Connoisseurs of depravity were spoiled for choice at this year's Sundance Film Festival, said Kathleen Parker in the Orlando Sentinel. Some sampled the delights of Zoo, an interspecies romance set in an 'œequine brothel.' But the real perverted buzz surrounded Hounddog, in which we get to watch 12-year-old actress Dakota Fanning getting raped. The scene is very 'œtastefully executed,' say critics, consisting only of shots of Fanning's face, but even if it weren't, we old-fashioned prudes know better than to complain. We've made that mistake in the past, only to have it patiently explained to us by sophisticates that lurid topics such as child rape are 'œreal issues that beg honest exploration,' and that a young actress who appears to be 'œacting out a sexual predator's fantasies' is, in fact, bravely 'œpushing the envelope' for the sake of her art.
Just to clear up any confusion, said Chris Vognar in The Dallas Morning News: 'œNo one was raped during the making of the film.' Yes, I know it looks as if someone was, but in reality, Fanning simply lay on the ground, alone, and emoted on the director's cue. Those who claim the scene might have 'œforever damaged' Fanning—the Catholic League wants a federal investigation—should listen to the actress' own words. She says she found it infinitely more difficult to do the scene in which she was covered with real, slithering snakes! Presumably the 'œself-appointed guardians' of her welfare will get to that next. And then perhaps to actual people getting actually raped, said Katherine Monk in the Montreal Gazette. Why don't we see this quantity of 'œink and hot air' lavished on the thousands of girls, Fanning's age and younger, who are sexually abused every day in the real world?
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