Earlier this week, I was talking to a friend about l'affair Polanski, and she brought up a really good point: Remember the "Hounddog" controversy? (No? Then you might remember the "Dakota Fanning Rape Movie" controversy.) In that case, a female writer-director, Deborah Kampmeier, was excoriated for depicting a fictional child rape -- via close-ups on a clothed Fanning's face and hands, not simulated intercourse -- to tell a story about, among other things, the way victims are silenced. Outrage over the use of a 12-year-old actress in a rape scene, spearheaded by conservative groups like Concerned Women for America, brought the independent film national attention -- and yes, Virginia (and Carol), there is such a thing as bad publicity. Theater chains backed out of showing the movie. Protesters called the district attorney's office in Wilmington, N.C., where the movie was shot, demanding that Kampmeier be prosecuted for child pornography. The filmmaker received death threats.