An Open Secret (2014)

Touches You

Such a frustrating disappointment

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Its a shame many of those mentioned in this film are still being protected by Hollywood Globohomos.Not easy to fight the establishment!But seriously, mandatory viewing, especially if you have a child thinking of trying the movie business. THIS IS STILL GOING ON!

I give 10/10 to this documentary, although I don't think it was as revealing as it could be. However, I really believe it was an important contribution to the area of documentaries, an honest work and a risky project too. The framework of this documentary is this: We are introduced to some young men that used to be actors in television or films from a very young age, at the same time we experience how did they got into the hollywood industry. Also, we hear their parents speaking, and describing the way that some well-known, rich men in the industry came very close to these children and in their families, present themselves as "trustworthy" friends. The film is based on interviews and some backtrack scenes which help us understand what happened in certain moments, when their managers, producers, became their predators. The film exposes some of these powerful men, who in their case are already accused of sexual abuse in the past. This documentary is a moment of truth, revealing the true identity of Hollywood and those who control it. Of course it is mentioned that this is only the tip of the iceberg. What does this mean? That it happens so often, so regurarly that is part of the job, it is part of the Hollywood price. It means its scale is countless. We can only refer to exploitation, abuse, rough treatment and fear only with one phrase: it's an OPEN SECRET. What has been a true surprise and an ideal ending scene, is the phone dialogue between the child actor's manager and the young man in the other line of the phone. In the end of the day, justice does not sentence the real criminals. They sentence justice to non-existence.

It's certainly an open secret that girls and women are sexually abused and exploited in the entertainment industry, but as this well-documented film points out, boys and young men are just as vulnerable to sexual predators--and the effect on their lives is just as devastating. We meet several victims who tell of their experiences at the hands of incredibly cruel, selfish men who used their positions of power within the industry to basically use them as sex slaves, then move on to victimize more boys with little or no consequences. Names are named, some of which you may recognize. As one of the film's participants points out, people who enjoy movies, TV and other entertainment featuring child performers need to start thinking critically about who these children are, what their lives are really like and how they're being treated by the industry they're working for.

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 todayIt'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.