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Iowa City – from www.press-citizen.com – The same “kitschy 1970s” pornographic film University of Iowa leaders canceled a year ago is back on.
“Disco Dolls in Hot Skin (in 3D!),” starring porn icon John Holmes, is scheduled for 11 p.m. showings Friday and Saturday at The Bijou Theater, a student-run theater in the Iowa Memorial Union. Admission is free for students and $5 for others.
“What better way to celebrate Valentine’s weekend than with some kitschy 1970s 3D erotica?” an advertisement states.
Last year, a UI official directed the Bijou to cancel two showings of the film the day he learned it was scheduled, but the university is not intervening this year.
“It is clearly not in the public interest for a public facility at a public institution to be showing a film of this nature. If showing the film were essential to an educational objective, the situation would be different. The intent in this case was to provide entertainment,” UI Vice President for Student Services Tom Rocklin said at the time.
Rocklin deferred comment Wednesday to UI spokesman Tom Moore, who said the university “stands by its approach.”
Moore said UI conducted a legal analysis last year and determined that not allowing an otherwise legal film to be shown would violate First Amendment protections. When asked if prohibiting the film last year violated those rights, Moore did not respond directly to that question but said the university acted to ensure laws were being followed.
Moore said the university is utilizing protection allowed within the law, such as warning patrons of the nature of the film and banning minors. When asked if the movie is obscene, he said, “The university is not making a value judgment.”
“(The university) recognizes the right of this student group to show this film as well as the right of patrons to view it,” Moore said.
Bijou executive director D. Jesse Damazo, 28, a UI Master of Fine Arts student in film and video production, said Wednesday that UI leaders were on board with the showing this year because they had more information and were not caught by surprise.
“Essentially, we were just given a green light to go ahead,” Damazo said. “We provided more information about the film. We are an alternative and independent cinema modeled after other alternative and independent cinemas. … This is the kind of film that has made the rounds. It has had screenings at film festivals. It’s not outside of our mission. Making some of that clear was important.”
The Bijou annually shows a pornographic film similar to “Disco Dolls.” It is a tradition, Damazo said.
“Pornography is part of film history, one way or another. We are a venue for cult films or films with historical value,” he said.
The cancellation last year prompted a negative reaction by some who thought it infringed on free speech and was wrong of the university to intervene in a student-run organization.
Kembrew McLeod, an associate professor of communication studies at UI, was among those who criticized the university. He said he thought the pornographic nature of the film was overblown and that canceling it was an example of bending to political pressure and set a bad precedent, he said.
“Based on what I read about the film, it was more camp and soft-core sex than a hard-core 1970s porn film, which is why I thought the university’s decision was so silly,” McLeod said Wednesday.
“I was concerned this could be a slippery slope, (that) because the university’s financial situation was unclear, the administration will step in and make uninformed decision about university programming,” he said.