Protest
Continued from Page 1
equate violence and sex, it’s lethal
and it’s dangerous, and it affects
me personally.”
Bijou owner Michael Lamont
met with the protesters several
times during the hour-long event
and even offered protesters free
tickets to the movie and seats in
the balcony, so that the group
could make a more informed
protest. The protesters turned
down the offer.
Lamont also handed out a flier
that described Eugene’s history
with sexually explicit shows. His
typed handout mentioned the
now-closed Cinema 7 screening
“Behind the Green Door” every
Friday and Saturday nights “to
large audiences for several years
straight. Cinema 7 was also very
much supported by Eugene’s
film-loving alternative communi
ty-”
The leaflet then responded di
rectly to the protesters’ com
plaints.
“I do regret that ‘Disco Dolls in
3-D’ contains what has been de
scribed to me as a rape/murder
scene — that one filmgoer de
scribed as ‘just too absurd to be
taken seriously.’ The perpetrator
does get his penis bitten off later
in the film. Seems fair.”
For the most part, the interac
tion between protesters and
moviegoers remained peaceful
and seemed to offer constructive
dialoguing. One incident, howev
er, crossed the verbal line into a
physical one when a car full of
men slowed down in front of the
Bijou and tossed five or six porno
graphic magazines at the protest
ers’ feet.
“That’s obviously very rude
and stupid,” Lamont commented,
upon hearing about the deed. La
mont added that he supports the
protesters’ right — even on the Bi
jou’s private property — to hold a
demonstration.
A few people heading into the
theater dismissed the idea that the
protest was effective.
“This is Eugene, everybody
[protests] something,” University
student Melissa Carlson said, as
she entered the Bijou with her
friend, student Jennifer Smith.
“Everybody’s ‘Oh no, not this.’
We saw [the movie advertised] in
the paper, saw it was in 3-D and
we were cracking up about it, so
we decided that we wanted to go
see it.”
Smith expressed some concern
about the scene in question but
summed up the issue as a societal
problem, not a cinematic one.
“I’m not going to enjoy watch
ing the rape scenes, but it hap
pens and I don’t agree with it, but
that’s life,” Smith said. “We’re
just curious about the movie, so
we thought we’d come and see
just what it’s all about.”
One male protester, Ari Denni
son, criticized that sort of opin
ion. Dennison said he thinks peo
ple are influenced too heavily by
media images and allow pornog
raphy to thrive without serious
debate.
“I think that their obedience to
media hype is no less arrogant
than it is just simply pathetic,” he
said. “If you walk away from
something as obviously threaten
ing as this movie and don’t even
consider it, that’s outrageous to
say the least.”
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One person who disagreed
with the demonstrators saw the
movie earlier in the week with a
group of 10 people, evenly split
with five men and five women.
Shawn Baird said that none of the
women in his contingent found
the debated scene offensive.
When informed that another re
cent Bijou movie, “Xiu Xiu,”
which is the story of a city girl’s
re-education during China's Cul
tural Revolution, contained two
rape scenes, Baird drew his own
parallels.
“The rapes in pXiu Xiu’] help
add a level of reality to what hap
pened to these women, so of
course you can’t take it out of the
movie,” he said. “But then when
you make a movie where that par
ticular act is now seen as funny,
[the protesters] see that as perpet
uating future moments of vio
lence from men on women.
“What causes people to rape
each other is not a movie like
[‘Disco Dolls’]. It’s something way
deeper than that.”
Despite the controversy, Lam
ont said he does not regret bring
ing “Disco Dolls” to the Bijou. He
said he does have regrets that
some people in the community
are disturbed and offended by the
showing. From a business stand
point, Lamont has seen new faces
at his theater to view the 3-D
movie, and he hopes they see the
Bijou as more than a “porn” the
ater.
“Maybe they’ll put the Bijou on
their menu of entertainment _
choices, and they’ll actually come
see some obviously more worthy
cultural films,” he said.
For at least one protester, how
ever, the damage caused goes be
yond a film-watching experi
ence.
“I’m tired of being scared
when I walk down the street, and
I’m tired of violence against
women and sexual images of
women being plastered all over
our screens,” University gradu
ate Sarah Bastida said. “Having a
10-month-old son, I want to
show him that it’s not OK. I want
to show people in our society
and the community that my
child is going to grow up in that I
don’t accept that mentality.”
Scams
Continued from Page 1
cious activity. The more reported
cases police receive from the
same suspect, the better chance
there is of sending the criminal to
jail.
“Courts usually want a lot of
money taken before they convict
for check fraud,” Ellis said. “If we
catch this guy and we have a lot of
reports, the suspect is more likely
to get jail time for the offenses.”
Ellis said the most important
thing people can do to keep from
getting taken advantage of is to be
suspicious of unwarranted offers.
“If it’s too good to be true, it
probably is,” Ellis said.
Tips to avoid check
and credit fraud:
Always keep your checkbook with
you.
Hever give your account number
over the phone if you didn’t place
the call.
Don’t be afraid to report suspi
cious activity.
Always get identification from
someone who is buying something
from you with a check.
Be suspicious of anyone offering
money to cash his or her check.
SOURCE: Eugene Police
Higher Ed Briefs
Hearing to explore extending
employee benefits
A public hearing Tuesday will
debate whether to extend Univer
sity tuition benefits to same-sex
domestic partners of employees.
Currently, tuition benefits are ex
tended to employees’ spouses.
The meeting will be held at 10
a.m. in Room 121 of Susan Camp
bell Hall. Inclusion of tuition
breaks for same-sex partners
would embrace a 1998 Oregon
Court of Appeals decision, which
ruled that denying benefits to
same-sex partners, which are
granted to married employees,
was against Article I, Section 20
of the Oregon State Constitution.
Results of this hearing will be
presented before the Oregon State
Board^of Higher Education on
Oct. 21. Action is expected on the
same day, after which the ruling
will be handed to the Secretary of
State’s office to implement.
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