Posted by JustSomeGuy at dialin-209-48.ottawa.primus.ca on August 17, 2001 at 06:47:35:
On Tuesday evening on a channel out of Toronto (yes, I'm Canadian - begin making the hockey, beer, flannel and beaver jokes.... now) called CityTV, they played "Chasing Amy." Being that it was the only "major" View Askew film that I hadn't already seen at least a dozen times (and since my plans to go see Clerks and Dogma that same evening at the Mayfair in Ottawa fell through) I gladly sat my fat ass down to watch it. I expected the film to be butchered horribly, but was actually looking forward to it. I entertained thoughts that the censors would have no real way to deal with Banky, and so edit the picture to completely exclude his character. Visions of Holden asking Alyssa and nobody to have a three-way danced in my head as the film started.
At the very least I assumed that the warning in the topic would appear after every commercial break and at the onset of the picture. When it didn't, I feared the worst. They had so slaughtered the foul-mouthed beauty of Kevin's work that it didn't even warrant the ridiculous and all-too-common black screen with white lettering that appear before an increasing amount of television shows these days. As a side note, I'd just like to point out that it would probably be cheaper for you to recieve a large poster-sized warning in the box your television came in, to hang near it as a constant reminder that something you see on the television could affect you in any way. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand.
I had prepared for the worst, but CityTV's presentation of the film couldn't have been further from it. Within the first few minutes their editing decisions were made clear. There were none. Every f-bomb fired off without a hitch. Every fecal-based swear was communicated proudly into my living room. They didn't change a single word. No horrible re-dubbing, and very little censoring. The only meddling I noticed was that they never actually said what it was the the nun called Banky as a child. I'm no lip reader, but I think it's something along the lines of "cuntrag." I'm sure I'll get no less than twenty responses to this message written with little regard for punctuation and grammar telling me exactly what the word is and how it relates to my mother.
The point of all this is that I just wanted to bring to everyone's attention the fine job that CityTV did in their broadcasting of "Chasing Amy." Perhaps it's because Canadian television allows for a certain degree of foul language on their programming after 8pm. I can still remember the first time I heard Marty say "shit" on Traders. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because everyone knows that Canada loves View Askew. How could you not love films that involve comic books, foul language, marijuana, sex, and hockey? It's practically all we Canadians do, if you don't count live in igloos and talk to the Great Spirits about the ten months of winter we get every year.
Long story short, if more stations like CityTV are going to take steps to ensure that a large audience gets to enjoy a View Askew picture as it is intended to be seen, be it in Canada or the US or wherever, than more power to them. I just hope their broadcast will add a few more greasy teenagers to the line-up behind me on August the 24th as I wait in line for J&SBSB next to my friend that's dressing up as Darth Maul. Don't ask, he has issues.
- Just Some Guy.