As if being held captive in the backyard of a convicted rapist for nearly 20 years wasn't enough for people to process, the story of Jaycee Dugard could soon be told on the big screen by an adult filmmaker.
The actor and movie maker behind films such as "It's My Turn Bitch!," "Warning!! Pedophile Released: A Love Story" and the series "Amateur Porn Star Killer," wants to add another to his list of disturbing titles: "Abducted: An American Sex Slave -- The Jaycee Dugard Story."
Shane Ryan heads Alter Ego Cinemas and told Sacramento TV station CBS13 that he wants to tell Jaycee's story because it's sad and interesting.
"We're trying to figure out a way to do it so that it's not exploitative," Ryan to the station by phone.
Not exploitative? Just how is a man who makes low-budget, underground racy adult films going to take on the story about a girl who was kidnapped at age 11 and held for 18 years by a convicted rapist and forced to bear his children and not make it exploitative? The mere fact that Ryan jumped on the case and started looking for a way market the story is exploitative in itself.
The station talked to a child psychologist who points out the obvious.
"This is a woman who has been through so much," Dr. Debra Moore said. "It's being framed as sexual; its being framed as titillating and it misses the entire point."
Ryan hopes to have his film out by spring 2010.
See full coverage of the case on our special page.
Update: Dugard family spokesperson Nancy Seltzer tells The Associated Press that the plan to make a movie about Dugard's life is "exploitative, hurtful and breathtakingly unkind."
Ryan later sent the following statement:
Director Shane Ryan was attacked by the media a few weeks ago when he announced production on his new movie, and was accused of making a Jaycee Dugard horror porn film.
"I think even an 8 year old can clearly see it's not a porn movie," says Ryan, "nor are we making Jaycee Dugard?s actual story and I'm very sorry she heard about it that way." Lindsay Lohan announced days later that she would like to play Jaycee in a film, which Ryan says is a "much more frightening thought" given her promiscuous party lifestyle.
In March of 2009 (months before Jaycee's discovery) Ryan said that he would be making a sex trafficking film and admitted after hearing about Jaycee and her 18 years of living in captivity that he was merely inspired, like any story teller, filmmaker or media, would be. He wanted to tell a similar situation. Ryan often tackles disturbing sexual subject matters in his films because "it scares the hell of out me and I don't understand why it happens. Sex slavery being the creepiest thing yet."
In the statement, he included a list of links to trailers for his movies.
