In the Center for Women Students Resource Room, a student-initiated petition with about 30 signatures lies on the table. Along with the petition, a memo reading "Put the Red Light on Green Card" asks people to boycott the film.

During a recent interview with Richard Corliss of Time magazine, France's most acclaimed actor confirmed the rumor that he participated in his first rape at age 9 and that more followed throughout his childhood.

Gerard Depardieu ("Green Card"), who ran away to Paris from his small-town home at an early age, admits to the rapes and is quoted by Corliss in the article as saying the rapes were "absolutely normal in those circumstances. This was part of my childhood."

Within the context of the article, sympathy apparently falls on the actor. This treatment has caught the ire of some University women who have created a petition to the magazine, expressing the view that the victims of Depardieu's childhood crimes should receive the sympathy.

"If accurately quoted, he clearly has no shame, no remorse, and no feeling of compassion for his victims," said Sabrina Chapman, director of the Center for Women Students.

Students expressed mixed reactions to the boycott.

"I don't plan on seeing the movie, because it will be like giving acceptance to what he's done in the past," said Erin Lantzy (junior-music education), who signed the petition. "Morally and socially, I just can't go see it." She also expressed belief in employing a tactic consumers use to show support or disapproval. "It's not the movie I'm against, it's him, but in order to get to him I have to be against the movie," she said.

Elizabeth Morrison (sophomore-anthropology), who has seen the film, has a different view. "I loved the movie, and then I read the article, but it didn't change the movie," she said. "Just because the man is morally reprehensible, and he is, you can't take that away from him, the fact that he played a part in a really beautiful film," she said.

Separating performer from film, Natalie Witt (junior-human development and family studies) objects to the treatment of Depardieu in Corliss' article. "I felt that they made him out to be a hero," she said. "They were praising him throughout the article." Depardieu's apparent nonchalance toward his crimes seemed to bother her as well. "It's like he was excusing himself -- it shows no sympathy for people who had been raped," she said.

In France, Depardieu is toasted as the top actor of our era. "We don't really care about people's privacy," said Valerie Slager, a French native and teaching assistant in the French department. "We don't look for details about their life." She pointed out with celebrated people, such as political figures, the French people commonly knew prime ministers have had mistresses. "We consider more the man in the cinema and his performance," she said.

Still, she said, his crimes may have an effect on the French audience. "I'm kind of disturbed by this information, " she said. "This is maybe going to alter his image."