Priorities

It's all over the blah-blah-blogosphere! One of the "controversial" Sundance entries is Hounddog, a Southern gothic starring Dakota Fanning. Per Wikipedia:

Taking place in the 1960s American South (the film is being shot in North Carolina), Fanning plays Lewellen. a troubled 12-year old girl who finds solace from an abusive life through blues music. This music is delicately woven throughout the film to create a colorful tapestry of a melancholy life that finds release and healing through the music of Elvis Presley, whose character appears in the movie, albeit briefly, and the singing of the blues.

Many people are declaring the film "controversial" because Fanning's character is raped by the milkman in one scene, although

only Fanning's face, neck, shoulders, hand and foot appear onscreen. Much of the rape is depicted in darkness with flashes of lightning and the sound of Lewellen [Fanning's character] screaming "stop it, stop it." [Source: CNN.com]

Some God-fearing Americans have banded together to petition that Ms. Fanning's mother and agent be prosecuted under child pornography laws. Even the president of the Catholic League, William Donahue, is calling for a federal investigation of the movie to determine if federal child pornography laws were violated during filming!

Hey Mr. Donahue: Maybe you could call for an investigation into the thousands of children who have been raped by your fellow clergymen before attacking a film you haven't seen that purportedly depicts a young girl's triumph over a really shitty upbringing? But that's what so many Christians excel at: tearing their hair out over a symbol that affects them not one fucking bit while ignoring, enabling, and perpetrating the actual suffering of innumerable others.

In addition: Watch the video on CNN.com about the CONTROVERSY! When William Donahue appears (looking like Karl Rove's twin)notice in particular how he expounds on the PORNOGRAPHIC nature of the scene he has never seen! Wow, Bill, I didn't know you found the rape of 12 year old girls so clearly AROUSING. In my universe, the rape of a 12 year old girl is a horrifying crime, not an "instruction manual" for other repressed middle age pervs to get off. No wonder you have no interest in investigating your own criminal church, because I suspect it might be a little too close to home.