Hey folks... Harry here. Well as sometimes pops up, a very strange and nonsensical piece of absurdity has popped up it's wacko head. It seems that one of our readers... a Howard Wornom. Mild Mannered Advertising Representative for a not so great newspaper, The Daily Press up in Hampton, Virginia... has been fired for never viewing a linked bit of video from James Toback's BLACK AND WHITE... which... if you ever did see... I guess you'd have to admit is pretty darn tame in the scope of 'love' scenes in the history of motion pictures. Today I received the following press release... and because I know that many of you would be interested in the matter... I'm reprinting the press release in it's complete form. Personally this is INSANE to me. Check out the original clips from BLACK & WHITE and see how outrageous this is... Though... I wouldn't recommend downloading them at work, Big Brother may be watching. Sigh.... Here's the press release.... Read and be outraged....
NEWSPAPER FIRES AD REP FOR DOWNLOADING INTERRACIAL LOVE SCENE
Recently an advertising representative for the Daily Press in Hampton, VA, was fired for attempting to access a video clip of an interracial love scene from the controversial new movie, Black and White, by producer James Toback. The ad rep, Howard Wornom, was targeting the film industry for co-op advertising for the newspaper when he came across the film clip while performing research on the Internet. Although the clip was referred to as "mild" on the site, he emailed the clip to his home computer to avoid any inadvertent exposure to newspaper employees in the event the clip contained any objectionable language. The email caused a computer glitch in the newspaper's email system, and it was discovered by a technical operations employee who viewed the clip and reported it to management. Wornom never received the email. Wornom was then terminated as a result of attempting to access the video clip. "It is ironic that an employer who depends on the First Amendment for its very existence would be so quick to censor its employees," says Lawrence G. Walters, a First Amendment attorney hired by Wornom. Walters represents several individuals across the country who have lost their jobs as a result of their use of the Internet. The clip can be viewed at www.aintitcool.com/node/4273.
The company claimed that the content of the clip caused "sexual harassment." "The film clip is protected speech, and could not cause sexual harassment under any legal definition. My client was trying to do his job and got fired because of information he attempted to access on the Internet," says Walters. Black and White was originally given a NC-17 rating by the MPAA because of the inclusion of the scene.
The film's producer made the following comments upon learning of the termination: Palm Pictures, Chris Blackwell's entertainment company, is committed to supporting the artistic vision of independent filmmakers. As such, Palm is also a strong supporter of First Amendment rights in creative expression and otherwise. When posting the controversial scene from the Palm produced film "BLACK AND WHITE" by filmmaker James Toback on the Internet, Hooman Majd, Executive Producer of the film and Palm Pictures executive stated (on the site) "We wanted people to have a chance to see the scene as it was intended and as it was cut to satisfy censors. Our intention is purely to inform and provide insight as to how films are rated. As such, we remind you that the scene you are about to watch was deemed by the ratings board as inappropriate for anyone under the age of 17, and the "R" version requires children under 17 to seek parental approval. We are curious as to your reactions."
The fired employee has set up a legal defense fund site at: www.home.earthlink.net/~kagor/index.html.
For more information, contact: Lawrence G. Walters (407)539-1140 or www.1st-amendment.com.
