bjarias Someone had to make the definitive choice for this twelve year old child.. and Hollywood has made lots of these kinds of choices before and since. Take a hundred sets of parents and how many would choose to have their child exploited in such a way. Sure you can say she has gone on to have a somewhat questionable 'career,' but at what cost, to those many having seen this film and pushed their offspring towards a very difficult and dangerous direction. This is not a great film in any meaningful way, and not at all worth the societal cost. There's an obligation for all of us to consider the 'ultimate cost'.. and once we choose to ignore that expense we are subject to whatever messy result comes about.

Syl Brooke Shields became a household name for her performance as twelve year old Violet, a prostitute's daughter, raised in a New Orleans whorehouse. Susan Sarandon does a terrific job playing her mother, Hattie. Frances Faye is a scene stealer in her final film performance as Nell who owns and operates the whorehouse. Keith Carradine plays a photographer who takes a serious interest in the women and girls as more than objects. Brooke Shields' Violet is the pretty baby who is surrounded by sex and knows nothing else. The scenes in which Violet's innocence, youth, and virginity are exploited by Nell and the others who live there as a suitable way to make a living is disturbing. Violet's virginity is auctioned off as a commodity to the highest bidder is definitely something that would shock film audiences of 1978. Nell says "there are two things to do in New Orleans on a rainy day and I don't like to play bridge!" Is a classic film line. Violet's life in New Orleans is tragic and sad but she manages to understand and comprehend her surroundings.

dudleynomore The nudity doesn't ultimately add anything to the story (hence porn) and the nudity in question is of a child (hence child porn). If the movie was exactly the same but the lead actress was older, no one would make the argument that the nudity added anything, because the whole point of it is the added impact it makes thanks to Brooke Shields being twelve. Seems pretty straightforward to me.Giving the film-makers the benefit of the doubt, it seems to assume we're going to have a particular reaction to child nudity, something like "oh no, how awful it was for children in that situation back then!" But all the truly unpleasant abuse has to occur off-screen for obvious reasons, so any dramatic impact is toothless. None of the nudity is placed within a context that forces the audience to confront how awful it is, on the contrary it's all supremely tasteful, partly thanks to the whitewashed characterization of the most artificially appealing pedophile in cinema history, Bellocq. And by using real child nudity in an attempt to demonstrate how exploitative of children people were back then, the film ignores its own message.It doesn't help that there effectively is no story. There's almost no focus on what Violet is actually feeling at all, instead there's an alternation between scenes where she acts like a child and scenes where she earns her keep as a prostitute. I got the impression I was supposed to sympathize with the character solely because she was a child in a sh!tty situation, not because the writers gave her interesting traits, or at the very least, conveyed an impression of how she saw the world.We could argue how to define porn, of course, but I don't think that's difficult: it's where the nudity is the point. If this movie hadn't had Brooke Shields naked no one would even remember it, as there's little dramatic content and no plot. The main character has, from beginning to end, no ultimate control over her fate - and regardless of how realistic that is it still makes for a lousy story. If they had made the narrative more character-based, so it hinged on something that Violet could have some influence over, perhaps a story about a child prostitute in this era could have worked... but not like this.1/10, one of the most pathetically misguided art-house exploitation flicks ever.

dehedra55 This movie is not child porn. Brooke Shields has always been a fine actress and still is. I can rent this movie tomorrow from at least three major outlets. This movie was never ordered pulled from store shelves as was Tracy Lords movies. That's because it is a totally artistic movie that very realistically portrays red light district life in early 20th century New Orleans. I first saw the movie on cable! As far as controversy, there are legal French films that would blow this one away.It's also a great film for Brooke fans who get to watch an amazing personality bloom into an awesome woman over her career.Here's some more words for ten line mininum because I really don't have anything more to say except that I've already said a whole bunch for just five lines and I really don't want to add any more so I think that about does it. I want to thank my producers, directors, inducers and smectors.Good night all!