I can't make these things up

[fredericks]

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- A Massachusetts correctional officer is being disciplined for showing the gay cowboy movie "Brokeback Mountain" to inmates at the state's largest prison because his boss determined that the film includes content inappropriate for a prison setting.
...
::blinks; rubs eyes; looks at byline again::
...
It's official...*ded*
Please send letters of condolences to fredericks@livejournal.com. Thank you.

***
Yesterday when I'd log onto AOL.com one of the headlines read "Prince goes to strip club". Every time I went over there I'd read the headline and say to myself "why the hell does it matter if Prince goes to a strip club? the man wrote 'Darling Nikki', fer chrissake!" And everytime I'd have to click on the link and read the story to figure out they were referring to Prince Harry.

Comments

[juanitadark.livejournal.com]

You see the logic at work here, right? Violation of your man parts is okay but consentual lovage, clearly not on.

'Masculinity' as it stands today has a lot to answer for. Although, so does stupidity.

I wonder if they show PRISON BREAK or OZ in prisons?

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

my boyfriend works in a prison library. the rule there states that they cannot show any films that feature prisons, even if portrayed in an "enlightened" manner (like the shawshank redemption). his coworker got in trouble for showing hustle and flow; apparently the pimp-slapping was okay, but the last ten minutes? not so much.

fredericks, if you're upset by the reuters article, you might want to avoid reading the boston herald's version of same...

[juanitadark.livejournal.com]

Definitely no to the aforementioned then. But say, Pulp Fiction or Deliverance would be okay.

I mean is it banned on the context of giving them ideas (of escape) or representing a certain reality? Actually, don't answer that, I don't want to know.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Oh, check out the headline from the Boston Herald modpixie told me about: "JAIL BARS `BROKEBACK' VIEWING; Warden turns movie off, didn't want cons turned on". That's honest, if nothing else. Or just snideness from the BH writer.

Funny you bring up Deliverance, because I was thinking about that myself. Is it sex that's the problem? Gay sex? or actual loving relationships? I suppose I wouldn't mind if they don't show something like "Bound" or any other movie with love scenes, no matter what the orientation of those involved. I just found the Brokeback headline funny, and that's probably the only reason it was considered noteworthy.

[juanitadark.livejournal.com]

I think it's consentual gay sex that they take issue with (in terms of the 'threat' it represents to male heterosexuality). Apparently they have no issue with the penis as a concealed weapon but two guys loving each other?! Wtf?! Shut that down immediately.

I'm starting to think that what happens in prisons is (while not natural by any means) a logical overflow of what passes for masculinity in this particular society. It's 'masculinity' taken it's disturbing extreme.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

But we have no clue unless we look at federal mandates regarding what's allowed as prison tv viewing. Perhaps any movies with overtly sexual tones aren't allowed, and there's both het and homo love scenes in Brokeback. It'd be something interesting to look into. I'll add it to my Easter Break research queue.

Same-sex coupling in prison (male and female institutions) seems to be a circumstance of the situation. I'd think it's hard to get numbers on the matter, but I do agree with you to some extent re: male/male couplings.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

JAIL BARS `BROKEBACK' VIEWING; Warden turns movie off, didn't want cons turned on; [1st Edition]
Well, GODDAMN! If I wasn't dead before I sure as hell would have died now. Bwah!!!

[darker-one.livejournal.com]

Yesterday when I'd log onto AOL.com one of the headlines read "Prince goes to strip club". Every time I went over there I'd read the headline and say to myself "why the hell does it matter if Prince goes to a strip club? the man wrote 'Darling Nikki', fer chrissake!" And everytime I'd have to click on the link and read the story to figure out they were referring to Prince Harry.

LOL! I had the same reaction.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

lol!! Oh, thank goodness. I was wondering if I truly was going mad. You'd think that they could throw the first name in there to avoid boggling the mind of the populace.

[anogete.livejournal.com]

Yesterday when I'd log onto AOL.com one of the headlines read "Prince goes to strip club". Every time I went over there I'd read the headline and say to myself "why the hell does it matter if Prince goes to a strip club? the man wrote 'Darling Nikki', fer chrissake!" And everytime I'd have to click on the link and read the story to figure out they were referring to Prince Harry.

I'm not exactly sure why, but this made me laugh so hard.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

:) When I think on my idiocy I can't help but laugh myself.