MovieChat Forums > Romance (1930) Discussion > We've come a long way

We've come a long way

posted 12 years ago by peridotwolf
1 reply | jump to latest

I just had to make a comment about the 'confession' scene. When Rita tells Tom that when she was sixteen, the man she worked with seduced her (statutory rape)and after twelve hours in her room, he SOLD HER to an English traveler for 50 lire ('white slavery'!!). To which Tom says "I forgive you". Rita then says(unbelievably as it sounds) "Oh can you Tom?"and Tom replies "Why not, it was a long time ago wasn't it?" HE forgives HER?! AAAhhh!! I think my head is going to explode! We sure have come a long way!

[–] gribfritz2 9 years ago

It depends on where and when the film was set. At the time of the film, some states had a legal age of 18 and some (about half) were set at 16, making it NOT a rape of any kind. Since the story goes back even further than 1930, the age of consent could have been even lower than 16, actually.

We HAVE come a long way. Now, if some girl is out acting like a hooker or scantily clad and acts as the "seducer" (which, for all we know is what happened in this story) she would have no blame whatsoever, no matter what.

Even more absurd, if a woman gets drunk and has sex, the man can be charged with rape because the woman is in an altered state and not in control. However, if the man is drunk, it doesn't matter that he himself is in an altered state and not in control. He should be cognizant and aware while the woman doesn't have to be.

Having your cake and eating it too: the feminist double-standard.