Netflix & Director Diego Kaplan Caught Redhanded

Netflix has come under fire from conservative writer Megan Fox. No, not THAT Megan Fox who famously looks very good in the films Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Although the actor Megan Fox does espouse a lot of conservative values. The Megan Fox in question here, has a following of her own based on writing her conservative blog.

The film in question is from Argentina. And while cultural norms can change around the globe, there really is nothing in the opening of this film that leaves any doubt about how creepy you have to be as an adult to want to shoot this. And also, if you take a page out of the Alex Jones playbook, and judge a guy on his level of creepiness by looking at him, then Diego Kaplan fits right in with the pedo-wood crowd.

Is it too judgemental to look at Kaplan and assume the worst based on the opening scene of Netflix's Desire? Or does the scene, Kaplan's creepy looks, and the scores of complaints about pedophiles in Hollywood force our senses to find this man repugnant?

Fox reported Netflix to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And Diego Kaplan's response illustrates how far down into depravity filmmakers have gone. His response seems massively out of touch with people's sensitivity to the exploitation of children. His response to criticism of child pornography in his film Desire is this, "It was shot “under the careful surveillance of the girls’ mothers” and neither of the girls were aware of what they were depicting.".

The first shot of Desire shows Diego Kaplan's depiction of a child. Immediately, the creepiness ramps up from here as the blatant sexualization of children goes beyond make-up and hair.

Wow Diego! That's great! So you admitted that you fooled little girls on camera to perform sexual acts right in front of their mothers. Did you hand the mothers of these children a release form with a pentagram on it too?

The second shot in Desire shows two girls watching TV. Is this scene a fantasy of Diego Kaplan?

The 3rd shot of Diego Kaplan's film Desire. As adults, we all know children begin to figure things out for themselves at this age. And, keep in mind this scene depicts the past. The children are watching an old John Ford cowboy film. So, what does that say about the entire Hollywood enterprise with the overt sexualization brought to screens today and how it relates to children? And as an audience, do we really need to see the young girl with her hands conspicuously placed where there are in this shot. How exactly was this direction conveyed on set? Feeling creepy just thinking about being there yet?

Can we really believe Diego Kaplan when he says, "Everything works inside the spectators’ heads, and how you think this scene was filmed will depend on your level of depravity." Really Kaplan? Was it the audience that ordered adult looking make-up on this child's face? What 10 year-old child watches TV with lipstick on?

The scene further develops as the girls here supposedly were told to mimic the men on horses. And any excuse given by Diego Kaplan dissolves here as the heavy breathing of the young girl on the right makes it clear she is performing a sexual act. How exactly did Kaplan tell the mothers involved that this was not a sexual scene in a film called Desire?

And if you were not yet convinced of how detached from reality Hollywood has become, get a load of this subtitle. Sex and drugs in a scene with two young girls. Exactly how immune to the feelings of others do you have to be to conceive this scene?

The first adult we see arrives when a girl calls out for her mother. And of course the symbolism here is quite clear. Anyone believe Diego Kaplan is an innocent artist now? And while of course this is Biblical symbolism, with the scene that played out before the mother with the snake arrives, is it wrong to ask if Diego Kaplan is Satanic?

Scrolling through the film, the opening scene is supposed to be a setup for what ends up being a film about sexual encounters. And the "story" is about what essentially amounts to over-partying people with no goals and polyamorous relationships.

What is interesting to note here, is that no one forced Diego Kaplan to make the opening scene in this film. Even if you wanted to make a film about someone with a skewed view toward family values, as depicted by the characters in this film, it could be shot without the opening scene depicting children masturbating. It could have been a conversation brought up between the 2 female leads. And thus, this would have eliminated the need to use 2 girls in the film at all.

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The children masturbating watching TV could have been referenced in one of the many and boring later scenes in the film. And lets face it, in a movie where adults do nothing but pursue their hedonism and their promiscuous lifestyles, maybe the filmmakers thought they needed to "shock" audiences with this opening scene. Regardless, it could have been done with the child looking at the cowboy film and then cutting to a scene of the adult woman riding a horse. The fact that it was shot in such a way as being the first scene in a film about adult relationships paints a damning picture on whomever finds this film to be within the realm of normality.

Is what is really creepy here is that in light of all the complaints about pedophilia in Hollywood with the Corey Feldman accusations perhaps taking point, Netflix executives watched this film, and no red flags were raised over it. And now think about that dailies were viewed by Netflix executives, and that means that they saw the shots of the little girls well before the film was released. And when you consider that most likely the script was approved by Netflix executives, then the picture that Hollywood is so depraved that we have to flush it all away and rebuild the film industry becomes the only logical option.

Admittedly, I had to scroll through the opening scenes in Desire to get the screen shots I did. And, the article about Megan Fox's complaints of this film honestly do not hit you between the eyes the way these screen shots have done. My recommendation to Netflix is to remove the film immediately. There is no argument here for story-telling that can support how this opening scene was shot. There are a lot more creative and less offensive ways to deal with the subject of sexuality. And, as we know children can sometimes explore sexuality as a part of growing up, featuring that exploration in a film about adult relationships shows a serious lack of compassion for abused children worldwide. As I was already disgusted with Netflix for one anti-Trump "comedian" after another, this time, they have gone too far. And, I will have to cancel Netflix based on this blatant abuse of children by Hollywood.

Ended up interacting with the writer who brought this film to light, Megan Fox. After teasing me for using an image of her dressed as a far-lefty not concerned with her outward appearance, she gave me very wise editorial advice.