Today a review is taking place of the Chief Censor’s decision in regard to a revolting French film – Baise-Moi.

The film is disgusting and disturbing in the extreme. It contains explicit scenes of sex, violence and drug taking. But worse still the story line revolves around two people who embark on a serial killing spree, picking on innocent victims at random. They clearly take huge delight in committing these gruesome murders.

This is a dreadful film, but nevertheless quite definitely capable of being injurious to the public good. There should be no place for it in New Zealand, or anywhere for that matter.

By releasing it, albeit on a limited basis, there is significant risk of some person or persons embarking on a trail of copy-cat crime.

I have written in an endeavor to make the reviewers aware of this so they should act with caution. If they support the Chief Censor’s decision, and there is some spin-off crime as a result of this film, they all should be prepared to be held accountable. I will do whatever I can to ensure that is so.

Frankly, I am of the opinion that the Chief Censor’s decision to release this film, albeit on a restricted basis, is a gross mistake of such a magnitude that he should be compelled to resign.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>