I knew nothing about this "mishap," but thanks to Salon and Broadsheet, now I know all about it.

That Salon would use Dakota Fanning's issues to LURE me to this blog and make this POST!

HAVE YOU NO SHAME???

I feel so used.

Used and dirty.

Joan, how could you?

Is there some kind of support group?

I didn't want to, but I was laughing with this post, remembering my own plethora of mishaps. I can laugh at it now, but it's mortifying when you're younger. However, methinks that is fake blood ... in one of the pictures you can see the make-up artist with a tube of red liquid. Nevertheless, men should run for their lives - just to be on the safe side. Har!

i just looked at the pics and it must be fake. no girl just stands there surrounded by people yawning if it were her real blood.

and this is just and incredibly dumb post. poor dakota fanning

I gotta say, you sound a bit overly worked up about this. I mean, blood running down the thighs of anyone is gross, and it being a child is only worse. If it's menstrual blood, fine, but it's still blood. Next you'll tell me that the blogosphere is impugning her right to ovulate

That is SOOOO JUVENILE! I mean, who wrote that anyway?

Frankly, if I was still a teenager, I'd think more along the lines of "Mmmmm, yummy!". See, some of us are sensitive.

Goooo, Red Wings!

Dakota Fanning seems pretty with-it, and if this was a female-trouble accident, she doesn't strike me as the type that would just stand around yawning and let a make-up lady with wet wipes clean blood off her legs. Besides, I think the make-up ladies would probably hand her a Kotex, not just clean her up.

I mean, you're told or you realize that uh-oh, there's Niagra Falls going on, you go to the bathroom to either put on a pad or tampon or change the leaking one, and while you're in there, you clean up everything else as best as you can.

D. Dakota Fanning has hit puberty? Wasn't it just yesterday when she was the precocious little blonde girl with no front teeth? God, I'm old!!!!!!!!

Either Dakota Fanning is walking around in matching outfits with a girlfriend and standing around sort of bored-looking while someone comes over and cleans menstrual blood off her leg with a handy container of Wet Ones...

Or she's shooting a film.

... that your writing has found its proper level, Ms. Williams.

Of course, I'd expect Salon to feature Ms. Fanning's accident as the site's prime photo for at least some time this afternoon, all in the guise of being oh, so concerned about what it says about the banality of modern media.

Because, as we know, Salon is above that sort of thing.

There are plenty of juveniles on the internet(s) and they post (surprise!) juvenile thoughts sometimes.

I distinctly remember being 11 or 12 when I found out about menstruation and my reaction was pretty much "Ewww, gross". I've gotten over it since.

I've also heard many a girl exclaim worse when referring to another girl's period as well. Why do we assume the comment was from a boy?

Word to the wise: Don't hang out on celeb sites and you'll definitely cut out about 80-90% of the stupid, juvenile comments web-wise...

You'll see the person dabbing her legs has a bottle of red liquid. They are applying the blood for the scene. WTF?

Yup, this will bite broadsheet in the ass if it turns out it was just make up for the set.

I honestly don't get the fetish some rabid feminist have with periods. I dated this girl who was a self-proclaimed "womanist" who had tampons and tampon wrappers all over her apartment. I could understand having them in the bathroom, but I asked about her having them on the coffee table and she got all bitchy at me; she was probably using one at the time which would explain her snapping at me and telling me it was none of my business.

There are some things feminism will never conquer, and one of those things are menstruation taboos. They're what, only about 5000 years old, not to mention some what valid; a menstruating woman is like having a ticking time bomb flush to your face.

that makes me wonder how many people make it through, day by day, not killing themselves out of shear stupidity.

It is movie set. How could the context be more obvious?

Since the movie is, apparently, about a punk girl band, it surely has something to do with the plot. Having gone out with punk chicks in my younger days, I can assure you that menstruation was not necessarily something to hide within that subculture. And it's quite possible that within the confines of the movie script, the blood may have been part of the stage "outfit".

It seems to me that, if this was legit, Fanning would just go to the restroom or her trailer and address the issue, or have someone address it for her, apparently. To stand there in public and call further attention to it seems absurd. But then, Hollywood doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Fake.

Two things essentially "prove" this.

First, she looks pretty blase about the whole thing. But perhaps she's just blessed with incredible cool. The real giveaway is that the folks cleaning up aren't wearing gloves. I'm pretty sure that OSHA regs - if not common sense - would dictate a little latex here if the blood was real.

But how refreshing to see a (potential) scenario in a movie that has been experienced by countless girls in real life.

It's in a movie about The Runaways.

She's playing Cherie freakin' Curie.

So the proper response is

Hello Daddy, hello Mom,

I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-CHERRY BOMB!

(So...who plays Joan Jett?)

is the thought of a 15yo girl unable to clean up after herself if she had a tampax mishap. I know stardom kills brain cells at an alarming rate, often rendering reasonable people into intellectual houseplants, but I can't imagine a 15yo girl allowing her handlers to clean her up in view of the entire cast, crew, and idiots with cell phone cameras. Were this a real accident, I'm hopeful Ms Fanning would have excused herself to the ladies' room, wet wipes in hand, and dealt with it herself.