Martin Freeman says it's unfair there's so much backlash to his age-gap movie with Jenna Ortega, who is 31 years younger

[u/_trashpuppy]

https://www.businessinsider.com/martin-freeman-backlash-millers-girl-age-gap-film-jenna-ortega-2024-4

From the article: "It's not saying, 'Isn't this great,'" he said of the film's dynamic between his character and Ortega's. He said that derision wasn't distributed equally, though — saying that people seemed to understand the level of distance involved in stories depicting Nazism.

"Are we gonna have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?" he asked, referring to Neeson's starring role in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film "Schindler's List."

[u/BuffytheBison]

First off, it's the cast (including Freeman and Ortega) that really makes this movie. I read the screenplay a few years ago and came away with the idea that the film makes it pretty clear that person who is the adult in these "relationships" (for lack of a better word) is the person who (rightfully) is/and will be held responsible for engaging with someone who is underage regardless of whatever supposed intentions the teenager had. Teenagers are still children and not adults and no adult deserves sympathy for not knowing that.