If the movie "Elmer Gantry" was remade today would the American Christians try to ban it again?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Gantr y
This past November, Elmer Gantry, the opera based on the book made its world premier in Nashville. Hadn’t heard any fallout from it yet…and Tennessee is considered part of the Bible Belt. However, most fundamentalists I know don’t pay much attention to opera.
http://www.elmergantryopera.com/site/ind ex.php
The 1960 movie Elmer Gantry was considered somewhat controversial, and remains so with some to this very day. In the Midwest, there were protests against the play when it toured the nation. In 1970, there was a musical that opened and closed on the same night!
However, the book itself, written by Sinclair Lewis, caused an ABSOLUTE uproar when it was first published back in 1927. It was banned in Boston and other cities across the US, and ministers of various religions of the time condemned it from their pulpits. Some advocated that he should be jailed for daring to write such a book. Louis actually got threats of violence because of Elmer Gantry! The Rev. Billy Sunday (an evangelist not unaquainted with personal scandal) called Sinclair Lewis "Satan’s cohort."
Sinclair Lewis was considered a threat by fundamentists, capitalists and self-styled patriots everywhere. He famously (or imfamously) made the statement "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
Sounds almost prophetic, doesn’t it?
So yes, I believe that if Elmer Gantry was re-made into a full length feature film or even a made for television movie, the fundamentalists would try to have it banned again. There will always be those who will be offended or feel threatened by a less than glowing depiction of people in the ministry or of religion itself. This has been shown to be the case from the days of Moliere’s "Tartuffe" to Salman Rushdie’s "Satanic Verses" to the "The DaVinci Code" and even the current controversy surrounding "The Golden Compass."
Musica | Dec 22, 2007
Nope
Rhemasonador | Dec 22, 2007
I’m sure some sect would–baptists try to ban everything
Endora (IJMNA) | Dec 22, 2007
I still read the book and watch the movie on T.V. in the middle of the night. One of my all time favorites.
REDBONE | Dec 22, 2007
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