It is something I struggle with, as far as one should be able to separate the two
I have no question at all about it in this case. The man is an artist who used
his medium to create something hurtful, painful and
illegal on top of it all. He abused a child that he obtained access to on his set and then filmed what he did to that child (again by misusing his own medium to create "works of art") thereby creating a permanent record of one of the most damaging experiences a child can go through. He is a sick and dangerous monster who should never have access to either film or children again.
In this case, for me at least, there is no gray area and there will never be anything he creates that I personally will watch. If for no other reason than because he crossed a line that, again, is something I view without questions of any kind insofar as this incident is concerned.
I agree that I won't say anything about anyone else's choices regarding their personal responses. But to me he is a monster and a criminal and if someone wants to help me build a Wooden Man in his image you can bet I will bloody well light the match and watch it go up in flames. Hell, I'd go so far as to take everything he's
ever filmed (every canister, master copy, DVD video, VHS, 8mm and whatever other form it may be in) pile it up on his front lawn and burn them all down to ash.... or take a pound of C-4 and blow a hole so big the Earth underneath it would be blown into dust right along with the rest of it, just to keep anyone from being to watch any of it ever again!
This is not a question for me. This is not something I'm "on the fence" in regard to. He should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, labeled a child molester, serve his time and
if he comes out of prison alive, should be required to register in every neighborhood he ever lives in so people will be warned they have a predator in their midst. It is no wonder to me that his "Jeepers Creepers" monster is so terrifying.... it's because that is what he looks like on the inside!
So thanks for the update guys. If I sound like a Norwegian woman gone mad it's because that's what situations like this do to me. I worked in the teaching profession for years and spent 2 of them working with a little girl whose father had been molesting her since she was four. Because she had to wait until she was older to be a "credible witness" on the stand, she didn't get to court until she was in 5th grade and by that time the emotional and psychological damage that had been done to her was virtually ingrained in her psyche. I'm not sure how or if she will ever recover. I just know that she struggled every day in class trying to get along with her fellow students and trying to behave "normally" in a world that would probably never be normal for her ever again. She and I worked out a couple of strategies that helped take the pressure off in the classroom and I think we had some small successes because when she saw me again, years later, in middle school she launched herself across the office like a rocket to throw herself into my arms like I was the only safe harbor in the room. When I look back on it, she was one of my greatest loves and working with her cemented in me the fact that I was needed in the classroom and that my view on teaching being a "calling" for me was more true than almost any other "truth" I have know in my life. But for what happened to her and for what happens to every child who is molested, I will never back down or question my stance for as long as I live. I've seen the aftermath, lived with the consequences and find there is no penalty too strong or too severe to make up for what these kids have suffered through.
So no more VS for me.... ever. Close the book. Notarize the contract and file it under "done".
And for every child who has been hurt like this.....
and a line of puppies and kitties to hug and play with when it gets dark & hard.....
and also, "teddy bears with attitude" to protect them from the monsters......
