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Sunday, October 08, 2006
Theaters Balk on Bush Death Film
Yahoo! News: "Some of the country's biggest theater chains are reportedly refusing to screen Death of a President, the controversial British-made drama that depicts a fictional assassination of President George W. Bush."
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Regardless of the message of the movie, having a large image of our current president being killed is a horrible idea. Tensions are high with the president, and many people find him to be a moron or the worst thing to happen to the US, but he still should not be killed over it. Some crazy will walk into that theater, view that movie, and shot the president. I cannot wait to rent it, after Bush is out of office. On the other hand… any movie should be able to be played at any time. Freedom can sometimes walk a fine line of safety. This is a discussion you do not want to have with me (or my roommate). Art is art, it can be offensive, crude, gross, and beautiful. Art has a time and place as well. Lets just wait a few years before we partake in this art.
It's hard to make judgement on whether or not movie distributors are being fair in their choice of passing on the film without actually having viewed the film, for while it is no doubt risque material, there is, I'm sure a tasteful way of presenting it. But regardless it does seem a bit tactless to portray a living person, no matter what position, temperment, intelligence, etc., being assasinated. It simply doesn't bode well. Especially if the person being killed is as influential as the president of the united states. And while many people do not agree with the current leader and his cabinet's decisions, even more apparently do, and a film depicting his death would be not only rude, but insulting.
Although I am opposed to the idea of a current president being shot to death in a movie, it still should have the right to be screened. Part of having freedom of expression is the acceptance of people's views that are diametrically opposed to yours. This however seems like a case where the movie is simply being judged based on the title. The article leads one to believe that instead of the popular anti-Bush criticism, the movie actually has a sympathetic view towards him. It'll be interesting to see how this movie is recieved, and how it will be viewed in later years, once the president is out of office.
3 comments:
Regardless of the message of the movie, having a large image of our current president being killed is a horrible idea. Tensions are high with the president, and many people find him to be a moron or the worst thing to happen to the US, but he still should not be killed over it. Some crazy will walk into that theater, view that movie, and shot the president. I cannot wait to rent it, after Bush is out of office.
On the other hand… any movie should be able to be played at any time. Freedom can sometimes walk a fine line of safety. This is a discussion you do not want to have with me (or my roommate). Art is art, it can be offensive, crude, gross, and beautiful. Art has a time and place as well. Lets just wait a few years before we partake in this art.
-Julie
It's hard to make judgement on whether or not movie distributors are being fair in their choice of passing on the film without actually having viewed the film, for while it is no doubt risque material, there is, I'm sure a tasteful way of presenting it. But regardless it does seem a bit tactless to portray a living person, no matter what position, temperment, intelligence, etc., being assasinated. It simply doesn't bode well. Especially if the person being killed is as influential as the president of the united states. And while many people do not agree with the current leader and his cabinet's decisions, even more apparently do, and a film depicting his death would be not only rude, but insulting.
-Samantha Englender
Although I am opposed to the idea of a current president being shot to death in a movie, it still should have the right to be screened. Part of having freedom of expression is the acceptance of people's views that are diametrically opposed to yours. This however seems like a case where the movie is simply being judged based on the title. The article leads one to believe that instead of the popular anti-Bush criticism, the movie actually has a sympathetic view towards him. It'll be interesting to see how this movie is recieved, and how it will be viewed in later years, once the president is out of office.
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