People love Lolita vibes, people like cool, sassy young women and girls. Films like Kick Ass, Let the right one in, Stranger Things, Battle Angel, etc, plus a fuck tonne of anime. I don’t think the majority of it is paedophilic, rather it’s the unique juxtaposition. Small, harmless girl is a actually a badass. There is something to be said about the fact that they also tend to need to be conventionally pretty.

Also, the Lolita vibes in this film are pretty much completely in one direction, the young girl is infatuated with the older guy, and it’s kind of comical and clumsy as well as awkward. The directors cut has a LOT more of the Lolita stuff in it.

It’s a hard subject to cover, but it’s a dynamic that exists irl, and so art, like cinema, should be able to tackle it.

Leon is trying to be a father figure, of sorts, and no line is ever crossed.

It left me feeling uneasy when I rewatched it recently, but I don’t think the subject matter should be banned from film.