'Hounddog' Opponents Crying Foul Over Dakota Fanning Rape Scene
Monday, March 19, 2007
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The film "Hounddog" hasn't found a distributor yet, but it's already developed an audience eager to bury it before it sees the light of day.
Deborah Kampmeier's independent movie about a young Southern girl who uses the music of Elvis Presley to escape a life of sexual abuse has drawn fire for putting its underage star, Dakota Fanning, in situations that many call unconscionable.
At the heart of the controversy is the depiction of the rape of the central character, Lewellen, by a young man who lures her with the promise of Elvis Presley concert tickets.
FOXNews.com columnist Roger Friedman, who screened the movie in January at the Sundance Film Festival, said that although nothing graphic is shown in the scene, it is "disturbing."
Debate Over Child Actors and Sexuality Is Decades Old
Robin Wright Penn and Dakota Fanning in 'Hounddog.'
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Dakota's publicist, Cindy Brinkman, did not reply to requests for an interview.
Dakota said in an interview last year with the Web site Cinematic Happenings Under Development that the film was no more taxing than her role in the horror film "Hide and Seek."
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It's not the first time that an underage child star has appeared in an adult role. Beginning with Sue Lyon's turn as a teenage sexpot in Stanley Kubrick's interpretation of Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita," Hollywood directors have been embroiled in controversy for putting young actresses in compromising roles.
But at least one law expert says it's unlikely that Kampmeier will face federal child pornography charges.
"These people who are threatening to try and bring it under child pornography, that's not what child pornography statues are aimed at — the concept of it," said T. Barton Carter, professor of communication and law at Boston University, who notes the First Amendment applies to movies too.
"This is the same as, about six or seven years ago, somebody tried to apply those statutes to 'The Tin Drum' without success," he continued. "Obviously you could argue that then you could use it on a 'Lolita.' This is simply not what the statute was designed to prevent."
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Berger's hope is to protect his state's reputation in the film world and beyond.
"We create potentials for embarrassment on the part of the state of North Carolina, and I think that’s the last thing we want to do if we’re trying to grow the film industry," he said. "We certainly want to grow quality projects, and projects that the people of the state can be proud of if the state is investing money in them."