Often, in discussions about old movies, someone will say, “That movie couldn’t be made today.”, and inevitably someone else will disagree.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    42·
    6 days ago

    Set in 1917, it focuses on a 12-year-old girl being raised in a brothel in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, by her prostitute mother. Barbara Steele, Diana Scarwid, and Antonio Fargas appear in supporting roles. The film is based on the true account of a young girl who was sexually exploited by being groomed to engage in prostitution as a child, a theme that was recounted in historian Al Rose’s 1974 book Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Baby_(1978_film)

    They could absolutely make that today, especially if casting an 18+ actor to play the lead…

    Like, who do you imagine stopping that unless you think it would require graphic and illegal material?

      • A_cook_not_a_chef@lemmy.world
        3·
        6 days ago

        I haven’t seen this movie, but are the required changes casting an adult for nudity in the film? Was that not a thing in the 70s?

          • A_cook_not_a_chef@lemmy.world
            3·
            6 days ago

            I still don’t understand. I saw the wiki linked earlier as well. Is the claim that a film about a child being sexually abused cannot be made today? Because I don’t think that is the case.

            Or is it because there would probably be an actor that is 18 cast? I don’t see that being a different film. If you want to argue that casting a 16 year old or an 18 year old changes the film, then you could say that not casting Brooke Shields changes the film. It seems like a ship of theseus argument at that point.

            If your argument is something else, I’m interested to hear. I had never heard of this film before and have not seen it, so I could very well be missing something.

            • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexusEnglish
              7·
              6 days ago

              My 2 cents: She was 11 when the movie was shot - it’s one thing to replace a 16 year old with a 18 year old actor, even with a similar story, but there is not one 18 (or even 16) year old you could put into that role and say it’s still the same movie. The psychological impact of being confronted with literally a child’s body in this context is not comparable in my opinion.

              • A_cook_not_a_chef@lemmy.world
                2·
                6 days ago

                Yeah that makes perfect sense. Having not seen the movie, I don’t know the weight of that but can imagine.

                I was trying to understand and linking the Wikipedia page wasn’t really explaining it.

            • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
              4·
              6 days ago

              Pretty Baby, the movie made in 1978, could not be made today. If all of those people could be transported forward in time, including 11-year-old Brooke Shields, they would not be allowed to make that movie and distribute it. Yes, could be made now with an 18-year-old actress, as it could have been then, but that’s not what was made, so that movie could not be made now, as it was made then. That’s the whole point of the question. So that exact movie couldn’t be made now.

              • A_cook_not_a_chef@lemmy.world
                2·
                6 days ago

                Ahh got it. Yeah, that makes sense in that we wouldn’t allow a child to do something sexually in a movie.

                Again I have not seen the movie and glancing at the wiki didn’t make me immediately think there is no way to make this movie in the current times.

            • Davel23@fedia.io
              4·
              6 days ago

              The question is not whether a similar movie could be made, it’s if the movie itself, as it exists currently could be made. And Pretty Baby absolutely could not.

        • Treczoks@lemmy.world
          2·
          6 days ago

          Nope. See also: Romeo and Juliet from 1968. While it is probably the best adaption of the story ever, underage actors and nudity is somehow frowned on today.