Paramount Vantage is delaying the release of Marc Forster’s new film The Kite Runner until Dec. 14 out of fear that a scene involving the rape of an Afghan boy could put the safety of the movie’s child actors at risk. One star and his father said Paramount didn't tell them the film would deal with taboo subjects. The studio said the angry feedback took it by surprise, and offered to pay for some of the stars to leave Afghanistan, where the movie was filmed, to avoid danger.
There’s no way Paramount could have imagined this controversy, said the Indiana University Statesman in an editorial, and they deserve praise for being socially responsible. “The costs they are encountering would have been viewed as prohibitive if realized at the outset.” But now they’ve decided to “pay for the children’s education” and “help their guardians find jobs”—it’s admirable that Paramount is “doing the right thing and protecting the children who made the movie possible.”
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