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PARK CITY, Utah -- The harsh complaints over Dakota Fanning's drama Hounddog may have caused her more distress than the rape scene that triggered the uproar.
A day after the film's debut at the Sundance Film Festival here, the controversy was beginning to calm as many of the worst fears about the movie were proved wrong.
But Fanning, co-star Robin Wright Penn and writer/director Deborah Kampmeier were still noticeably on edge Tuesday, acknowledging that months of criticism by people who had not seen the film has made defensiveness their default position.
Some who bashed the film's concept "were attacking my family and me, and that's where it got too far," says Fanning, 12, jabbing her finger into a table at a restaurant. "Pretty much everybody who talked about it attacked my mother, which I did not appreciate. That was extremely uncalled for and hurtful."
Fanning's father was with her at the festival, but her mother was not. Neither parent spoke to the media.
Hounddog is about a blues-loving little girl in 1950s Alabama who finds happiness in music despite a life of poverty and abuse.
The scene in question involves a boy in his late teens who lures Fanning's character to an abandoned shack with promises of Elvis Presley tickets. The scene lasts less than a minute, and no simulation of a sex act is depicted on camera. The viewer sees flashes of Dakota's face, hand and foot as she falls, but the camera looks away as she begins to cry. No nudity is shown, though all involved in the movie agree it is a disturbing sequence.
Fanning, however, said the scene was not disturbing to shoot. She filmed the close-ups of her face alone, with the direction: Hold your breath, wait, now gasp.
Wright Penn said: "It's uncomfortable to see a real 12-year-old portray that truth, but everybody needs to allow it. I'm not saying accept it, but stop trying to censor it."
Some religious groups protested that having such a young actress in a rape scene was criminal, but that complaint has not gained traction with any law enforcement agency.
Although reaction to the film was mixed, in terms of quality, few who saw it considered it harmful.
Fanning said that even if she hadn't been in the movie, she would want to see it. And Kampmeier said two mothers approached her after the screening to say they planned to bring their 13-year-old daughters when it is shown in wider release. So far, the film has not been purchased for distribution.
"I know my mom would take me to see it," said Fanning, who turns 13 in February. "You have to prepare your children for things that happen in the world. Everything isn't rosy."
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