I was asked to write this article for a publication so it’s not a typical post. I hope to not only use this platform to spread the word but get your input. You can make comments to the post or if you see edits I should make, you can email me coachsuzette@gmail.com. Thanks!
A shocking title for a shameful subject that could cause you to think something absolutely contrary to the truth. The movie Rape For Profit was produced by Cedar Park Christian School alumni to shed light on the truth of what is happening within our own communities and to challenge our thinking regarding these ‘naughty girls’ by exposing what it means to be part of this industry.
Ignoring this shameful subject, we have turned a blind eye to the fact that most girls who get involved in prostitution are between the ages of 11 and 14. Through coercion, manipulation, lies and brainwashing these little girls become slaves to their pimp – sex slaves. As a society we have thought of prostitutes as women who have chosen a lifestyle of lust and greed. This movie exposes the fact that we have bought into a lie that is absolutely contrary to the truth.
Huffington Post writer Mark Joseph calls the film “a gritty look at inner-city Seattle’s growing problem with human trafficking.” Acknowledging that the movie is not for the faint of heart, he believes it to be a movie of extreme importance. John Carlson of KVI radio says,“It is a searing documentary and I guarantee it will give you a perspective that you have not heard in the mainstream media.”
Crowds streamed to Lincoln Square Cinemas in December to see the documentary produced by Mew Films. With many sold out shows, the theater asked to extend the showing an additional week. Eric Esau, who founded Mew Films in ’08, said, “It was pretty exciting for our first feature film to be running alongside The Hobbit and Skyfall and what was really neat is it had one of the top 10 highest grossing opening weekends on a per screen average this year.”
Besides the theater showing, the MSN Causes website hosted the film in January. During that month it had over 1 million views.
Although it was Mew’s first feature film the same crew has been making movies together since junior high school. Esau, Jason Pamer and six other Cedar Park grads were a tight knit group at Cedar Park. So tight, they gave themselves a name, “The Nations,” because they determined that whatever they did in life, they wanted it to affect the nations. Their website says, “The Mew Films crew is a collection of guys who have grown up together, who then left to study and hone their craft and have now reunited….” Shay Carlucci, Nathan Gemmet, Douglas Haines and Riley Taylor, all part of “The Nations” make up the Mew Film crew for Rape For Profit. There were two others who were part of “The Nations,” Flavius Stercuic who is currently attending the Hillsong school of worship and Jansen Braaten, a financial advisor. They too will be joining the crew at Mew to make their next feature film – a true story about a family who escaped communist Romania.
Esau said, “Making movies was just what we did and Cedar Park always encouraged us to pursue our dreams. We made a short film that they showed in chapel and that was the first time I saw how what I did touched and influenced people. It was the first time I realized that I could do something with film that mattered.” With encouragement at home and at school, they were kids who believed they could do what they were passionate about – use film to affect the nations. Now they have done just that.
They were inspired after viewing a movie called The Playground about the national epidemic of sexual exploitation of children. They said, ‘watching that movie wrecked us and we just wanted to do something. We were prompted to investigate the problem in our area” and shocked to find out that Seattle has the 3rd largest number of child prostitutes in the nation. King County alone has as many as 750 girls sold each year according to Dr. Debra Boyer, leading expert and author of “Who Pays The Price? Assessment of Youth Involvement in Child Prostitution in Seattle.” These staggering numbers were enough to cause Pamer and Esau to begin prayerfully considering what they could do. They thought, “What we do best is make movies, so let’s make a movie about it – that is what we have to offer.”
Taylor, put it this way, “Our film doesn’t attack the issue from an activist point of view. My goal as an editor was to provoke the heart, to alter perspective and change how we see these women. We tell stories through film. Our hope is to change the world through stories. Of course the greater goal is for people to see their need for Jesus.” Haines says, “Making R4P had a deep personal impact on my view of prostitution, internet pornography, and rape. It changed everything I thought about the sex trade and opened my eyes to an entire world that I should have known existed.”
Pamer and Esau are very clear in stating that their goal was to show how these young girls and women are victimized and vilified and expose the reality that it is the pimps and the johns (men who buy prostitutes) who are despicable criminals who are robbing little girls of their childhood and women of their dignity.
Darly, a woman whose heart-wrenching story is told throughout Rape For Profit, escaped and is now middle aged. She ran away, to Seattle from another city, with only a beater car and little dog. Twenty years after leaving that horrific life she still struggles, but for the first time she’s been given a voice. Not only did she tell her story in the film, she came to see it at Lincoln Center and was invited to come forward at the end to say a few words. She received a huge round of applause. Esau says that giving these women a voice is one of the most rewarding things about having made the film – seeing captives set free.
While many of us are aware of the international sex slave trade problem, most of us believe it is mainly an issue in third world countries. Not so. It looks different here because girls are generally not kidnapped, they are lured. Our pimps are sly and skilled at keeping their crimes below the radar. They know how to side step every question the authorities ask, hide their tax free earnings (upwards of $400K), quickly get rid of evidence and brainwash and train their girls to do the same. These girls, longing to be loved, are convinced their pimps do, in fact, love and care for them. Yet when asked if they want to be on the streets, most say no.
Girls susceptible to being enslaved by a pimp are often runaways who are running from something. When we take a look into what they are running from, we begin to understand how they could be so deceived. A large percentage of them have been sexually abused as children. Broken homes with alcoholic and/or drug addicted parents and physical abuse is typical. Becoming homeless makes them an easy target for pimps.
Many are picked up in malls. Even at our most upscale malls like Bellevue Square, girls are watched and preyed upon. Looking for girls with a longing to be loved, pimps entice them with all kinds of lies and promises. Their innocence is stripped by men who trick them into believing they will love and care for them. At the beginning, they treat them like princesses and capture their hearts. They develop relationships with them over weeks and months eventually enticing them to come be part of their ‘community’. One of the girls in the movie said, “people want to be a part of a community no matter how bad the community is.” Another said, “Somebody wanted me, a terrible person, but somebody.”
When the time comes that a woman is no longer valuable to their pimp, they have nothing. Getting out of a pimp’s control is extremely difficult but, by the grace of God, some do. Places like the Genesis Project are there to help, but more help for these women is needed. These girls and women have no one to turn to outside their sick and corrupt community. They’ve been victimized and robbed of everything. The stories told in the movie are compelling proof of this fact.
Pimps only stay in business because there is huge market for their product. The johns that buy them come from all walks of life. Esau is convinced that many of these men have no idea what they are doing. They hope the movie will open the eyes of these men and reduce the market demand.
It takes heightened awareness to bring people to action. Because of the help of people like Jada Pinket Smith, wife of Will Smith, more people will have the opportunity to see Rape For Profit. She heard about the film and asked producers to fly to LA for a private viewing with her. She is now playing an active role in helping post production promotion. By gathering the support of other celebrities they hope to have a tremendous number of views when the movie comes out on multiple VOD (video on demand) platforms this summer.
Who did what?
Jason Pamer- Producer/Co-Director/Writer
Eric Esau- Director/Co-Producer/Writer
Shay Carlucci- Associate Producer
Douglas Haines- Associate Producer/Director of Marketing
Riley Taylor- Asst. Editor/Sound Designer/Colorist
Nathan Gemmet- Music Composer (co-written with Michael Rath)
Their thanks goes to the Executive Producers:
Jada Pinkett Smith
Passport Unlimited
Champion’s Foundation
Steve & Susan Esau
Paress Salinas
Luke 12:48 Foundation
Christen & Shauna Esau
Roger & Terri Blier
Richard & Sarah Mueller
Jordyn Cline
Liberty Road Foundation