Dakota Fanning in the controversial "Hounddog" film that features a child-rape scene

An investigation is being sought into how and why taxpayers in North Carolina paid $387,000 to producers of "Hounddog," the controversial Dakota Fanning movie that has been described as depicting "simulated pedophilia."

"We request that the North Carolina General Assembly appoint an independent investigation: Determine why the North Carolina Film Office approved the making of the film 'Hounddog' and whether North Carolina law officials were consulted," said a statement from the North Carolina chapter of Concerned Women for America, the nation's largest public policy women's organization.

Also, "Provide information from the North Carolina Department of Commerce (which oversees the North Carolina Film office) as to how three movies ('Hounddog,' 'Bastard Out of Carolina,' and 'Lolita') were filmed in North Carolina dealing with the subject of adults having sexual encounters with minors. 'Hounddog' was so controversial that it did not receive distributorship until recently," the group said.

(Story continues below)

"Our concern was that this film would say to other children that this behavior is acceptable," spokeswoman Donna Miller told WND today.

"As taxpayers here in North Carolina, we're not happy about this," she said.

Her request is being delivered to the state Assembly as members approach the end of their 2008 session, but, "we wanted to get the information to lawmakers before they left town."

She said state documentation reveals that taxpayers gave $387,000 to the filmmakers for doing their work in North Carolina.

State documentation revealing taxpayers' funding of $387,000 for the movie "Hounddog," which depicts a child rape scene

The independent movie is scheduled to open in coming weeks in theaters across the country. It's the story of a 9-year-old girl, played by Fanning, 12 at the time, who is lured into a sexual situation with the promise of Elvis concert tickets.

It triggered a furor at the Sundance Festival in 2007 because of the scene depicting a rape of Fanning, a scenario described by Moveiguide's Ted Baehr as "simulated pedophilia."

Others who have raised objections to the movie have included, according to Miller, radio and TV host Sean Hannity, Judicial Watch founder Larry Klayman and the Catholic League's Bill Donohue.

Concerned Women for America said, "Both the North Carolina Film Office and the Department of Commerce are North Carolina tax-funded offices, and, as North Carolina citizens, we oppose the use of any tax dollars that are spent on endeavors that at best can be described as the sexualization of children and at worst the normalization of sexual relations between children and adults. North Carolina citizens do not want their film legacy to be represented by films such as 'Hounddog.'"

According to the movie's promoters, the scene "involves a boy in his late teens who lures Fanning's character to an abandoned shack with promises of Elvis Presley tickets."

WND broke the story about the controversial movie when there were objections even while it was being made.

Writer-director Deborah Kampmeier already had a reputation for controversial scenes, depicting a young girl who is raped but doesn't remember the attack and believes she is carrying the Christ child in her earlier work, "Virgin."

Although there was little interest in the distribution of "Hounddog" initially, it eventually was picked up by Empire Film Group. Spokesman Dean Hamilton-Bornstein called it a "coming-of-age drama that deals with serious issues that should resonate with audiences."

Fanning, the star of "Charlotte's Web" and other movies, previously described her portrayal of the young girl who is raped as "acting."

But adults were outraged.

Baehr and Klayman asked then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prosecute the makers of the movie under the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988, the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 and the PROTECT Act of 2003.

"The law is very clear," Baehr told WND at the time. "This one is pushing the envelope in the wrong direction."

"Filmmakers need to get the message that this society will not tolerate visual depictions of any kind that depict a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct," said Baehr.

After its Sundance screening, Rex Gore, the district attorney in Bolivia, N.C., near where much of the movie was filmed, issued a statement to WND that he found "no violation" of the state's obscenity or sexual exploitation laws.

He said the movie was saved by its "artistic value."

"I am aware that there is an outcry from some who find the content of the film disturbing and distasteful. However, public opinion is not the test we must apply as prosecutors; we must apply the law. North Carolina's child exploitation statutes do not apply because none of the acts depicted in the film meet the legal definition of 'sexual activity' under our current law," Gore said.

Dakota Fanning appearing in "Charlotte's Web"

Carla Roberts, who runs the Yahweh Center Children's Village for abused or neglected children in Wilmington, N.C., near where the filming took place, told WND at the time she would have to wonder about the adults responsible for putting a child in such a position.

She also is concerned by the ramifications for the child to whom that would be done.

The "Hounddog" script reveals the Fanning character's clothes dropping to the floor before she sings and an assailant unzipping his jeans.

World Entertainment News Network was one of the first to comment on the scene, calling it a shocker for Fanning's fans.

"She has shot child rape scenes and appears semi-naked," the network said.

Fanning's behavior has been described as more explicit than what was required of Jodie Foster, who as a 12-year-old played a prostitute in "Taxi Driver," a 1976 Martin Scorsese production, or Brooke Shields, who was a New Orleans brothel worker in the "Pretty Baby" movie from 1978.

---

Related special offers:

Faith and Hollywood: Do they mix?

Is Hollywood in your hamper, too?

Get Ted Baehr's "MOVIEGUIDE" for a complete Christian guide to movies for you and your family.

"The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom"

 

---

Previous stories:

Dakota Fanning 'rape' scheduled for opening

Push for prosecution in Fanning rape movie

Prosecutor: Fanning stayed within law

12-year-old called 'seductive' in movie 'rape'

Dakota Fanning 'raped' in new film

Movie raters: Christian themes won't be factor

Family movies best, Hollywood realizes

Does 'PG' rating mean 'pro-God'?