May we expect arrests for child pornography?

I’m infuriated to read that 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, star of the recent movie ‘True Grit‘, is to perform a nude love scene in a forthcoming production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The Daily Mail reports:

A copy of the film’s script, written by Julian Fellowes, has revealed the risqué scene.

An excerpt of the provocative script was published in the Britain’s Sunday Times today.

‘They (Romeo and Juliet) start undressing each other – slowly, gently and carefully until they are naked.

‘They are eternal figures in a Raphael painting. Romeo then carries her to bed, kissing her again and again as they explore uncharted territory. Then they make love, transported into each other’s soul,’ it reads.

Fellowes has already defended his decision, saying he wanted to have an age-appropriate actor, just like the Shakespeare originals.

‘I wanted Hailee because she is the perfect age. Juliet is at that stage of… what you might call a child/woman. Just like Hailee herself is,’ he said.

‘My version is a romantic story – one that keeps pretty true to Shakespeare but is, I hope, more accessible.’

There’s more at the link.

For a start, we have a legal age of consent for a reason. In most (allegedly) civilized nations, it’s 16. So tell me . . . why is it permissible for a girl two years younger than that to portray full sexual intercourse, nude, on screen? Why does the very idea not get Mr. Fellowes – or Lord Fellowes, as he’s more correctly styled – arrested for child pornography, incitement to commit a sex crime, and anything else that might be covered by relevant statutes? For that matter, what the hell do Ms. Steinfeld’s parents think they’re doing, allowing their daughter to perform in such a scene? If they allowed her to behave that way with her boyfriend, the law would regard them as accessories (before the fact) to statutory rape!

If Ms. Steinfeld were related to me, and I were anywhere near this aristocratic pedophile, I’d horsewhip him – and I might not stop at a horsewhip, either! I can’t think of enough nasty things that should happen to him. I’d also be making serious inquiries as to whether her parents’ custody of her could be abrogated, and more fitting authority figures and role models found for her.

(Finally, of course, Shakespeare would have ten fits at the thought of his play being desecrated in this way. Most of that would be because of the times in which he lived . . . but there’s something to be said for gentlemanly conduct and attitudes – traits which Lord Fellowes does not appear to have inherited from his forebears.)

Peter