Mom Warns Parents Over ‘Show Dogs’ Movie

[Honoria]

Mom Warns Parents Over New ‘Show Dogs’ Movie, Says it Normalizes Sexual Abuse


By Will Maule
Author

May 22, 2018

A concerned mother has warned other parents about the new movie “Show Dogs,” which she says depicts bizarre scenes of sexual abuse. Terina Maldonado explained how she had taken her kids to see the fun PG-rated movie, when suddenly they were confronted with a scene that left her utterly horrified.

“What could have been solely a fun movie for kids that would get my highest recommendation is damaged by a dark and disturbing message hidden, not so subtly between the fluffy dogs and glamorous parties of the show dog lifestyle,” she wrote at Makaroni Kid, an online parenting resource. “As part of any dog show, contestants are judged on their abilities and physical attributes. One part, in particular, is the inspection of the dog’s private parts.”

Maldonado recalled that, due to Max being new to the competition, he was required to “learn the process,” so his partner, Frank offers to touch him.

“Since the inspection of the private parts will happen in the finals, Frank touches Max’s private parts to get him use to it,” she added. “Of course, Max doesn’t like it and snaps at Frank for him to stop. Max is then told by the former champion, who has been through the process before, that he needs to go to his ‘zen place’ while it happens so he can get through it. More attempts are made by Frank to touch Max’s private parts, but Max is still having trouble letting it happen and keeps snapping at him.

Maldonado was shocked that the message being put across in this children’s movie was that if Max did not allow another dog to touch his private parts, he would lose the competition as a result.

“The judge’s hands slowly reach behind Max and he goes to his ‘zen place.’ He’s flying through the sky, dancing with his partner, there are fireworks and flowers-everything is great-all while someone is touching his private parts,” she explained.

This, she said, was a completely inappropriate message to portray for an audience of minors.


Russell Moore
✔
@drmoore
I had to read this twice to make sure I was reading it correctly. Horrifying.

Sexual predation is not entertaining. What are you thinking @showdogsmov?

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7:17 AM - May 21, 2018
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“During the movie, I kept thinking, ‘This is wrong, it doesn’t need to be in a kids movie. Everything else in the movie is good fun except for this,'” Maldonado explained.

Since her kids found it hilarious that the dog was being touched in the private parts, the mom decided to use the moment as a chance to reinforce some crucial messages with her children.

“We reinforced that if anyone tries to touch their private parts or asks them to touch their private parts they should talk to us about that,” she wrote.

Now, Maldonado is warning other parents about the movie, and asking that they would consider using it as an opportunity to talk to their kids about how to protect themselves from sexual predators.

“With the #MeToo movement and all the talk of sexual predators in Hollywood, I couldn’t help but think this message, that is blatantly in the open for adults to see, but over a child’s understanding, is meant to groom children to be open to having people touch their privates, even though they don’t want it,” she wrote.


Matt Chandler
✔
@mattchandler74
This is vile and disturbing...How’s this possible?

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11:17 PM - May 20, 2018
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“It gives them the idea of a ‘zen place’ to go to mentally when they are touched,” she concluded. “I’m a make lemonade out of lemons type of girl, so let’s take this movie and use it as a great teaching tool. I’m not going to encourage or discourage anyone from seeing this movie, I only want to help parents make an informed decision. I do encourage if you take your kids to have an educational and powerful conversation with them.”

“Show Dogs” has garnered an extremely poor 23 percent approval rating on movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.

“Show Dogs is really bad, even for a talking-dog movie,” wrote Peter Hartlaub at the San Francisco Chronicle.

“If you came for cute canines you’ll get them, but you’d get more entertainment from an hour of dog videos on YouTube,” added Olly Richards at Empire.

You can read Maldonado’s full review here.

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[Honoria]

The Movie ‘Show Dogs’ Is Getting Edits After Parents Raised Huge Concerns

CNN May 24, 2018 Updated May 26, 2018 0

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“Show Dogs,” the children’s film that this week was criticized by an advocacy group over scenes that it said promoted an inappropriate and harmful message about sexual abuse, will undergo edits to remove the objectionable content, the studio said May 23.



“Responding to concerns raised by moviegoers and some specific organizations, Global Road Entertainment has decided to remove two scenes from the film ‘Show Dogs’ that some have deemed not appropriate for children,” a statement from the studio said. “The company takes these matters very seriously and remains committed to providing quality entertainment for the intended audiences based on the film’s rating.”



The company added: “We apologize to anybody who feels the original version of ‘Show Dogs’ sent an inappropriate message.”



The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) took aim at “Show Dogs” because it claimed certain scenes normalized “unwanted genital touching to its child audience,” according to a statement from the group released on May 22.





Adrian Rogers

The organization added that the film, about a Rottweiler police dog who tries to infiltrate the world of dog shows, sent a “troubling message that grooms children for sexual abuse.”



NCOSE, an anti-pornography organization formerly known as Morality in Media, specifically took issue with what it said were “multiple scenes where a dog character must have its private parts inspected,” said the group’s executive director Dawn Hawkins.



Hawkis said the scenes showed the dog was uncomfortable with this but “told to go to a ‘zen place.'”



Disturbing Message For Children

“Disturbingly, these are similar tactics child abusers use when grooming children — telling them to pretend they are somewhere else, and that they will get a reward for withstanding their discomfort,” Hawkins said. “Children’s movies must be held to a higher standard, and must teach children bodily autonomy, the ability to say ‘no’ and safety, not confusing messages endorsing unwanted genital touching.”



Global Road Entertainment, which co-produced and co-financed the film with Riverstone Pictures, initially issued a statement explaining that examinations were common practice in dog shows but apologized “to any parent who feels the scene sends a message other than a comedic moment in the film.”



One of film’s two credited writers, Max Botkin, denied involvement in crafting the controversial scenes, telling CNN that while the film was based on his original script, he was not part of the rewriting process, which involved 12 uncredited writers.



“I absolutely condemn any suggestion or act of non-consensual touching in any form, as well as disassociation as a coping mechanism for abuse of any kind,” he said in a statement. “I understand and empathize with the parents’ and groups’ concerns regarding the message the movie may impart.”



The revised version of the film will be available for viewing nationwide starting this weekend.



“Show Dogs” opened in theaters May 18 and has grossed almost $7 million domestically.


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