Thursday, December 20, 2007

Is Torture Not Intended for General Audiences?

This poster has been censored by the
Motion Pictures of America Association (MPAA)
Alex Gibney's documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, which traces the pattern of torture practice from Afghanistan's Bagram prison to Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay. The image in question is a news photo of two U.S. soldiers walking away from the camera with a hooded detainee between them.

According to Variety An MPAA spokesman said:
We treat all films the same. Ads will be seen by all audiences, including children. If the advertising is not suitable for all audiences it will not be approved by the advertising administration.
Is the real reason for MPAA's objection is that the hood makes a documentary about torture seem more like a horror movie?

We can't have that.

Final Presidential Press Conference of 2007

QUESTION: Mr. President, you maybe saw that President Clinton said recently that one of the first actions of a new Clinton administration would be to send Presidents 41 and 42 on a worldwide goodwill mission to restore the country's good name abroad. I wonder if you think such a thing is necessary?