Hounddog (2007) - Ethics Case Study

'Hounddog' is a 2007 drama film directed by Deborah Kampmeier. It takes place in the early 60s rural Alabama and is about a troubled 12-year-old girl who finds solace from her abusive life in the music of Elvis Presley. The film was heavily criticised due to such a young actress taking place in a particularly contraversial scene in which the child protagonist is raped by a much older man. Although the scene was not imparticilarly graphic or long, it was said to be deeply disturbing by many viewers. The movie was panned by critics due to it's supposed exploitative nature which caused a lack of reception at the box office and the whole film being a financial failure as a whole.

Dakota Flanning in 'Hounddog'

At it's premier at the Sundance Film Fesitival, 'Hounddog' became known as the "Dakota Fanning rape movie", the actress herself becoming frustrated at people's fixation on the one scene and not the performance of her and the rest of the cast and crew as a whole. At the time Dakopta Flanning who played the central character received many attacks towards her agent and her family, many directed at her mother saying that she is 'exploiting' her child. At the time, she defended her work and the film overall saying “It’s not really happening, It’s a movie, and it’s called acting. I’m not going through anything, the characters are".

It took director Deborah Kampeier over decade to get her script for 'Hounddog' into production, largely due to the rape scene that was predicted to cause a stir. However, the scene was something she was not willing to cut out for her intention for the film was to raise awareness about an issue that effects a lot of people, not to exploit young people in a sexual manner as she was being accused of by many critics. “This issue is so silenced in our society. There are a lot of women who are alone with this story,” she said in response to the film's critisism. Perhaps Kampeier was successful in raising rape as a serious issue by portraying it in a way that couldn't be ignored, however it also raised moral questions about whether using a young actress in such a role helps to convey the issue realistically or if it just further enforces it as an problem in the media industry.

The film was accused of violating child porn laws by regulatory bodies, the US laws on child pornography covering works that have minors 'appearing' to be involved in sexually activity, even if they are not actually performing the explicit act. Many people had the opinion that Flanning was exploited by her family and the producers in the production of the film despite the fact of her voicing that this definitely wasn't the case at all. A large amount of people called for the film to be banned, but despite the illegal accusations made against it, it is still available today, uncut.

One can't deny that in the film business there is definatly an an ongoing issue of actors, particularly young female actresses, being exploited in the manner that 'Hounddog' is accused of doing. However, from doing research into the circumstances of the film's production and by looking at statements from the cast and the director, I think the issue at hand is that while people were criticising rape of a young girl in a piece of fiction, they didn't realise that the film was trying to convey the message that this treatment takes place of young people in real life and that it's something that should be talked about more instead of being silenced.

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