An Open Secret

I gave it 10 stars for content and advocacy but in truth would have liked to see something bolder- something that demanded more of the industry and society and something that placed a greater emphasis on complicity and who specifically is at fault and why. I didn't feel that it did a very good job at really calling any one person or organization out even though people and organizations were listed. It felt as though we as the audience were given the evidence of wrong doing but left to decide who and what was at fault. The documentary needed to draw hard, unwavering lines and really drive the fault of certain people and organizations home.

The documentary about child abuse in Hollywood. It was laid out mostly like a conversation featuring former child actors, their parents and a few professionals on the subject telling their stories about how kids are targeted by pedophiles in the business, some of which were never convicted and still work in the industry today

It's one of those subjects that should not be swept under the rug but exposed like a nerve for the world to see so things can be done about it.

The movie is a little bit one sided however, as it focuses on only little boys who'd gone through sexual abuse as actors, and it neglects children as a whole. The movie talks about how pedophiles don't gender discriminate between boy and girls than apologizes for only using male subjects.

But I noticed that the movie actually focus on one target, mainly a case that happen in the late 90s and everyone connected to that case including Bryan singer director of X-Men was pointed out ( I had previous knowledge of the case as a boy tried to sue singer some time ago for sexual misconduct)

So the documentary does get a conversation going which is great but as a documentary I did not find it well rounded enough I must admit.

This documentary focuses on how deeply entrenched the paedophiles at various levels in Hollywood are. And how Hollywood protects them all. How children have been exploited and abused for decades. How the law is so lax in Low Angeles there no welfare protection for child actors. The law favours the studios to whatever they like. Why are we letting children be abused sex slaves all at the expense our need for entertainment. A movement needs to be mobilise with #MeToo specifically to protect children from exploitation, abuse, suffering and a lifetime of psychological and physical scars.

I have been excited to see this film since I caught a glimpse of the trailer. My father was a projectionist when I was young so I spent plenty of time at theaters in and out of the booth watching movies. During the 80's and 90's, a lot of child actors came and went and I'd always wondered where some had gone. I figured the worst and hoped this Documentary would shed some light on possible outcomes that had befallen some of them. "An Open Secret" starts with footage from Different Strokes episode with the bicycle shop and commentary from Todd Bridges explaining that he wasn't comfortable with the episodes topics and wanted little to nothing to do with it. Additional commentary leads to interviews with former child actors/performers and their parents recounting early stories entering the business. We are then introduced to names from the industry such as Michael Harrah, a SAG Youth Organization official, Marc Collins-Rector, a convicted Child Molester and former industry giant, Brian Peck, a producer of children's television for major networks, and Bryan Singer, famed Director of the X-Men franchises. How do these names relate to each other? All are accused of using their connections to sexually molesting young actors. Unfortunately for viewers, the film barely scratches the surface. There is audio of conversations between victims and abusers. There is a little background into other accused offenders but the majority of the film revolves around Michael Harrah's accusations as a manager and it's effects on the storied of 3 primary subjects. One which ends rather tragically. I understand that a certain portion of the film had been edited due to the dropped lawsuit between one of the main subjects but, I felt like they could have explored more into the allegations. There is definitely something going on in the hills of Hollywood and behind the doors of Power Players in the industry. Assuming besides this being a rather quiet topic, there isn't a lot of information available due to actors not talking afraid their careers would be affected.I applaud Amy Berg's attempt to shine light on the subject. It just seems that further investigation and follow up would further fold the story together better. It is worth a viewing and hopefully this film will encourage other victims to come forward to help find an end to the epidemic of child abuse. The Documentary fanatic me just wished there was more information

This film explores a dynamite subject with extra care and precision. Other comments here are reasonable. The film only goes so far, and it is pretty careful. Its attitude is nearly perfect. I knocked off one point for the film's not trying to show how heterosexual culture is always grooming the kids for participation later, and the gay culture therefore has made some mistakes trying to invent a way forward in secret. The film is only talking about issues concerning the effects of male pedophiles in Hollywood, and can't cover everything. What they cover is done pretty well, and that's saying a lot for a topic which often can bring more anger or confusion or circumlocution than understanding. That's surely true of heterosexual pedophilia and exploitation of young adult women in Hollywood too. Probably some of the unhealthy interest in exploiting children and young adult women was incubated in persons whose sexual development occurred in an atmosphere of fear and secrecy, or too much privilege and not enough guidance. Watching this film might help many persons avoid mistakes in behavior and mistakes in interpretation. It could help parents and the public form and implement better oversight without being too intrusive.