Dave Z. wrote:
>And as far
>as Kevin's comment about this movie being unavailable
in Britain until
>recently sounds like pure hypocrisy - I'm sure far
worse has been shown
>over the years there.
Oh, no doubt. The nightly news, for example. Soccer games.
Lady Di documentaries.
>If you're going to discredit a movie or
book
>because it's been banned somewhere, than you're going
to have to include
>"Paths of Glory" (banned for years in France) and
"Solomon's Vineyard"
>(banned in US for a number of years) and a large
number of other great
>works.
... and also a lot of tasteless, gratuitous stuff by
faux-tough wankers who think offending people has anything at
all to do with toughness. It doesn't.
Just because something's banned doesn't mean it's good. STRAW
DOGS is not a great lost masterpiece, nor is it one of
Peckingpah's best. And it certainly doesn't rank up there
with either PATHS OF GLORY or SOLOMON'S VINEYARD.
Anyway, my comment about the film STRAW DOGS being banned in
England for several years is just a statement of fact --
there's nothing hypocritical about my statement. I hope you
weren't suggesting otherwise.
But if you mean the actual censorship of it is hypocritical,
well, that's different. Because almost all censorship
--whether it's pulling for movie for juicy bits, banning a
rap song from the airwaves or pulling the plug on Tim Robbins
in the middle of a national television broadcast -- is
ultimately inherently hypocritical.
And Peckingpah did change the story when he filmed it --
Hoffman's character may have wondered about his wife, but
it's in the novel, at least, it's clear she didn't enjoy
being raped. I mean, does anyone besides Andrew Luster think
people WANT to be raped?
A lot of people might find that offensive -- which I'm sure
was Peckingpah's intention -- but that doesn't mean I think
it should have been banned.
--
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