Zendaya & Robert Pattinson’s The Drama Director Justified Dating Teenager In Resurfaced Essay! WTF!
The director of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson‘s upcoming new movie is under fire after an old essay of his resurfaced this week — in which he TRIED TO JUSTIFY DATING A TEENAGER!
Translated to English by The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, Kristoffer Borgli, who is the Norwegian filmmaker behind The Drama, wrote about the relationship with a 16-year-old girl back in 2012 for the country’s magazine Dagens Naeringsliv. As THR points out, the legal age of consent in Norway is 16 — but relationships between adults and teens are still obviously frowned upon in the country, which he grappled with in the piece.
Related: Kim Kardashian & Ray J Signed Secret $6 Million Settlement Over NSFW Tape!
Calling it a “May-December” relationship, a then-27-year-old Kristoffer wrote:
“The term ‘May-December’ is explained here as when the age difference between two people in a relationship is so large that it risks social disapproval. The reason I know this is because I met a girl ten years younger than me whom I liked very much – a girl who wasn’t old enough to vote – and I had to find something that could recalibrate my moral compass.”
Kristoffer said he “confided in” a few friends about the situation, and they told him it was not ‘within bounds.’” He didn’t listen to them, though. The director recalled lying in bed next to the blond high school student, deciding “to define her by her age,” and planning to never see her again. He added:
“But you can’t choose what the heart wants.”
He continued to see this girl instead. Disgusting. Although Kristoffer called the situation an “emotional dilemma,” he went on to defend the relationship, referencing several movies with age gap romances, including the 1979 Woody Allen movie Manhattan:
“The relationship there is presented as entirely open and romantic. If a film made in 1979, in which Woody Allen’s 42-year-old character has a public relationship with a 17-year-old girl, is portrayed exclusively in a positive way and causes no controversy in its own time, then why shouldn’t my relationship – with a considerably smaller age difference – in 2012 be ‘within bounds’? I chose to listen to Woody over my friends.”
The creepy movie doesn’t make it OK. And this man chose to listen to another problematic man, who was accused of molesting his ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in 1992. Oh, and married that same ex-girlfriend’s other adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, when she was 27, and he was 62 in 1997. WTF.
Borgli shared that he was “fascinated” by the teenager’s life, saying she was “quite equal” to him because she was into piano, went to gallery openings, and so on. According to Kristoffer, their relationship involved eating breakfast while watching Woody Allen movies, going to restaurants and bars where they didn’t check IDs, drinking her parents’ wine, and reading their books. He concluded:
“That summer, I didn’t travel – for the first time as long as I can remember – but the time we spent together that summer in her parents’ apartment was nonetheless the best and most exotic summer I’ve ever had. Her parents came home unexpectedly early from vacation, and I had to climb out the window (first floor). The summer ended, and our weeklong weekends became ordinary weekdays.”
Ick. So messed up. You can read the entire translated essay HERE.
Naturally, he is facing a lot of backlash after the article went viral. Reddit users specifically slammed Kristoffer for dating a teen, even threatening not to see The Drama now:
“Ooooof that’s disappointing. Had no idea about this.”
“What a f**king creep. So, instead of accepting that he’s a creep who should not act on his creepiness, he decided everyone else was wrong and fellow creeps’ 1970s fantasies should guide his life?”
“He’s a predator creep that deserves to be exposed”
“man, i was so excited about the movie also f**k him what a weirdo”
“‘But you can’t choose what the heart wants.’ Giving Woody Allen vibes here”
“I’m usually pretty good at separating art and artist usually but preying on vastly underage girls is where I draw a line.”
Whelp, this is bad for The Drama — one week before it is supposed to hit theaters.
At this time, Kristoffer hasn’t addressed the controversy. Neither has A24, the production company behind the film, Robert, or Zendaya. What are your reactions, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN, A24/YouTube]
The post Zendaya & Robert Pattinson’s <i>The Drama</i> Director Justified Dating Teenager In Resurfaced Essay! WTF! appeared first on Perez Hilton.