#nogrooming

My five-year-old is obsessed with all things animal. While her clear preference is cats, any furry, four-legged thing will do.

Which is why I was so excited to see a preview a couple of weeks back for kids’ movie called Show Dogs. The premise is that there is a tough guy Rottweiler police dog named Max (voiced by Ludacris) that has to infiltrate a dog show with his handler (Will Arnett).

While the plot sounds eerily like a canine version of Miss Congeniality, I thought Kennedy would love it nonetheless. Thankfully, we’ve never made it to the movie. And here’s why I say thankfully.

According to others who have seen the movie, the plot is much as you’d expect, with Max begrudgingly making his way through the ranks of the dog show in an effort to make it to the finals so he can get the bad guy.

But what you likely wouldn’t expect is the pedophile-like grooming that takes place.

Yes, you read that right…

As Max makes it to the finals, the other show dogs explain to him that, as part of the evaluation, the judges need to fondle, er, inspect, his genitalia. Max is naturally shocked and refuses.

At this point, both Arnell and the other show dogs insist is has to be done, no matter how “awkward” it may seem. And, despite Max’s protests and lashing out, Arnell continues to fondle the dog in an effort to “help” him get used to it. The other dogs even so far as to suggest that Max just let it happen and simply go to his “zen place” while the fondling is going on.

WHAT?!?!?!

So, in a children’s movie, you have a person in authority (Arnell) convincing “someone” that it’s okay for someone else to touch his privates, no matter how uncomfortable and unnatural it may seem. And, worse yet, just close off your mind while it’s happening and try to find your happy place.

I… can’t… even….

As a person who experienced unwanted touching as a child, I find this beyond disturbing.

As a mother, aunt, cousin, and friend, I find this beyond disturbing.

As a citizen of this country, where 1 in 5 girls (20%!!!) and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of sexual abuse, I find this beyond disturbing.

How the hell the writer, director, producer(s), and actors in this movie DIDN’T find this disturbing is beyond me.

It is well documented that nearly 1/3 of all people with eating disorders have experienced abuse in their past… often sexual abuse. And that doesn’t even count those with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more.

What are we setting our children up for, if we cannot even trust a PG movie (for children in their oh-so tender and vulnerable early teen years) to present integrity and boundaries, rather than a how-to guide for pedophiles.

If you haven’t yet seen this movie, don’t. And if you can make your reasons known for NOT seeing the movie, please do. Hollywood needs to know that this is NOT okay.

And if you have already taken your children to this movie, I beg of you to discuss it with them and explain how Max should have trusted his instincts and not allowed the touching.

No child should ever be made to believe that unwanted touching is something they must endure, whether it’s for laughs in the movie theater or in tears in their bedroom.