# Can I legally refuse to feed Rachel Leigh Cook unless she sleeps with me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758 "2003-05-16T19:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/81 "2003-12-24T16:45:43Z")
**lawboy** : I am interested in the “duty to rescue” scenario you paint above. Can you provide any statutory or case law to support your position, in any US jurisdiction, that effectuating “even one step” towards a rescue of a drowning victim creates a duty of care with either civil or criminal liability resulting if the rescue is abandoned? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![lawboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c67d28/32.png) [@lawboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawboy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/82 "2003-12-26T20:08:05Z")
Bicker, Whoops! Sorry, I misspoke, sorry, when one voluntary accepts a duty to rescue or a duty of care, “taking one step” to rescue isn’t the necessary requirement for finding liability for failure to complete such duty. I was dramaticizing, I apologize. It’s that once that duty is undertaken, one’s actions must exclude others taking similar action (the seclusion priniciple, which I thought was a weird thing to call it). Oh, and also, an argument could be made, now that I think about it, that the OP could create a dangerous situation by taking all the available food. So, I can perceive a fact scenario where the OP hunts all the available food leaving none for RLC to search for herself. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/83 "2010-07-23T05:57:38Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > My take is that a prostitution-related charge is about as serious as it would get. I don’t see a legal duty to provide food to someone else, and deciding to not feed your fellow castaway is not a threat or force within the meaning of common-law rape. > > If anyone can defend the assertion that it’s rape from a criminal standpoint, I’d like to hear it. There may be no duty to rescue but if the demand for sex in exchange for food is coercive, then you might say that the consent for the sex is invalid. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/84 "2010-07-23T06:01:02Z")
> [@lawboy](#): > > Bicker, > > Whoops! Sorry, I misspoke, sorry, when one voluntary accepts a duty to rescue or a duty of care, “taking one step” to rescue isn’t the necessary requirement for finding liability for failure to complete such duty. I was dramaticizing, I apologize. It’s that once that duty is undertaken, one’s actions must exclude others taking similar action (the seclusion priniciple, which I thought was a weird thing to call it). > > Oh, and also, an argument could be made, now that I think about it, that the OP could create a dangerous situation by taking all the available food. So, I can perceive a fact scenario where the OP hunts all the available food leaving none for RLC to search for herself. Unless you were the pilot on the plane or one of the stewards, there is no duty of care and one cannot spring unless you get married or something else occurs to change your relationship. You would be the worlds biggest prick for demanding sex in that case, especially considering that sex was gonna come your way sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/85 "2010-07-23T06:14:56Z")
> [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](#): > > Flavor-of-the-Month, evidently. _Josie and the Pussycats_. > > [http://www.imdb.com/Bio?Cook,%20Rachael%20Leigh](http://www.imdb.com/Bio?Cook,%20Rachael%20Leigh) > > I never heard of her, either. She’s a vegetarian. I don’t think your offer for sex for hunted boar or fish offer is going to work too well. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/86 "2010-07-23T06:20:56Z")
> [@DeaganTheWolf](#): > > Since this takes place on an island I’m going to assume that society’s laws don’t apply here; thus sexual favors COULD be a valid form of currency. Works with chimps! I seem to recall something from high school law class dealing with a couple of castaways on a boat in the 19th century that resorted to cannibalism. They were deemed not guilty in some clever fit of legal sophistry, because they were castaways who, in effect, constituted their own society, to which the British (or Canadian?) criminal code was not applicable. Now, the difference here would be that the woman seems to not consent to the sex, thus constituting a part of your society. Buuut…you aren’t raping her, and she is free to go and get her own damn food, right? So, the sex is, for all intents and purposes, consensual. IANAL, but I think you’re in the clear! ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/87 "2010-07-23T07:14:28Z")
I seem to recall that the photographers who were first on the scene at the Paris car crash that killed Diana were arrested on charges of “failing to render assistance”. Of course this is French law rather than American but I think it’s still worthy of note that some countries require that you lend assistance where possible. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/88 "2010-07-23T07:20:28Z")
This is a zombie thread from 2003. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/89 "2010-07-23T12:11:49Z")
Questions: 1. What made lawboy post his self-correction now? 2. Did anyone else read the entire first page before spotting that it was a zombie? 3. What if you let this Cook woman die, then molested her corpse? Legal? ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/90 "2010-07-23T12:33:21Z")
1. Lawboy posted before the thread died, he wasn’t Dr. Frankenstein. 2. …and the 2nd page, and posted, still had no idea. 3. I’m thinking probably not, but with food being scarce you could always eat the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/91 "2010-07-23T13:46:52Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > I think [this](http://slate.msn.com/id/103194/) is a pretty good photo of her. That’s a picture of a volleyball. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/92 "2010-07-23T14:10:03Z")
Ok, if she were a zombie, and you had sex with her in exchange for food, could you be charted with desecrating a corpse? ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/93 "2010-07-23T15:50:25Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > That’s a picture of a volleyball. See post #23, it’s actually a rather amusing joke IMO. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/94 "2010-07-23T15:55:42Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > That’s a picture of a volleyball. It’s a volleyball _now_, but if you’ve been on a desert island for a year, it passes pretty well for Rachel Lee Cook. (That’s the longest pause between the joke and the explanation I’ve ever seen!) > [@arseNal](#): > > See post #23, it’s actually a rather amusing joke IMO. Why, thank you. 🙂 I’m more into situational stuff now, but I’m still fond of my early material. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/95 "2010-07-23T16:18:20Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > It’s a volleyball _now_, but if you’ve been on a desert island for a year, it passes pretty well for Rachel Lee Cook. You _too_! Towards the end of the movie I started feeling naughty stirrings during the Rach, I mean, volleyball scenes. My eyes dampened as she, I mean it, slowly floated away. ☹ Peace, Anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/96 "2010-07-23T16:33:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > If anyone can defend the assertion that it’s rape from a criminal standpoint, I’d like to hear it. If he actively prevented her from hunting for herself, I think a charge of rape would be entirely reasonable. Outside of that, I’d agree that prostitution is the greatest charge you could bring. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/97 "2010-07-23T16:42:42Z")
> [@](#): > > She’s a vegetarian. I don’t think your offer for sex for hunted boar or fish offer is going to work too well. I suspect that most vegetarians, in a situation like this, would see fit to relax their principles. How about this? Suppose the fellow stranded with Ms. Cook were a lawyer, and on the first day on the island, sat down with her and explained, “I have no legal duty to provide food for you. I would only have such a duty if there were a special relationship between us, such as marriage. Of course, a valid marriage presupposes conjugal relations between the couple.” Now, he’s not actually making any threats or offers, just stating as fact a principle of law. Of course, Ms. Cook could see the logical implications of that principle of law, and offer to marry him. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/98 "2010-07-23T16:46:05Z")
Her [egg-cooking skills leave a lot to be desired](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXFN4ocN_o)… She’s pretty good w/ a frying pan though. (YouTube link, SFW) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/99 "2010-07-23T16:51:46Z")
That raises a question (again, assuming we’re still in the US). Presumably that would not be a valid marriage unless perhaps some common law statute allows that. But it would be a contract. If they were to be returned to dry land, would they be required to make it an official marriage? Cole might say that since they agreed to ‘marry’, they just weren’t able due to circumstances to obtain a license. Rachel might say that the contract was only good for what was described in it, and calling it ‘marriage’ doesn’t make it one. I suspect it’s all moot anyway. After all these years it turns out that they were dead all along. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758/100 "2010-07-23T17:15:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I suspect that most vegetarians, in a situation like this, would see fit to relax their principles. > How about this? Suppose the fellow stranded with Ms. Cook were a lawyer, and on the first day on the island, sat down with her and explained, “I have no legal duty to provide food for you. I would only have such a duty if there were a special relationship between us, such as marriage. Of course, a valid marriage presupposes conjugal relations between the couple.” Now, he’s not actually making any threats or offers, just stating as fact a principle of law. Of course, Ms. Cook could see the logical implications of that principle of law, and offer to marry him. It may not be relevant as the OP is from 2003, but she got married in [2004](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachael_Leigh_Cook#Personal_life). EDIT: I loved her in She’s All That, but didn’t realize she was born in 1979, which makes her 30 today. I always thought she was about my age. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-legally-refuse-to-feed-rachel-leigh-cook-unless-she-sleeps-with-me/175758.md?page=6)