rape Tagged Articles at Cinematical

So here's the $64,000 question: Are rape jokes funny? Jody Hill's Observe and Report has just gotten its first dose of bad publicity (not counting the Paul Blart: Mall Cop connection) thanks to a post in the NY Magazine's Vulture blog. They've posed the question: "Does Seth Rogen Rape Anna Faris in Observe and Report?" ... and, as you can imagine, this has sparked a debate among feminists and film critics alike.

Now if you've seen the Red-Band trailer for the comedy about a Travis Bickle-style security guard, you probably know what scene has caught the eye of critics. If not, here's a quick description: After a night of drinking and drugging, Rogen escorts a half-unconscious Faris (Brandi) to his home and the trailer later cuts to a scene in which Rogen is having sex with the incapacitated Brandi. Nice. When he hesitates, however, we hear a slurred voice pipe up with "Why are you stopping, motherf*****?" Guilt assuaged, right? I mean he's not raping her -- she's totally into it ... right? Well, I'll leave my opinion for a little later, but it seems like the answer at large has been a big fat whopping 'No'.

Over at Jezebel, fans have decided that Rogen and Hill have just gone too far, and that this is another in a long line of examples of the anti-woman stance today's successful comedies seem to be taking. But go for a stroll over past the New York Times and in their review of the scene, they acknowledge the rape, but also go on to say, "Before the scene is over she indicates that she had given her consent." Now Farris and Rogen have also participated in a little damage control regarding the scene in question, but unfortunately most of their answers have only managed to make it worse for those offended.

If you've turned on the television at all this week, you're probably aware that there's a film at Sundance called Hounddog, in which there's a rape scene featuring 12-year-old Dakota Fanning. There's been a lot of talk about the rape scene in theory, but most of it has come from people who haven't, and may never, see the film. After being shut out of the film's sole Sundance press screening, I swung by a public screening of the film, to find out what ticket buyers had to say after seeing it for themselves.

Oh, it's officially on -- as if folks weren't all up in arms prior to Hounddog's screening at Sundance, now there's a petition circulating online attempting to not only block the film's release, but also asking law enforcement to arrest Dakota Fanning's mother (Joy) and agent (Cindy Osbrink). Should you be interested in signing such a petition, here's a little taste of what you'd be agreeing with: "They both are responsible, and if so they should be arrested and the film destroyed so the public doesn't witness this atrocity all in the name of an Oscar, whose name will be tarnished in the process."

Yes, apparently, the people behind this petition also feel like the only reason Dakota decided to take on the role was so she would be nominated for an Oscar. But let's back up for a minute -- is this sexually explicit rape scene featuring a 12-year-old actress against the law? Is it really kiddie porn? Slate looked into the actual law which states that things only get messy if the viewer is somehow convinced by what they see on the screen that Dakota Fanning had actual, real-life intercourse on set which, as most of us already know, rarely ever happens in a film featuring adults, let alone children. Says writer-director Deborah Kampmeier: "... you have a child yelling 'Stop it!' and only when you put that next to an image of a boy unzipping his pants do you see that it's rape."

Kevin and Kim both seemed to feel the same way about the rape scene -- that it wasn't nearly as bad as watching Fanning prance around in a "skimpy undershirt and panties, writing and wriggling her hips and fanny seductively as she imitates Elvis Presley's dancing style." But this is her Jodie Foster moment. This role shall define Dakota's transition from cute and cuddly to serious and thought-provoking. This is what the movies are all about -- consistently pushing the barrier and experiencing uncomfortable images all for the sake of pure entertainment and, perhaps, everyone will learn something in the process. Right?