# Metropolis (the movie) and child porn **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510 "2016-11-03T06:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/1 "2016-11-03T06:40:34Z")
[This is the false Maria’s “Whore of Babylon” dance scene from\* Metropolis\*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0D4fHieW8o). I’ve probably seen this move a dozen times, including several times on the screen, once when I was only 11. It’s been on my top 10 list since I’ve had a top 10 list. I didn’t learn until a couple of months ago that no one knows exactly how old Brigitte Helm was when this was filmed, but it’s possible she was 17, because she turned 18 during the filming. If you look up her birth year, and the year of _Metropolis’_ release, it looks like she should have been older, but the movie was a long time in production, and then it took a longer time to actually get released. Her scenes were filmed early in the process. Would a 17-year-old be allowed to film a scene like this now? I doubt it. I think probably the latest it could be done was maybe 1975. But is that reactionary, or a response to the fact that there’s no real need to use a 17-year-old, and is this scene actually even borderline pornographic? And is someone going to step in and try to get this film censored if word gets out? I have to confess, I’m a little creeped out, watching it and knowing that she is that young-- even if she’s 18. I always thought she was older-- she looks maybe 23. And now I sound like a creepy old man, but I saw the Giorgio Moroder version when\*\* I \*\*was 17, and she looked older to me then. Does anyone else who has seen the movie feel a little weirded out by how young she is playing this character? And is this child porn? Please tell me I’m over-reacting, because I love this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/2 "2016-11-03T06:52:22Z")
Britney Spears was 17 when she filmed the clip for “Baby One More Time”, which IMHO isn’t any less provocative. So yeah, your clip’s a bit weird, but only in that it’s 70 years ahead of its time. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/3 "2016-11-03T07:03:08Z")
What the woman is doing strikes me as, at best, somewhat comical. It’s the excessive leering of the audience characters that makes the scene unsettling for me. Anyway, what’s the big deal if she’s 17? What was the age of consent in Germany at the time? _Was_ there one? If you’re going to classify this as child porn using modern standards, you may as well do the same for _Romeo and Juliet_. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/4 "2016-11-03T07:04:50Z")
Brooke Shields was 12 when she filmed her nudes scenes for _Pretty Baby_. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/5 "2016-11-03T07:07:28Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Brooke Shields was 12 when she filmed her nudes scenes for _Pretty Baby_. Yeah, but that actually \*was \*considered creepy at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/6 "2016-11-03T07:14:31Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Yeah, but that actually \*was \*considered creepy at the time. It still passed various censorship boards, including the US and UK. When the film was re-released on DVD in 2006, there was a actually some consideration by the British censors to _decrease_ the rating from 18 to 15. They ultimately decided against it. > **[Pretty Baby](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/pretty-baby)** > > Louis Malle's drama about child prostitution in early twentieth century New Orleans had already aroused controversy in the press and overseas when it was first seen by the BBFC on 28 March 1978. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Would a 17-year-old be allowed to film a scene like this now? I doubt it. I think probably the latest it could be done was maybe 1975. _Pretty Baby_ was released in 1978. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/7 "2016-11-03T07:41:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Britney Spears was 17 when she filmed the clip for “Baby One More Time”, which IMHO isn’t any less provocative. So yeah, your clip’s a bit weird, but only in that it’s 70 years ahead of its time. Thanks. Now I need to gouge out my mind’s eye. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/8 "2016-11-03T08:29:40Z")
Olivia Hussey was 17 when she filmed her nude scene in Zeffirelli’s 1968 _Romeo and Juliet_. Much more recently, Dean-Charles Chapman was 16 when he did his shirtless immediate-postcoital scene in _Game of Thrones_. Oh, and Brooke Shields was 14 in the 1980 film _Blue Lagoon_, and Michelle Johnson was 17 in _Blame it on Rio_ in 1984. There seem to be quite a few slightly-underage actresses who’ve appeared in R-rated movies. All of these seem to be basic nudity/sex scenes of some sort rather than exotic dancing performances; I don’t know if that makes them less or more daring than the _Metropolis_ scene you’re talking about. Also, I’m not really sure how creepy it is to see a 17-year-old actor in a somewhat sexualized role in a movie. I mean, it would probably not be illegal for them actually to have sex with an adult at that point, right? Age of consent and all. Hell, Demi Moore was first **married** at age 17. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/9 "2016-11-03T11:18:54Z")
And Thora Birch topless in American Beauty in 1999. She was 17 at that point. She needed parental permission but apparently otherwise was good to go. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/10 "2016-11-03T12:09:28Z")
Well that is mildly disturbing but not in a child porn kind of way. Just like twerking, it’s the exact opposite of sexy. Also, she’s not a child. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/11 "2016-11-03T13:55:26Z")
Incidentally, I always thought Maria was much sexier in[this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI1hRiFcbDQ), despite remaining fully clothed. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/12 "2016-11-03T14:06:11Z")
17 year olds aren’t considered children in Europe, including the UK where the age of consent is 16. What I consider far more creepy is the Americans treating 16 and 17 year olds as prepubescents. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/13 "2016-11-03T14:17:01Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > 17 year olds aren’t considered children in Europe, including the UK where the age of consent is 16. What I consider far more creepy is the Americans treating 16 and 17 year olds as prepubescents. In most states the law doesn’t treat 16 and 17 year olds as children. Very few states have a concrete 18 years old age of consent. The age of consent in my state is also 16 with a 4 year Romeo and Juliet provision. One thing that is universal across the country are laws prohibiting sexually explicit photos under the age of 18. This clip would not fall under that category. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/14 "2016-11-03T14:20:33Z")
Controversial at most today. And not that big a controversy either. Other cases of young women under 18 have been mentioned, they weren’t considered child pornography of the illegal kind and neither would this. I don’t understand what’s creeping you out about her being not quite 18 at the time. Would you be creeped out if she was already 18? I don’t know what the laws were at the time but she probably would have been considered a minor until age 21 if there were any applicable laws. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/15 "2016-11-03T14:22:35Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > 17 year olds aren’t considered children in Europe, including the UK where the age of consent is 16. What I consider far more creepy is the Americans treating 16 and 17 year olds as prepubescents. And that leads to [this kind of idiocy.](http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/nc-law-teens-who-take-nude-selfie-photos-face-adult/article_ce750e51-d9ae-54ac-8141-8bc29571697a.html?mode=jqm) > [@](#): > > After a 16-year-old Fayetteville girl made a sexually explicit nude photo of herself for her boyfriend last fall, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office concluded that she committed two felony sex crimes against herself and arrested her in February. > > **The girl was listed on a warrant as both the adult perpetrator and the minor victim of two counts of sexual exploitation of minor** - second-degree exploitation for making her photo and third-degree exploitation for having her photo in her possession. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/16 "2016-11-03T14:26:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Incidentally, I always thought Maria was much sexier in[this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI1hRiFcbDQ), despite remaining fully clothed. I agree with you. And I’ve watched this movie possibly seventeen thousand times since I was 12, and NEVER found the “Whore of Babylon” dance to be remotely erotic. I knew it was SUPPOSED to be erotic to the onlookers, but I never got personal wood over a 17 year old Helm. So I’m still cool with it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/17 "2016-11-03T14:28:45Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > And is this child porn? Please tell me I’m over-reacting, because I love this movie. IMHO, yes, you are overreacting. I guess I am surprised there’s even a need to ask. No offense intended! For me, I know I am watching a very old film and the exaggerated leers, the cool Eye special effects and her herky-jerky moves just keep me from ever really seeing anything squicky about it. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/18 "2016-11-03T14:42:13Z")
Labelling something like this as (potential) “child porn” seems very counterproductive to me, damaging the credibility of the accusers (not referencing you, **RivkahChaya** ) and diminishing the destruction caused by true child pornography. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/19 "2016-11-03T15:01:37Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > And Thora Birch topless in American Beauty in 1999. She was 17 at that point. She needed parental permission but apparently otherwise was good to go. It was helpful that her mom and dad met while they were filming _Deep Throat_, and had no problem with nudity. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metropolis-the-movie-and-child-porn/770510/20 "2016-11-03T20:11:05Z")
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