INDECENT SEDUCTION
US, 1996, 87 minutes, Colour
Gary Cole, Mary Kay Place, Nicholle Tom, Alyson Hannigan, Mac Davis.
Directed by Alan Metzger.
Indecent seduction sounds more sensational than the film actually is. In fact, it is one of those dramas based on a true story, that is well dramatised and is quite insightful into the process of a relationship between a predator sports coach in a school and an impressionable fourteen-year-old.
Gary Cole (the father in the Brady Family films) is the coach, who gradually reveals himself during classes and after classes as preying on adolescent girls. He is a married man with a daughter the same age. The film shows his approach, shows the genuine aspect of his being a predator, his not understanding himself despite people commenting on the fact that it is not normal for an adult to be so infatuated with a teenage girl. Nicholle Tom is the girl from a very good family who lacks self-image, who is flattered by the attention of the coach, who keeps telling her that she is special. The film shows the consequences of the behaviour for herself, for her family - and then for the school and the law, ultimately leading to an establishing of the rights of an under-age student against the seduction by an adult, especially a member of a school staff. Mary Kay Place and Mac Davis are her parents. Alyson Hannigan (who was to get some prominence as Michelle in the American Pie series) is the adolescent's best friend.
1. The impact of this kind of film? Expectations from the title? The less censorious and sensationalist approach? Based on a true story?
2. The Oklahoma settings, ordinary life, ordinary homes, the car dealership, the mother and her studies, the school, sports? Audiences being able to identify with this Oklahoma setting?
3. The basic premise of the plot, the impressionable young girl, her clashes with her parents, her wanting to be self-assertive, peer pressure, her lack of self-esteem, her being flattered by the teacher, her responding to his wiles, not having the experience to reflect on what was happening to her, deceiving her parents, going all the way, her moodiness, the assignations, the attention from the coach, especially at school, her dancing with the boy and the coach overreacting, her wanting to tell somebody, talking with her girlfriends, eventually talking with her mother, the reaction of the children at school, the putting of graffiti over the car and the house, the insults and isolation, her mother going to the authorities, to the police, the arrest of the teacher, the clashes in the family about what should be done, the desperation of the girl, the reconciliation with the parents, her talking to a counsellor, her facing her future? The sympathetic portrait of a young girl in this situation, seeing how she found it difficult to cope with the situation, her having to take ultimate responsibility?
4. The portrait of the coach, his acclaim by the school staff, the team, the spirit of hope in the town because of hard times with sports victories? His teaching biology, his talking with the girls, taking them out, letting them drive the car, buying them wine coolers? His notes to Amy, her marks? His taking her aside, his flattering her, kissing, in the car, taking her to his home, having the confidence of her parents, the seduction in his own house? Following through, the infatuation? His believing it? His being questioned by the librarian, by the school principal, out bird-hunting and the further interrogation? His lies? His anger at the fair, taking Amy away from the fair, the sexual encounters? His attitude towards the other girls? The summer and her distance from him? His pursuing her, growing more desperate? His being arrested, in jail, the sentence? His denials? His history of having this kind of relationship with young girls (and the young girl who stopped Amy and offered her support)? His wife, daughter?
5. The portrait of the parents, their struggles financially, their doing their best, unable to talk with Amy, not hearing any of the rumours? The information, the father and his going to the school, the mother and her tracking down the librarian? The mother listening to Amy and finding the truth? The previous talks and not breaking through? The gift of the car? The legal action, the arrest, the discussion with the counsellor and Amy's giving all the information and the truth? Their achievement in the changing of the law?
6. The girlfriends, the gossip, their being together, the incidents with the coach, in the library, the photocopier_? The girl who went to the principal to ask him to do something? The close friend and her discussions? Their later shunning Amy and being with the footballers? The young men, footballers, the relationships within the school?
7. The ineffectual principal, his wanting the coach in place, his vacillating, superficial enquiries, the presumption in favour of the teacher? The librarian and her concerns? The counsellor and her getting the truth from Amy?
8. The 1990s and the greater revelation of sexual abuse, sexual molestation and harassment, predators? This film contributing to a home audience watching television to an understanding of how the situation can arise and what can happen to those involved?
