The original poster for the Columbia Pictures film, which stars Woody Harrelson as Hustler magnate Flynt, showed Harrelson being crucified on a woman's oversized pelvis while wearing only an American-flag loin cloth. The Motion Picture Association of America--the self-regulatory body that rates movies and okays their artwork, TV spots and trailers--rejected the Flynt poster early this fall.
It has been replaced by a much tamer image showing Harrelson's mouth taped shut with a flag. "I don't think [the new poster] is nearly as colorful or interesting or really says it as well," Harrelson told the Washington Post today. The original art will promote the film in countries outside the United States.
"I just thought it was just another twist of irony," producer Janet Yang said in the Post. "And I'm not entirely surprised. We're all used to varying degrees of censorship."
Perhaps taking a cue from another of the film's producers, Oliver Stone, director Milos Forman suggests a conspiracy's afoot. "There are very conservative forces in the Senate and Congress, and they are trying to somehow establish censorship," Forman told the Post. "What MPAA President Jack Valenti basically said to me is, 'I will have to protect more important freedoms for us through self-censorship so that we don't provoke very conservative forces.'" The MPAA declined comment today.
According to Columbia, which releases the film on December 27, there is no controversy. "This was one of a number of concepts we considered," said spokesman Doug Higgins. "The MPAA did look at the artwork and rejected it...It makes sure we all are operating in the bounds of good taste."
Still, the movie's director, star, producers and marketers contend that the banned image was their first choice. And they have the support of Alan Isaacman--the civil rights attorney who successfully represented Flynt before the Supreme Court and a consultant on the film. "The question is why? Why are they objecting to it?" he said in the Post. "It does seem strange that a film whose message is anti-censorship has its poster censored."