We snipped, we fudged, but nothing we did could budge Larry [the lawyer hired by the producers to vet the film in accordance with the 1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act]. The Comics Scene was about to bite the dust . . .
     "Larry," I said, in my most reasonable tone, "let me ask you something. What does the statute say exactly? . . . What's the wording?"
     "The act outlaws 'any visual depiction . . . where . . . such visual depiction is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.' See, and that 'appears to be' is the point, because --"
     "Larry," I said, "with all due respect, I have to tell you that you have misunderstood the statue. This law says nothing about what appears or doesn't appear to be explicit sex. The definition of 'sexually explicit conduct' remains what it has always been, and there's plenty of legal precedent that has established that. The words 'appears to be' don't refer to the sex, they refer to the child. If there 'appears to be' a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct we're in trouble. But since there is no sexually explicit conduct in this scene, whether the person who is engaged in it appears to be a child or not doesn't matter. If there's no explicit sex, we haven't broken any law."
     We ran the Comics scene again. And this time, Larry said, "You know, I'm beginning to see all the changes you made . . . I think I can live with this. Yeah, this is good. This is good."

SANDMAN MOTEL -- DAY
A fan whirring lazily from an acoustic ceiling. A stucco motel room, grimy but very large. Light is flooding in through white curtains. Near the window Humbert is sitting naked except for his pajama bottoms on a leather armchair, and Lolita is on his lap -- she is wearing nothing but his pajama tops, unbuttoned. For a moment, we cannot quite see what is going on, because Lolita is idly picking at her nose and reading the comics section of a newspaper.

She is totally engrossed, but her hips are moving, and we gradually realize they are making love.

Insert from the comics.

Humbert's face.

Insert from the comics.

Lolita giggles, then moans. The hip movement increases.

Humbert's ecstatic face, eyes closed.

Lolita is breathing faster now, but she's back to the comics.

Insert from the comics.

A fly settles on the page. Lolita shakes it.

Humbert's face.

The fly settles on her belly, which is glistening with sweat, and wanders up toward her breasts. She is breathing quickly.

Insert from the comics.

She flicks the fly away.

Humbert's face.

Lolita's face, reading the comics. She is breathing hard, and her eyes are very bright. She moans again. There seems to be no dividing line between her sexual pleasure and the pleasure she takes in reading the comics.