LOS GATOS, California, July 2, 2018 (LifeSIteNews) — Some television fans are in an uproar over a pornographic scene involving little girls being made available on Netflix.
At the center of the controversy is an Argentinian film called Desire. Netflix first made the film available in December 2017. It begins with two little girls under ten playing with pillows, a scene that culminates in one child committing an act of self-abuse in front of the other.
“The scene is graphic and includes an orgasm,” reported Megan Fox of PJ Media.
Fox contacted the FBI and the Department of Justice, who advised her to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The organization told her that they had begun an investigation into the film.
The journalist noted that the clip is being shared over Facebook by outraged viewers and cautioned that sharing sexual images of children, as this scene contains, is illegal.
“…[A]nyone sharing it should be aware that it is a crime to circulate child porn, even if you are trying to get help for the child. Any further distribution re-victimizes the child… The only thing the public can do is report it to the authorities.”
According to the US Criminal Code (Section 2256 of Title 18), child pornography is “any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor.”
Diego Kaplan, the director of the film, has attempted to defend the scene by explaining how it was shot.
“Of course this scene was filmed using a trick, which was that the girls were copying a cowboy scene from a film by John Ford,” he told Indywire, a film industry website. “The girls never understood what they were doing, they were just copying what they were seeing on the screen. No adult interacted with the girls, other than the child acting coach. Everything was done under the careful surveillance of the girls’ mothers. Because I knew this scene might cause some controversy at some point, there is 'Making Of' footage of the filming of the entire scene.”
Kaplan redirected the blame to viewers.
“Everything works inside the spectators’ heads, and how you think this scene was filmed will depend on your level of depravity,” he said.
Netflix was the site of another scandal involving child porn, albeit of a cartoon variety, last September. It has also been panned by leaders in the pro-life, pro-family movement for streaming many films and series with “dark, disturbing content.”
For respectful communications, please contact:
Reed Hastings
Chairman, President and CEO,
Netflix
100 Winchester Circle
Los Gatos, CA 95032
Phone: (408) 540-3700
Fax: (408) 540-3737
Twitter:@netflix