Apt Pupil (film) - Lawsuit

Lawsuit

For Apt Pupil, Bryan Singer filmed a shower scene in which Todd Bowden, saturated with horrific stories from Kurt Dussander, imagines his fellow showering students as Jewish prisoners in gas chambers. The scene was filmed at Eliot Middle School in Altadena, California on April 2, 1997, and two weeks later, a 14-year-old extra filed a lawsuit alleging that Singer forced him and other extras to strip naked for the scene. Two boys, 16 and 17-years-old each, later supported the 14-year-old's claim. The boys claimed trauma from the experience, seeking charges against the filmmakers including infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and invasion of privacy. Allegations were made that the boys were filmed for sexual gratification. The local news shows and national tabloid programs stirred the controversy. A sexual crimes task force that included local, state, and federal personnel investigated the incident. The Los Angeles District Attorney's office determined that there was no cause to file criminal charges, stating, "The suspects were intent on completing a professional film as quickly and efficiently as possible. There is no indication of lewd or abnormal sexual intent." The civil case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence. The scene was filmed again with adult actors so the film could finish on time.

The lawsuit reflected "a recent cultural concern" about nudity in showers being connected to "sexual or erotic forms of gazing". The journal Body & Society wrote, "The ways in which the accusation that the director and other crew members identified as gay is seen to collapse gay identity into gay sexual behaviour, but the wholesale collapse of nudity into sexuality." The incident reflected the cultural trend that being gazed upon while naked would cause different forms of distress, threatening the "stability of the self as subject". This undermines the subject's ability to perform and as a result of the discomfort, brings more into question what the displayed nakedness is for.