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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Sex / History / Books / Film Here and There

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:05 PM

Here—a half-century of smut, thanks to Lady Chatterly's Lover (NYT):

Today is the 50th anniversary of the court ruling that overturned America’s obscenity laws, setting off an explosion of free speech — and also, in retrospect, splashing cold water on the idea, much discussed during Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, that judges are “umpires” rather than agents of social change.

The historic case began on May 15, 1959, when Barney Rosset, the publisher of Grove Press, sued the Post Office for confiscating copies of the uncensored version of D. H. Lawrence’s 1928 novel “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” which had long been banned for its graphic sex scenes...

There—the Saudi Film Festival is canceled because movies, even sexless movies, are "moral pollution" (BBC):

Directors, writers and cinema buffs had arrived in Jeddah for what had been billed as a week-long festival of films from Saudi Arabia and neighbouring states.

The festival was due to begin on Saturday. But an hour before midnight on Friday the organisers were told by the Jeddah municipality to cancel it.

The only official explanation was that the event had not been sufficiently prepared.

But it is widely believed the ban is the latest victory for religious conservatives, who regard cinema as a form of Western moral pollution.

Comments (19) RSS

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I would like to point out that Lady Chatterley's Lover is not a great book. My guess is that because DH Lawrence wanted to write a smutty book while also writing about serious topics (ie, the industrialization of Britain post-war, and the new liberation of women), the book wasn't looked at seriously by an editor.

And, sadly, the book needed it. We might remember it today as a more substantial book if it were 30 pages shorter.

Posted by arts&letters on July 21, 2009 at 12:11 PM

Religion is a form of moral pollution

Posted by Urgutha Forka on July 21, 2009 at 12:19 PM

Now imagine that the Kindle was the primary source of publication prior to that ruling. We may have never heard or Lady Chatterley's Lover. They would have reached out and obliterated it.

Posted by The Amazing Jim

on July 21, 2009 at 12:26 PM

Yeah, those Western movies are just way to corrupt for those Saudis. They'll just stick to nice, wholesome things like cutting peoples' heads off.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on July 21, 2009 at 12:47 PM

Let's celebrate this momentous anniversary with a trip to the theater for a special showing of Comstock! The Musical.

Posted by Mrs. Charming Thoroughgood

on July 21, 2009 at 12:48 PM

Religion is an obscenity. The history of religion shows it is the enemy of freedom and advancement of justice.

Posted by Vince on July 21, 2009 at 12:51 PM

they are right, though, the movies would corrupt their values.

Posted by in-frequent on July 21, 2009 at 1:07 PM

Never forget that the Talibangelists in America, like their Saudi brethren, all hate South Pacific and other American musicals.

Do a favor for the world, send a DVD of Beach Blanket Bingo or To Sweden With Love to a Saudi free today!

Posted by Will in Seattle

on July 21, 2009 at 1:22 PM

@1: You know, I slogged through Lady Chatterley's Lover about six months ago, and I have to agree with you. I love me some DH Lawrence, but I found LCL surprisingly weak. I'll take Sons and Lovers over tiresome Lady Chatterley any day.

Also - and this is a serious question - what do they do for fun in the Kingdom of Saud? I just watched a YouTube video in which an English-speaking Saudi woman explains that her child is watching Islamic cartoons. You can tell they're Islamic because there's just singing, no music, she says, because music is forbidden by Islam.

So let me get this straight: no music, no pets, no booze, no mixing it up with members of the opposite sex...and no movies? Really? Plus beards and abayas?

What's the upside of being Saudi?

Posted by TVDinner

on July 21, 2009 at 1:30 PM

America's obscenity laws shot down, and EXACTLY TEN YEARS LATER we land a man on the moon! Think what we can accomplish in another decade if we LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE! Best wishes.

Posted by Timmytee on July 21, 2009 at 1:32 PM