Some peoples attitudes get worse everyday
Jennis.x
Brokeback brings culture war to Eaton Rapids
Written by Allan Ross
Tuesday, 25 April 2006
When Julianne Geiger and her husband bought Video Vault in Eaton Rapids in 2003, the first thing to go was the porno section.
The second thing was “Boat Trip,” a comedy starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Horatio Sanz as accidental tourists on a gay cruise liner. Geiger pulled it not because it was woefully unfunny and sure to be a non-renter, but because of its gay content. Also yanked were “The Birdcage,” “Philadelphia” and “In & Out.” This month, “Brokeback Mountain” was added to that list.
“If a movie idealizes homosexuality, I’ll pull it,” she says. Geiger, a non-denominational Christian, says that her religion takes a “very clear-cut” stance on homosexuality: It’s a big no-no.
Her beliefs have convinced her to pull dozens of other titles from the shelves of Video Vault, 916 S. Main St., some of which don’t necessarily have gay themes, such as “The Aristocrats,” which humorizes, among other mortal sins, incest and bestiality.
Earlier this month, controversy bloomed anew over “Brokeback Mountain” when the Bahamas Plays and Films Control Board banned the film from the island chain country. Curiously, they claim it was not for its homosexual content but for what they see as a promotion of bisexuality.
While geographic isolation gives Bahamians virtually no way to see “Brokeback,” Eaton Rapids residents have at least two other options: Felpausch Video Time, 1415 S. Main St., and the Movie Market, 115 S. Main St.
Norine Moore, who manages Felpausch Video Time, says she carries seven or eight copies of “Brokeback Mountain” and hasn’t heard a peep about the mini-flack one way or the other.
“I was amazed to find out [Video Vault] wasn’t carrying it,” Moore says. “I think they pushed a lot of business this way because of it.” She says she watched “Brokeback Mountain” with her two teenage daughters — but couldn’t talk her husband into it — and had an uncommon reaction.
“I was mad at the one guy (Jack Twist, Jake Gyllenhaal’s character) for dragging the other guy (Ennis Delmar, Heath Ledger’s character) into that lifestyle,” she says. “But both my daughters thought it was sad.”
“We carry pretty much everything,” says Krista, who works up the street at Movie Market. “We’re not prejudiced.”
Krista, who declined to give her last name, says that “Brokeback” has been a popular renter since its release on April 4, and none of her customers have objected to its gay themes.
“Most people who have seen it said it was tasteful,” she says. “I just thought the scenery was pretty.”
According to the U.S Census Bureau, in 2000 (the most current year for which information is available) Eaton Rapids has a population of 5,330, with 96 percent of that being white. The median age is 33. 7, nearly three years younger than the national average, and in the last presidential election Eaton County was almost evenly split, with the slight edge going to Bush.
Thom Norris fits quite neatly into the town’s demographic of young, white and fiscally conservative, but he takes exceptional umbrage with Geiger’s decision.
“I’m not openly gay,” Norris says, “But I’m not exactly in the closet either. This censorship, this caveman mentality, is not what this city is about.”
Norris, who runs the oil change center located next door to Video Vault (and sits on the Eaton Rapids City Council), is angry at his neighbor’s decision to not carry the movie.
“This is not Salt Lake City, Utah,” Norris says, referring to Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller’s decision not to run the movie at his megaplex theater. “This is not Mormon headquarters. This is Michigan. This is 2006. I’m offended by this. We have gone leaps and bounds to move this community into the next century, and businesses like [Video Vault] are trying to hold us back.”
Jim, 67, who wouldn’t give his last name, says that he supports Video Vault’s decision not to carry the movie, saying it’s “not the kind of thing you want to shove down people’s throats.”
“I’m an old guy who grew up in an era when homosexuals were all queers,” he says, watering his lawn half a mile away from town. “I’ve known some homosexuals over the years — I don’t need to see a movie about them. I feel bad for people afflicted by it.”
Geiger says Video Vault offers free rentals of religious-themed DVDs, including the “Veggie Tales” series, “The Gospel of John” and “The Passion of the Christ,” one of the bloodiest odes to God ever put to film.
Geiger says she doesn’t have the same conviction over violent movies as she does gay/lesbian-themed films. Indeed, a poster promoting “Hostel” hangs in the window behind her, a film teeming with graphic depictions of torture and murder, not to mention a gay sex scene more risqué than the one in “Brokeback.”
Geiger admits some people were disgruntled initially at her decision not to carry “Brokeback Mountain,” but the hubbub died down after the first few days.
“But I do have families who have told me they’re glad that they didn’t have to explain to their kids why they couldn’t watch it,” she says.
Geiger says she pulls movies if a renter tells her that the movie has objectionable content, but when asked about other gay/lesbian-themed currently available on her shelves — including “Rent,” “The Hours,” “Interview with the Vampire” and “The Rules of Attraction” — Geiger raises her eyebrows and makes a quick list of them. Video Vault’s collection just got a little smaller.
Link to original source:
http://lansingcitypulse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=29 
