Well, it hit parts of Utah, except for at least one suburb of Salt Lake City. Y'seen the ever-alert manager of the Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons in Sandy, Utah decided at the last possible minute to not play the movie. This was after he signed a contract saying that he would play it.
Naturally, this marketing whiz did not say why he chose to not play an award-winning movie. While he had no comment, AP/CNN quoted a local activist group:
Gayle Ruzicka, president of the conservative Utah Eagle Forum, said not showing the film set an example for the people of Utah.
"I just think (pulling the show) tells the young people especially that maybe there is something wrong with this show," she said.
Well, it's good to know that the Utah Eagle Forum claims to know "wrong."
Let's take a moment and observe what Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons does deem acceptable to play this weekend shall we?
- Casanova
- Cheaper by the Dozen 2
- Désolation magnifique: Marcher sur la Lune
- Fun With Dick & Jane
- Grandma's Boy
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Hostel
- King Kong
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Munich
- Rumor Has It...
- Syriana
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Family Stone
- The Magic of Flight
- The Producers
- The Ringer
(This movie listings are according to IMDB Showtimes.)
So this theater will readily censor a well-made, unconventional love story. But it will not hesitate to make a buck from a movie that glorifies torture and murder (Hostel) or a movie where a heterosexual leaps from woman to woman (Casanova), or a movie where, some people claim, every gay character is portrayed as a preening stereotype (The Producers), or a movie that, some people claim, promotes Satanism because it involves magic (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
Now there are some red state family values for you!
In a online message board from the Salt Lake City area, a few people have reported that Brokeback Mountain is doing well in the other cinemas that it's playing in. And this movie, still not playing nationally, has broken into the top ten moneymakers for the weekend.
And the most popular movie in the country? Well, this weekend it was Hostel, a movie that's basically a slaughterfest. And that's a more acceptable movie for teens to see than Brokeback Mountain? What's wrong with this picture?
