Posted by Mr.CombatisMattSaxe at 2cust87.tnt3.stl1.da.uu.net on November 29, 1999 at 16:37:07:
Alright, the news on Dogma here in St. Louis MO. A few articles have been written here about Protestors. They made the front page of the West County Journal under the headline, "Movie Lights Protest Fires", they are pictured holding thier "Stop Blaspheming Our Lord NOW!" Signs in front of the Esquire Theatre in Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis. They were led by Howard Martin Whitcraft of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property and also had members of The Catholic League in attendance. There were 150 of them. Whitcraft claims he is very offended by the idea that God is a woman, and "that Christ watched with a smile on his face while His apostles fornicated." He claims Kevin has a vendetta against the church. Also at this protest were former Saint Louis University and Saint Louis Hawk NBA Hall of Famer "Easy" Ed Macauley, which is a shame because he is one of the Top 50 basketball players ever. Along with Macauley was Rep. Carl Hendrickson R-District 97. If you live in District 97 in St.Louis County and are a View Askew fan, contact Rep. Hendrickson through the Missouri House of Representatives Hotline in the Yellow Pages and tell him what you think of him trying to tell you what to watch and think.
Another article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talked about how protestors picketing at the Chase Park Plaza Cinema wanted the movie taken out of the theatre because a dinner was to be held the weekend of Nov. 20 for St. Louis city-St. Louis County and Western Illinois Archbishop Justin Rigali in the Plaza where the movie theatre is showing Dogma. 85 year old retired monsignor Patrick Joseph Molloy said about the movie, "If we don't react to a thing like this, what will we respond to?" Most of the protestors were roughly about his age, 65 to 85 and a few younger people thrown in for a good mix. The youngest was 6. They held signs that said "Dogma is Anti-Christian" and "Dogma is Evil to God".
None of the protests did much to disturb ticket sales here though. I have seen the movie 3 times at 2 different theatres including the one where the protestors were and all three times the place has been 80% to 90% filled, although 4 to 7 people have walked out in the middle of the movie all 3 times. But audience response has been high and people wearing VA gear have been there every time. Like I said in my post about my Catholic dad seeing the movie and liking it, he saw it this past Sat. at an art-house theatre in one of St. Louis's most expensive malls at 6:45 and it was full of people mostly his age 45 to 65, (he's 55). Read my post about it on this page, it goes into more detail and you may find it interesting or mayhave experienced something like it yourself.
If you are interested in responding to the article in the West County Journal, call Sound Off at 314-965-7849 and leave a 30 second message that may be printed on Wed this week. If you wish to write, the address is Letters to the Editor West County Publications 1714 Deer Tracks Trail St. Louis MO. 63131. If you want to e-mail me about VA stuff in general and maybe PEACEFULLY responding to the protestors or maybe even doing what Kevin did and joining them to find out what thier problem is with a movie, or just for the fun of it, e-mail me at mrcombat_lucky_@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading and I hope you write soon. Your friend, Mr.Combat.