In the First Babe Thread over in the VR, a discussion began to develop about the film "Leon" and its alleged pedophile-friendly content. Here's a brief run-down of the conversation, which centers around Natalie Portman's character's relationship with Leon: Agent Monkey : Yes, and in "The Professional", she was 12 during filming.
Catfish : Err Paedophilia is perhaps a rather strong term for that. Particularly given that it's about Mathilda's feelings for Leon, rather than the other way round. That doesn't fly with me. I could just as accurately suggest that your insistence that the film panders to the lusts of pedophiles marks you out as someone who secretly has such feelings but is guilty about it, and it would be an equally stupid assertion.
The fact remains that Leon has zero sexual attraction towards Mathilda, who is herself on the brink of puberty where it's perfectly natural for a girl to have a crush on an older man. In so many ways Leon is actually less mature than Mathilda anyway. And yes, the directors cut is the better film imo and it's now available in the US on DVD if anyone's interested.
I guess you can make as many ludicrous assumptions about my sexual urges as you like, based on that. For me Matilda's sexuality is a key part of it. As has been said, Leon does not reciprocate in any way imo because he is sexually less mature than she, despite his far greater age , so the film is hardly saying, "Yay, kiddie sex is just fine! For some people to shout "pedophilia," and worse, question the sexual motives of people who accept the sexuality of the characters as important to the film, and basically imply that they are potential or actual pedophiles is utterly ridiculous, imo, not to mention stupidly presumptuous.
And then there's the basic contention that "Leon" is "pedophile material," with all the implications that go along with it. Are we to judge all art and castigate that which might appeal to people with such interests? In which case, how do we separate art containing child subjects into pedophile. I don't think that's possible, personally. For all I know there are sweaty, year-olds out there jacking off to "The Goonies.
