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conulySo you know how people are all talking about this movie and the messages, marketing, and/or filming thereof.
Several people known to me have expressed the opinion that showing children, tweens, or teens doing things which adults know look "sexual" is clearly something "designed to appeal to pedophiles".
But what I want to know is - is it? Obviously everybody is different, even people who are sexually attracted to children, but is it the case that people with those desires are, in general, more interested in this sort of scene than pictures of kids acting less overtly "sexual"?
I don't even know how to find this out without ending up on some sort of watch list or, worse, seeing things I actually don't want to see.
Note: this is a separate question from "are those scenes appropriate in this, or any movie" and "whether or not they'd be appropriate in some movies, are they appropriate when acted out by actual children" and anything of that sort. Those are all good questions which people are arguing strenuously over everywhere.
Several people known to me have expressed the opinion that showing children, tweens, or teens doing things which adults know look "sexual" is clearly something "designed to appeal to pedophiles".
But what I want to know is - is it? Obviously everybody is different, even people who are sexually attracted to children, but is it the case that people with those desires are, in general, more interested in this sort of scene than pictures of kids acting less overtly "sexual"?
I don't even know how to find this out without ending up on some sort of watch list or, worse, seeing things I actually don't want to see.
Note: this is a separate question from "are those scenes appropriate in this, or any movie" and "whether or not they'd be appropriate in some movies, are they appropriate when acted out by actual children" and anything of that sort. Those are all good questions which people are arguing strenuously over everywhere.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-14 04:16 pm (UTC)As in, there are actually people saying a 30-year-old dating a 26-year-old is pedophilia. (Including: a 30-year-old fictional character dating a 26-year-old fictional character, indicates that the author is a pedophile.)
And while I see this in fandom because that's where I hang out, I suspect these ideas have spread through a lot of the general population. I don't know if they started in fandom or not; that's just where I see all the worst examples.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-14 04:51 pm (UTC)That is simply *nuts*. Even *if* you accept the idea the idea that too large an age gap (between adults) is wrong, it needs to be *relative*, not absolute.
Three years difference is 16% with an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old. But between 40 and 43 it's only 7.5 percent.
Plus, they are *adults*. If both people are legal adults there *can't* be any "pedo" about it.
Wouldn't work well in fandom, but in groups like those homeschoolers, you can put the cat among the pigeons by pointing out the ages of various old Testament men and their wives.
Come to think of it, in fandom you could have fun with Sarek & Amanda's ages.
And besides the "they're adults" bit, I think that if you need to check ID to see if one of them is too old/young, then you are really reaching.
If one of them might be a minor, yeah then you gotta check ID. But if they are both adults? Gimme a break.
And it couldn't hurt to point out that the "three years" rule was added so that "normal" teen dating behavior wouldn't be classified as statutory rape.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-14 08:56 pm (UTC)Very large age differences between adults can be problematic*, but we generally expect that adults are competent enough to make their own choices, even if they're bad ones.
And 4 years isn't a very large age difference when the younger person is 20 or older.
* Or, rather, they often occur when the whole relationship is shit, and that's part of it but not the reason for it.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-14 09:27 pm (UTC)There's no wave of complaints demanding that high schools prevent freshmen/sophomores from dating juniors/seniors. But there are complaints that fiction should not show a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old dating. (Or worse, an 18-year-old because that is an ADULT taking advantage of a CHILD.) And complaints that adult authors should not write stories about fictional teens in sexual situations.
Regarding Cuties in particular: the discussion is not coming from a place of good-faith assumptions. Yelling about "this movie appeals to pedophiles" entirely ignores that this movie is about an existing industry with these standards.
Are they insisting on dismantling the 10-13 year old dancing/acting/modeling industries? Are they saying pre-teens should not have access to mainstream social media accounts? If not, they can STFU. The movie is not the problem. The movie is highlighting (some of) the problems, and people are yelling because they're uncomfortable knowing these trends exist.
It's worth discussion how media portrays kids; whether our culture pushes kids into adulthood, or some aspects of adulthood, too quickly; how best to deal with adolescent sexuality. But I've found that people complaining about how movies depict those things are rarely interested in those discussions; they mostly want to avoid the subjects entirely.
Side note: they rarely complain about exposing kids to adult levels of violence; it's only sexuality that kids are supposed to avoid/be protected from.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-15 05:07 am (UTC)While our culture ('our' meaning US/UK, bleeding into Australia) aggressively infantilizes children with regard to being able to go for a walk or play in the park. And that's a fairly recent development.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-15 01:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-14 11:28 pm (UTC)