the most disturbing evidence of these people's dangerous mindset is what Catholic League president Bill Donohue, who i s pushing for a federal investigation of the film to see if child pornography laws were being violated during shooting, said on CNN last Monday. He said that if this was not Dakota, but some unknown 12-year old actress who was involved in a rape scene, he wouldn't even bother with it. Unbelievable.
Obviously, this is all about exploiting Dakota's popularity and success to push their agenda, and has nothing whatsoever to do with a 12-year old being raped onscreen.
Finally, as reported by the Associated Press: Dakota herself sums it all up for us.
"It's not really happening," Fanning said of the rape. "It's a movie, and it's called acting."
Daemon Box, 25 Jan 2007