The Establishment The movie “The Name of the Rose” (1986) has a scene with the young monk acolyte (played by Christian Slater) having his first sexual experience with a young woman from the village who is forced to prostitute herself to old monks for food. Later the monk who is the acolyte’s teacher (played by Sean Connery) mentions she gave herself to the acolyte for free since he was so young and pretty. Slater is only 17 when he played the role. He claimed in 2008 that he did not lose his virginity in the scene, but I had read years ago that he said he had and that he cried himself to sleep that night. Either way, he was underage and I have always felt more than uncomfortable about that scene. I was a child myself when I first saw it. I had read the book and was a history buff for the Middle Ages and begged to see the movie. My mother had said no but when it came on HBO, I sneaked out to watch it in the middle of the night in our living room. Even at the age 14 and finding it exciting, I remember feeling that watching another young person like that was wrong. The scene is gratuitous and not needed to advance the story line. Many editions now have it removed, thankfully. Thank you for this excellent article and for bringing to light even artistic and subtle child sexual exploitation. Sex is normal and healthy and the exploration of it is normal and healthy even for children, but it should never be portrayed in art by using children. EVER.