Who caused one of his best friends deaths and seemed pretty remorseless about it. It's a well made movie but he's got to be one of the least likeable protagonists I can remember. I was hoping Begbie would slice him up by the end.
shareIn what way is Renton a pedophile?
shareWell technically Renton did sleep with a girl under the age of consent: which is (and was at the time) 16 here in the UK
Although as I recall Renton was oblivious to Diane being underage at the time only finding out later.
He sleeps with her again after knowing her age.
shareShe threatened to report him if he didn't
shareTry telling a judge that.
shareExactly why he complied
shareSo committing child molestation twice is ok as long as you're being blackmailed?
shareI think at that point the movie establishes that he was not a bad guy or a pedophile, quite the contrary. Had he knew her age in the first place, the movie establishes he would not have slept with her. She lured him, she blackmailed him.
Maybe you're technically right and he should have stopped to see her as soon as he discovered she was a minor, blackmail or not. But I think at that point it's hard to say he was morally wrong. Just like you said, try to tell a judge that. He didn't want to get in trouble so he just went on. She was not a child but a very late teen (actress is 20 at the time), full grown up (she agressively seduces him, controls him during sex) and she was not molested at all : she was full consent, it's just an age limit making it illegal. But is it immoral ? Especially with everything we know from the movie. She seems much more immoral to me.
It's also interesting to note that her parents didn't give a dam about him sleeping (in their house) with their daughter !
If I remember correctly, they thought he was a classmate. Why they would think Renton was in high school, I don’t know. I guess since their daughter looked to be in her 20’s, they had a skewed idea of what a teen looks like.
shareHe shagged an underage girl, what movie were you watching.
shareA 14 year old isn't a prepubescent child. Pedophiles are attracted to little kids, not teenagers. He also didn't realize that she was as young as she was, so again it's more that he is a statutory rapist, not a pedophile.
shareAh I had a feeling you were going there, you pedantic douchenozzle. 14 is a child. And he sleeps with her again after knowing her age.
shareI never said he was a good person, but stop trying to change the definition of a word. A pedophile is someone attracted to those who have not hit puberty. LITLLE KIDS!!!! NOT TEENAGERS
Where I live it's legal for 14 year olds to have sex with people their own age. Yes, what Renton did was illegal, but it's not pedophilia.
Yes, I may be pedantic, but one doesn't get to change the meaning of words because they feel like it.
Nobody gives a shit whether it's legal where you come from, in the UK 14 is illegal and considered a child. Pedophilia does not strictly relate to prepubescent children, it can also be children of early pubertal age. Either way, everyone knows what I was getting at - he's a child molester/pedophile. Pedantic dickhead.
shareAgain, he is not a pedophile. He thought she was older and was not attracted to her because she was a child.
Also, I have not insulted you once. I have not belittled you or even been rude. Why are you?
Not to say the actress Kelly MacDonald was 20 at the time
shareAgain, he slept with her again after being fully aware she was a child, you conveniently keep dancing around that point.
Because you're being pedantic for the sake of it, accept the consequences.
pedophile
[ˈpedəˌfīl]
NOUN
a person who is sexually attracted to children.
children
[ˈCHildrən]
DEFINITION
plural form of child.
child
[CHīld]
NOUN
a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority.
HE WASNT SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO HER BASED ON HER AGE,AND HER AGE WAS OLDER THAN THAT OF A CHILD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia#Definitions_2
Pedophilia is not a legal term,[10] and having a sexual attraction to children is not illegal.[7] In law enforcement circles, the term pedophile is sometimes used informally to refer to any person who commits one or more sexually-based crimes that relate to legally underage victims.
And another one -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia#DSM_and_ICD-11
The ICD-10 defines pedophilia as "a sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age"
So again, it does not exclusively refer to attraction to prepubescent children.
NOW THAT IS PEDANTIC.🙂
AND WRONG,AS YOUR DEFINITION CLEARLY STATES CHILD/CHILDREN...WHICH AS WE ALL KNOW HAVENT GONE THROUGH PUBERTY,AS THAT IS THE DEFINITION.
Nope, a child can mean someone below the legal age. Beat you at your own game pedantic douche. Run along now.
shareWHAT GAME?...WATCHING YOU BE AN ASSHOLE TO SOMEONE WHO STAYED POLITE THE ENTIRE TIME?...READING YOUR POSTS AS YOU SCRAMBLE TO PROVE A FICTIONAL CHARACTER WAS A PEDOPHILE FOR THE REASON OF?....EGO?....OR YOU PLAYING LOOSE WITH WORDS WHILE TRYING TO HOLD OTHERS TO STRICT DEFINITIONS ALL IN THE PURSUIT OF A "WIN"?
YOU OBVIOUSLY TAKE THIS VERY SERIOUSLY.SO I AM ASSUMING YOU NEED THE "WIN"...ENJOY?🤔
Lmao you guys created this useless argument yourselves and now you're having a tantrum because you lost the debate. The point of this thread was the protagonist being a deplorable human being, but you decided to make it about something else (i.e. being annoyingly pedantic) so I put you in your place. Accept it and move on.
shareTO BE CLEAR...
pedantic
[pəˈdan(t)ik]
ADJECTIVE
of or like a pedant.
pedant
[ˈpednt]
NOUN
a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning.
SO,YOU ARE WRONG IN YOUR USE OF THAT WORD AS WELL.🤔
You obviously do not understand what a pedophile is. Renton thought she was of age. He thought her parents were her flatmates. A pedophile is someone who is attracted to prepubescent children or pubescent children as you have suggested. He thought she was an adult. She was the one that used the threat that she was underage to continue the relationship.
Is he a scoundrel? Sure. Is he guilty of statutory rape? Yes. But he is not a pedophile. You don't seem concerned that her parents didn't seem to mind that he was there.
I'm actually not being pedantic for the sake of it. The word pedophile is misused all the time and it matters.
If you think sleeping with a 14 year old is justified because she threatens to call the police, that says more about you than me. He's still a child molester/pedophile.
I couldn't care less about her parents, that's not the subject of this thread. Again, you're being pedantic and going beside the point. You're either autistic or good at being annoying.
You haven't read what I've said at all. I've said he is a rapist. I've not justified the intercourse. Pedophilia is the attraction to children. He wasn't attracted to her because he thought she was a child. He didn't go with the intent of finding a young girl.
You brought up that he slept with her again after learning her age, I was simply pointing out that she essentially blackmailed him into it. You are trying to imply that she is a victim when she is not, which is also why I mentioned her parents. Them not being phased by Renton's appearance implies that this may not be the first time Diane has brought home an older man.
If I'm so annoying you can stop responding any time.
You can try and twist it all you want but having sex with a child knowing he/she is a child makes you a pedophile. Child rapists tend to try and get off on technicalities. She didn't need to convince him very much to get him into bed again either, he was hardly reluctant.
This is my thread, you can piss off any time.
Having sex with a child and having sex with a 15-year-old are completely different things. It's still pretty weird for a 20-something guy to hook up with a teen, though in his defense he met her in a night club and she pretended to be older, but pedophilia is an interest in children about 9 years or younger.
If you're looking for a term with which to deride the fictional character of Mark Renton, you could use ephebophilia, which is an interest in adolescents aged 15 to 19. However, keep in mind also that pedophilia, ephebophilia, and hebephilia (interest in the 10 to 14 year-olds) are terms typically used for someone with an exclusive interest in partners of those ages. Renton seemed to be a normal guy, who ended up with Diane by accident, not because of some predatory urge towards younger women.
Incorrect.
If you are going by the law it does not matter if child is 13 or 6.
What is not used correctly is the term pedophile which is another made up word and it's meaning is pre puberty.
People need to stop paying attention to the likes of wiki etc.
He chose to have sex with a minor which is a serious crime (The first time he may be able to put up a good defense if she had reported him but after he chose to continue)
Some cases which are like his first encounter and the adult is the one who gets in trouble not serving any time but put on sex offenders list.
If you don't understand the difference between sleeping with someone you thought was an adult and then finding out they are not, to someone who seeks out children, I don't know what to say to you.
shareIf you keep trying to sidestep the fact that he slept with her knowing she was a child, I don't know what to say to you. And blackmail does not excuse the crime.
shareI'm not. He's a junkie that didn't want to do time from a crime that he didn't know he had committed. He'd already had sex with her. Again, I reiterate that this makes him guilty of statutory rape which is not the same thing as pedophilia.
shareUse words correctly and these conversations aren't necessary. He wasn't a pedo, you are wrong, period.
sharere: Your original post, yes I suppose so. But as for wanting Begbie to slice him up at the end....really?
Renton was a smack head without a doubt. The first time he slept with Diane he didn't realise she was underage. But yes, after that he slept with her. Blackmail or not, an ordinary law abiding citizen would/should have ended it there. But Renton isn't a straight thinking law abiding citizen. He makes bad choices and is a smack head or recovering smack head. The last thing he would have wanted is the police being involved if she should shout rape. So he makes a bad (and unlawful) decision.
Not really something he should be sliced up by Begbie for, don't you think?
You’re wrong. By your logic, this movie is child porn. But it’s not, because the actress was 19 and with a very nice, fully developed womanly body. I found her very attractive (just as I did years later on BOARDWALK EMPIRE), and there’s nothing pedophile about being attracted to someone who looks like that. Any straight male who claims not to be is almost certainly lying.
shareYou're being the dickhead.
shareWell, as this post has already degenerated into a long thread of pedantic dickheadry, I'd just like to be another pedantic dickhead and point out that Renton, being sexually attracted to an adolescent, is in fact an ephebophile, not a paedophile.
You're welcome.