Sex offenders targeting children: a documentary look at Hollywood
Filmmakers in Los Angeles have examined virtually every conceivable subject under the sun over the years, with no topic seemingly being taboo.
And now the focus has in a very literal sense turned in on Hollywood and the movie industry itself, and in a manner that is anything but salutary or self-congratulatory.
The subject matter of a documentary film’s lens is the flatly sordid topic of pedophiles who prey on children in the motion picture industry. The film, entitled “An Open Secret,” makes myriad damaging claims, with its producer stating that his group of researchers and related professionals felt “absolutely compelled” to document and publicly reveal what they view as a fundamental and horrific problem in the entertainment industry.
Getting “the pedophiles off sets” is an imperative, says producer Gabe Hoffman, who states that the degree to which child sexual abuse routinely occurs on film sets “is truly astonishing.”
Moreover, charges Hoffman, the problem is firmly on Hollywood’s radar. His film, as noted in a recent media expose, “names many figures in the entertainment industry who have admitted or been convicted of sexual abuse of children.”
And that, the film conveys, is scandalous. Hoffman and his filmmaking team see the problem as multilayered. In the first instance, of course, there is the horror of children being molested by adults in the industry, with some of those perpetrators being trusted and in positions of authority. Second, the documentary points out, the industry is lax in identifying and keeping pedophiles away from children. Instead, it often empowers them to commit further transgressions by simply doing nothing to stop them.
Hoffman notes that, unsurprisingly, his film has been icily received in the industry, with studios refusing to become involved in its production or distribution.
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