An Open Secret

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 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.

"An Open Secret" is a rather ironic film. After all, it seeks to expose abuse in Hollywood AND it could not find a distributor to release it...which seems to confirm that Hollywood really couldn't care less about the evil that is occuring in its midst. And, while there have been a few complaints that it didn't get every single fact straight (one of the participants later took back some of their comments in the film), it is unique because it even mentions names in the television and movie industry. It is very compelling and you can't blame it for not mentioning everyone...it is at least a good start.

The movie focuses in particular on the experience of five child actors. Most are on hand to tell their story...some is told by family and friends. All point to minimal sentences of many pedophiles and many returning to work in the industry AFTER their convictions!

The film is generally well made and apart from a few edits I might have suggested, is excellent throughout. What I would really love is to see an updated version. Has anything changed since 2014...or is it still business as usual. I can only assume that nothing really has changed and the industry is simply doing lipservice to the problem.

If you want to see this film, it is currently free to watch at Vimeo's website. Again, this is because the film can find no other means of distribution.Not perfect...but very compelling.

I don't think it matters how well done this documentary is - the story is the point. Letting the victims speak and organizing it in a way that reveals the truth is why i found this documentary compelling. I think everyone could learn something from this. And don't get stuck on the acting industry alone - this issue is bigger than Hollywood.