MovieChat Forums > Smart People (2008) Discussion > Pedophilia and Ellen Page's characters

Pedophilia and Ellen Page's characters

posted 16 years ago by laine_little2004
78 replies | jump to latest

I think Ellen Page is a wonderful actress, and I really enjoyed both "Juno" and "Smart People." However, I'm concerned about this trend I'm noticing in both of these movies. I haven't seen her other films, so I don't know if it just occurs in these two, or others. But it seems like her character is always preyed on by older men. Why is pedophilia (the attraction of older people to younger underage people) something that totally has no consequence in both of these movies?

In "Juno" the husband was divorcing his wife so he could live with Juno, who was a minor. All that happened to him was he went through with the divorce. And Juno was warned by her step-mother not to step on boundaries between married people. Why was it Juno's responsibility? Wasn't it also the husband's?

In "Smart People" the adopted uncle coerced her into smoking pot and getting drunk and when she kissed him because she was under the influence, he blamed it completely on her. He later apologizes at the end of the movie, but promptly blames it on her again. He says that it was *her* misunderstanding. He was just "being nice." He gets away with it too.

I'm concerned that this lack of attention paid to the fact that both movies had themes of pedophilia are damaging. Is pedophilia no longer a problem in our society? Or does it only hit a nerve when it's young children instead of teenagers?

[–] speakout77 16 years ago

Warn of Spoilers!!!

[–] crackingfilms-1 16 years ago

We can't shoot the messenger. If there is a trend in indie films, which I'm not sure is fair, it's only because film themes are reflecting common social dynamics. I can't go anywhere with my two daughters (12 & 14) without male heads of all ages turning. I'm not dumb enough to fool myself it's for me. Dress them up, dress them down, it doesn't matter how the girls leave the house-- there appears to be something tragically appealing for men in the still innocent female. Hopefully those with integrity know that young kids are to be protected rather than preyed upon, but today's news alone about the 400 plus Zion sect children is terrifying. These men have institutionalized their supply of fresh meat, possibly even their own young relatives, and they've done it in the name of religion. How smart are they? Everyone's out there policing movie content for trivializing or sensationalizing pot, sex etc., meanwhile, and as always, the really, really dangerous stuff is going on behind the closed doors of the pious. Watching those 'mothers' on TV, hearing their identical little girl/arrested development voices, something documented in female adult survivors of sexual abuse, I could only wonder what horrors had kept them trapped in their infantile states. I pity the people charged with cleaning up this mess. Where would you even begin?

[–] miles-29 16 years ago

The point a lot of people are trying to make in this thread is that you (the original poster) have completely misinterpreted the relationship between Vanessa and Chuck in this film.

There is no evidence at all that Chuck is at any point attracted to or trying to seduce Vanessa. Quite the opposite. As soon as he realises that his clumsy attempts to befriend and help her have lead to *her* being attracted to *him* he immediately withdraws from her emotionally and physically and is visibly uncomfortable when he is around her.

There are no older people hitting on minors in this film.

Furthermore this is not a recent "trend", it is a dramatic theme that is common in all dramatic arts including film, from 'Gigi' to 'Taxi Driver' to 'Juno'.

I think any sane person would agree that it's creepy when a mature adult hits on a teenager, it made my skin crawl when I realised that Mark was being more than a friend to Juno in 'Juno', but there's nothing like that in this film.

[–] cdelacroix1 16 years ago

Hi, miles-29,

I very much agree. This is my "take" as well.

I'm glad laine-little brought this up though because I do think there are disturbing trends in this area. And it's definitely worth asking the kinds of questions laine-little raises.

Juno I think deserves some of the criticism directed to it for exactly this reason. But Smart People I think handles Vanessa's crush on Chuck, and Chuck's response, very well. In fact, it's one of the ironies of the plot that Chuck ... who we're given to understand at first to be a very immature character ... shows himself to be very mature indeed regarding his relationship with Vanessa once the "crush" is revealed.

Charles Delacroix

[–] goodguy309 16 years ago

I think she is talented also but maybe that's the only characters that she can portray honestly. I'm not saying that she herself is that way.

I think I can agree with you in part that she does seems to play every willing young female pawn.

Watch the movie Hard Candy and you'll realize that she played the part being bait and then predator.

She's going to typecast herself as the last three movies were all the same character.

[–] TommyCSL 16 years ago

Pedophilia is not the right word, as someone else pointed out this is the attraction of an adult to a prepubescent child and does not apply in either of the cases you stated. There's a similar word for adults attracted to post-pubescent teens but I don't know what it is.

The word you are thinking of is Ephebophile or hebophile, both are interchangeably.

[–] iinquestioner 16 years ago

Yeah, she wasn't like 12 years old, it's not pedophiliatic to like a chick who is like 17 or 18, and extremely hot.

Also, the husband didn't divorce his wife to be with her in Juno.

[–] prowlerneedsajump 16 years ago

Pedophilia has to do with pre-pubescent children, so the very title of this thread is bogus. Since she was preggers in Juno, that's definitely out.

The point is: her child-woman character in each film has ambiguous but not creepy relationships with older men.

[–] Sarcasticus 16 years ago

"In "Smart People" the adopted uncle coerced her into smoking pot and getting drunk and when she kissed him because she was under the influence, he blamed it completely on her. He later apologizes at the end of the movie, but promptly blames it on her again. He says that it was *her* misunderstanding. He was just "being nice." He gets away with it too."

Got away with what? I didn't see that.
It's a movie. He was playing the "Quirky Uncle."

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] goodguy309 16 years ago

Any self respecting relative would be teaching her how to have fun without booze and pot.

Believe it or not, there used to be a time where people knew how to have fun without turning into an idiot. Adding pot and alcohol only increases a persons ability to turn very stupid.

Ellen Page is typecasting herself as a woman who has no clue about life and it's so sad really. I don't have any idea what she's like in real life but hopefully her onscreen presence isn't it.

[–] josephnatescott 9 years ago

"Any self respecting relative" He didn't have the self-respect many people his age have. So what?