Have to be naked for the movie to go well? Underage sexual exploitation wrapped in the name of art
Young new actors are often subject to exploitation in the film industry. They use artistry as an excuse and ignore the victims’ emotions.
Victims of underage sexual exploitation in the movie industry are always minors and newcomers. Those with a low social position cannot voice out their rejection even if the situation gets overbearing. They have to take it off and film the scene they are demanded to do without any time to feel unfair. Sex or rape scenes end up as sexual harassment under the guise of art.
Recently, Olivia Hussey (playing Juliet) and Leonard Whiting (playing Romeo) in “Romeo and Juliet” sued the production company Paramount for more than $500 million. The two stars explained they were sexually harassed and exploited by the movie when they were still minors.
In “Romeo and Juliet,” there is a bedroom scene where Olivia Hussey’s bare breast and Leonard Whiting’s bare buttocks are briefly shown. Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were 15 and 16 at the time.
Olivia Hussey reportedly went through worse damages. In the 1970s, when people were more conservative, she had to wear a costume that revealed half of her chest, and she was reportedly sexually harassed a lot by directors and staff.
Director Franco Zeffirelli told the two before the shoot that they would only need to wear skin-colored underwear, but the actual shooting went differently as the actors were only notified of the nude shooting on the day of the shoot. The production team said they would adjust the camera angle so that their naked bodies wouldn’t be exposed, but the actors’ bodies were blatantly shown in the movie.
Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting’s side revealed that the director told them they must act in the nude “or the Picture would fail” and their careers would be hurt, adding, “the actors believed they had no choice but to act in the nude in body makeup as demanded.” The pair said they suffered decades of mental distress due to this.
The rape scene in the movie “Last Tango in Paris” was filmed after being discussed between director Bernardo Bertolucci and the male lead Marlon Brando without the knowledge of actress Maria Schneider. Maria Schneider was 19 years old at the time.
Maria Schneider shocked the public by revealing this fact in 2007. Maria Schneider said, “It was a non-consensual scene. I was 19 at that time. I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set, but I didn’t know that. I felt a little raped in that scene.”
Maria Schneider added, “I’ll never forgive the director until I die.” Maria Schneider’s life was ruined after that film. She became addicted to drugs and died after making several extreme choices.
There are also directors in Korea who sexually exploited teenage actors. Actress Lee Sang Ah also went naked at the request of Im Kwon Taek in the 1985 film “Gilsoddeum” directed by Im Kwon Taek. Lee Sang Ah was only 15 years old. Lee Sang Ah revealed, “I said I couldn’t do it, but director Im Kwon Taek told me, ‘Do you have a lot of money? If you have a lot of money, you can go home after paying for the film you made up to this point.'”
Actress Lee Hyo Jung (as Chunhyang) in another film directed by Im Kwon Taek, “Chunhyang”, also suffered damage from excessive exposure and sex scenes at the age of 17. Lee Hyo Jung debuted with “Chunhyang” but retired because of this work.
In 2017, an actress reported sexual violence in the film industry. She said that there was no prior agreement on the level of acting, and sexual harassment was common.
Regardless of whether it is domestic or international, exposure scenes are made only from the male gaze. The focus is on women who are sexually abused. Rape is staged as if it were sexual intercourse. More and more people edit only sexual assault scenes in movies and consume them like pornography.
Léa Seydoux, who fell victim to “real sex scenes”, complained, “It was a miserable experience. It was close to psychological torture and it was terrible.” In Léa Seydoux’s movie “Blue Is the Warmest Colour”, the sex scene alone lasts more than 10 minutes.
How can exposure caused by coercion and silent violence become art and masterpieces? It is exaggerated as art, but it is exploitation and consumption in the end.
Source: daum
