Oklahoma City Museum of Art bans BAD EDUCATION

This may not be of interest to all of our readers, but I think it is an important story anyway. We have readers all over the globe, who may not realize how repressive things are getting in the United States, but I think this story will give you a good idea. If you wonder why things are so messed up on a big scale, you have to look at it on a microscopic level. So bear with me and we will get back to the Lindsey Lohan news soon.

A few years ago the museum in Oklahoma City went through a major renovation and move to a new location. The new location included a historic theater and the fact that it was going to be turned into an art-house cinema was much hyped. When the museum and theater finally opened it did seem like the theater was going to be the answer the the prayers of cinema lovers in the city. But now, in an increasingly conservative climate the museum has decided to cancel the showing of Pedro Almodovar’s brilliant BAD EDUCATION. 

If you’ve seen BAD EDUCATION, you will know that it deals with some dark and challenging themes. But you will also probably recognize that it is a brave and in my opinion brilliant film. Almodovar is in the upper echelon of world cinema directors today. So why was BAD EDUCATION cancelled?

Simple.

The film deals with homosexual themes. It shows some guys having sex. But it doesn’t depict the sex in a way that’s any more shocking than a standard heterosexual love scene. There is no full frontal nudity and no penetration. In fact, I have seen more graphic sex on an episode of the standard cable show THE SHIELD. But the problem here is… it’s GAY.

Which brings us back to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. It’s a decent museum in a very nice building, but for me the part of the museum that showed the most potential was the Noble Theater. It’s a great facility headed up by Brian Hearn, who really know and loves cinema. I have had some great movie going experiences there, including seeing RAGING BULL projected for the first time.

Hearn was fortunate enough to secure a pristine print of BAD EDUCATION. The film was booked, promoted via the Museum e-mail list and excitement was building around town. Then apparently the museum board got wind of the fact that the film featured (***censored***) sexual content. A meeting was convened and by the end of the meeting, BAD EDUCATION was cancelled as well as an appearance by Todd Solondz who was scheduled to speak at the theater and screen his upcoming film PALINDROMES.

The following is excerpted from an e-mail sent by Hearn to his list of cinephiles:

RE: BAD EDUCATION

In response to numerous inquiries about Pedro Almodovar’s BAD EDUCATION originally scheduled for March 24 – 27, it is my duty to inform you that the Museum’s board of directors voted not to screen the film due to concerns about the film’s NC-17 rating. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. The all-ages replacement for this film is THE MYSTERY OF PICASSO which is wonderful.

Sure, THE MYSTERY OF PICASSO is a great film… but this isn’t the 1950’s — not even in Oklahoma. The cancellation of this film caused quite a firestorm in the Oklahoma City community. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, it is, as you might expect an ultra-conservative area. But there is a small passionate group hard at work behind the scenes trying to reinvigorate culture in the city. The cancellation of BAD EDUCATION and what this means for programming at the museum in the future is a discouraging blow.

So why am I writing about this on Cinema Eye. We probably have more readers in Toronto than we do in Oklahoma City. I feel that this is important because it’s symptomatic of what is happening in the United States on a microscopic scale. There is a shift happening that is taking us backwards… it is anti-intellectual, anti-cultural and anti-art. On a microscopic level the war is being won by frightened small-minded bureaucrats and committee members who are scared of angering the religious right. The result of this is that art and culture suffer.

The conservative right wingers of the world are squeaky wheels. But the lovers of art and culture are too quiet. After all, we are busy seeking artistic and cultural experiences, if not creating it ourselves. But this fight needs to be fought every where we find it, no matter how small the town or city. If we allow the right to win, we might as well steamroll the cultural districts all across the country and put up NASCAR tracks in their place.

So, if this strikes a chord in you at all, I would encourage you to send a polite e-mail to museum director Brian Hearn (bhearn@okcmoa.com) and congratulate him on fighting the good fight. He is definitely one of the good guys. Secondly, I would encourage you to send an e-mail to Oklahoma City Museum of Art director Carolyn Hill (chill@okcmoa.com) and express your dismay that an important piece of cinema is being banned in Oklahoma City due to the small-mindedness of the museum’s board of directors.

BAD EDUCATION is a really great movie and definitely worth seeking out. Thanks for taking the time to read this.