‘The Kite Runner’ Is Delayed to Protect Child Stars - New York Times

‘The Kite Runner’ Is Delayed to Protect Child Stars - New York Times:

"LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3 — The studio distributing “The Kite Runner,” a tale of childhood betrayal, sexual predation and ethnic tension in Afghanistan, is delaying the film’s release to get its three schoolboy stars out of Kabul — perhaps permanently — in response to fears that they could be attacked for their enactment of a culturally inflammatory rape scene."

"...issues stemming from the rising lawlessness in Kabul..."

"...warnings have been relayed to the studio from Afghan and American officials and aid workers that the movie could aggravate simmering enmities between the politically dominant Pashtun and the long-oppressed Hazara.

In an effort to prevent not only a public-relations disaster but also possible violence, studio lawyers and marketing bosses have employed a stranger-than-fiction team of consultants. In August they sent a retired Central Intelligence Agency counterterrorism operative in the region to Kabul to assess the dangers facing the child actors. And on Sunday a Washington-based political adviser flew to the United Arab Emirates to arrange a safe haven for the boys and their relatives.

“If we’re being overly cautious, that’s O.K.,” Karen Magid, a lawyer for Paramount, said. “We’re in uncharted territory.”

"...grappling with vexing questions: testing the limits of corporate responsibility, wondering who was exploiting whom and pondering the price of on-screen authenticity."

"In late July, with violence worsening in Kabul, studio executives looked for experts who could help them chart a safe course. Aided by lobbyists for Viacom, Paramount’s parent company, they found John Kiriakou, the retired C.I.A. operative with experience in the region, and had him conduct interviews in Washington and Kabul."

If film productions are effectively little states-within-states, like Easterling's tourism model, then this is what happens when such a network has unforseen crossover with a different, regional/cultural network. The walls breach. Oops.

But more importantly, imagine the "stranger-than-fiction team of consultants" that you would send to reconnoiter this problematic crossover snaring your global network. Would it ever, ever include an architect?

No, we have made ourselves useless, dead weight, in the hard-hiting mobile-operator class of disciplines that get things done in the world's most unique, difficult, and critical places.

Lacuna Force 5.