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[Film] Early contender for Lawsuit of the year?



















Normal Rob

Well-known member
Jul 8, 2003
5,795
Somerset
If the nude scenes were filmed, and released, without their consent then of course they have a valid case.

Unless there was some form of gagging clause (please, no, just don't) in the law statute them I'm surprised that they've not raised the issue before now.
 


Official Old Man

Uckfield Seagull
Aug 27, 2011
9,095
Brighton
I was surprised at this. But also that, aged only 15, she was asked to be naked. Different times maybe but 15! Surely it was illegal even back then.
BBC website adds a couple of lines though-
In a 2018 interview with Variety, Hussey defended the nude scene.
"Nobody my age had done that before," she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. "It was needed for the film."
In a separate interview with Fox News, also conducted in 2018, she said the scene was "taboo" in the US, but that nudity was common in European films at the time.
"It wasn't that big of a deal," she said. "And Leonard wasn't shy at all! In the middle of shooting, I just completely forgot I didn't have clothes on."
All's well until someone mentions money.
 




Zeberdi

“Vorsprung durch Technik”
NSC Patron
Oct 20, 2022
6,942
Is there a time limit on reporting abuse?
No - following the Catholic Church abuse scandals, the Statute of Limitations on sexual abuse cases in America was lifted for 3 years to allow claims to be made, from 1 January it was lifted again so expect literally 1,000s of claims to be filed up until 2025 - tbh anyway, so there should NOT be - the law should not expect a naive 15 year old child to take a powerful film directors to court - or even recognise that what they suffered is a violation of their rights and that they had any power to say no.

There is primarily no statute of limitation for sexual assault in the UK (except where it involves consensual sex with a teenager that occurred between 1956-2004 then it is 12 months otherwise it is as amended by the 2004 Sexual offences (against children) Act which strengthened protection for children and for which there is no limitation.
 


beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
36,014
I was surprised at this. But also that, aged only 15, she was asked to be naked. Different times maybe but 15! Surely it was illegal even back then.
BBC website adds a couple of lines though-
In a 2018 interview with Variety, Hussey defended the nude scene.
"Nobody my age had done that before," she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. "It was needed for the film."
In a separate interview with Fox News, also conducted in 2018, she said the scene was "taboo" in the US, but that nudity was common in European films at the time.
"It wasn't that big of a deal," she said. "And Leonard wasn't shy at all! In the middle of shooting, I just completely forgot I didn't have clothes on."
All's well until someone mentions money.
bit awkward for the case, presenting themselves as having suffered decades of trauma from being forced to go naked against their will at last minute.
 


TugWilson

I gotta admit that I`m a little bit confused
Dec 8, 2020
1,721
Dorset
No - following the Catholic Church abuse scandals, the Statute of Limitations on sexual abuse cases in America was lifted for 3 years to allow claims to be made, from 1 January it was lifted again so expect literally 1,000s of claims to be filed up until 2025 - tbh anyway, so there should NOT be - the law should not expect a naive 15 year old child to take a powerful film directors to court - or even recognise that what they suffered is a violation of their rights and that they had any power to say no.

There is primarily no statute of limitation for sexual assault in the UK (except where it involves consensual sex with a teenager that occurred between 1956-2004 then it is 12 months otherwise it is as amended by the 2004 Sexual offences (against children) Act which strengthened protection for children and for which there is no limitation.
For a director to expect a 15 year old girl to appear in ANY state of undress is worrying to say the least , but she certainly didn`t seem naive from the interview comments she made . And while at that age she would not have taken on a court case against such a man , surely with guidance she would of done so in the ensuing 10-20 years , but 55 years ? . Whilst there should never be a limitation on sexual abuse cases , this just smacks of a payday - i refer again to her quotes in her 2018 interviews .
 




Zeberdi

“Vorsprung durch Technik”
NSC Patron
Oct 20, 2022
6,942
For a director to expect a 15 year old girl to appear in ANY state of undress is worrying to say the least , but she certainly didn`t seem naive from the interview comments she made . And while at that age she would not have taken on a court case against such a man , surely with guidance she would of done so in the ensuing 10-20 years , but 55 years ? . Whilst there should never be a limitation on sexual abuse cases , this just smacks of a payday - i refer again to her quotes in her 2018 interviews .
I understand your point but don’t think read my post properly - first of all, I was responding to the specific question of time limits asked by @Rodney Thomas - the Statute of Limitations (requiring cases to be filed within 2 or 3 years of a minor reaching their 18th) has only been lifted recently (and for a limited window), and in fact the SoL have been a bone of contention for many years - that was the point I was responding to - also, I was answering a case in principle that a 15 year old child should not be expected to make a claim against a powerful film maker or even know that she has the power to say ‘no’. That is why it has been argued the SoL should not exist for child abuse cases.

I make no judgment of the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ case - I don’t know the case details, nor have access to the testimonies or what the specific charges are so not in a position to judge either way. However, I do believe that if the Ford-Kavanaugh hearings or the #mettoo movement have shown us anything, it is that someone alleging abuse should be at least heard without being pre-judged by the kangeroo court of social media. 🙂
 




TugWilson

I gotta admit that I`m a little bit confused
Dec 8, 2020
1,721
Dorset
I understand your point but don’t think read my post properly - first of all, I was responding to the specific question of time limits asked by @Rodney Thomas - the Statute of Limitations (requiring cases to be filed within 2 or 3 years of a minor reaching their 18th) has only been lifted recently (and for a limited window), and in fact the SoL have been a bone of contention for many years - that was the point I was responding to - also, I was answering a case in principle that a 15 year old child should not be expected to make a claim against a powerful film maker or even know that she has the power to say ‘no’. That is why it has been argued the SoL should not exist for child abuse cases.

I make no judgment of the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ case - I don’t know the case details, nor have access to the testimonies or what the specific charges are so not in a position to judge either way. However, I do believe that if the Ford-Kavanaugh hearings or the #mettoo movement have shown us anything, it is that someone alleging abuse should be at least heard without being pre-judged by the kangeroo court of social media. 🙂
Totally agree with everything you say , and you are correct i probably did read your post incorrectly , my limited Legal knowledge is severely hampered by the fact i don`t actually have any :) and while as i say i totally agree with you , there should never be any protection removed from sexual abuse victims e.g. SoL i do think this instance is being used solely for monetary gain in an already incredibly litigious society .
 




beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
36,014
I make no judgment of the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ case - I don’t know the case details, nor have access to the testimonies or what the specific charges are so not in a position to judge either way. However, I do believe that if the Ford-Kavanaugh hearings or the #mettoo movement have shown us anything, it is that someone alleging abuse should be at least heard without being pre-judged by the kangeroo court of social media. 🙂
if there was indecency or exploitation the state should have prosecuted at the time. as they didnt, we might conclude no crime deemed to occur, or threshold for law was different in 1960's. as it reads, the claim could remove the word "sexual" and still hold as a civil case, a couple of then teenage stars claiming exploitation suing for damages.
 


GT49er

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 1, 2009
49,181
Gloucester
Money, I suspect. Attitudes were different back then, but even then, filming naked 15 year old girls was at best questionable. In terms of it being abuse though, my first thought is, WTF were their parents doing/thinking? - they would have had to have given consent, at least for the girl who was legally underage.
 


Zeberdi

“Vorsprung durch Technik”
NSC Patron
Oct 20, 2022
6,942
if there was indecency or exploitation the state should have prosecuted at the time. as they didnt, we might conclude no crime deemed to occur
Lol - that’s a circular argument if ever there was one - no prosecution case occurred at the time (because child abuse cases are typically filed retrospectively and the State can’t prosecute if a charge has not been made) therefore no crime was committed - if no crime was committed, therefore no abuse took place.

I’m glad you are not my Lawyer 😉

(ps - just pointing out a fallacious argument being used to argue that a ‘crime was not committed‘ , not making any value judgments on the ‘Romeo & Juliette case)
 
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Swansman

Pro-peace
May 13, 2019
22,320
Sweden
No idea about the laws over there at the time. Here it would have been 100% legal if they were 15+ in the 60s, different times... In the Swedish 60s documentary "Dom kallar oss Mods" (English title "They call us Misfits", though mods is indeed mods as in how it was imported from Britain) there's a sex scene between two of the youngsters... not particularly controversial at the time but impossible today. Another example of how times were different is how child pornography was actually legal in Denmark until the 1990s.

Regardless of the (probably less liberal) laws in the US at the time, I kind of imagine that there's thousands and thousands of old cases popping up now and I imagine these two seconds of boobs/butt in this movie might not get prioritised.
 




MJsGhost

Oooh Matron, I'm an
NSC Patron
Jun 26, 2009
5,023
East
I remember watching this and having a raging hard-on for Juliet, which seems sleazy now I know she was 15.

In my defence, it was c. 1991/2, so I was 13 or 14 at the time - we watched it in an English lesson at school.
 




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