Parents Warned Against 'Family-Unfriendly' Film Festivals
by Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
December 13, 2004
(AgapePress) - Some parents are up in arms because their children were exposed to explicit homosexual sex scenes and other graphic content on "Kid's Day" during a recent independent film festival in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The seventh annual Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival was held in mid-November and drew a record attendance of more than 22,000 moviegoers. Included among the 2004 festival's attractions was the November 13 "Kid's Day" event, a special presentation of independent children's films shown in an upstairs screening room of the multiplex at the same time as adult festival films -- many of them with graphic, homoerotic sex scenes and adult situations -- were showing in other theaters. At the same time, the theater was also showing non-festival movies, including such children's features as The Incredibles and The Polar Express.
Upon learning about this juxtaposition, several parents were upset that the festival scheduling had placed the family-friendly programming -- and hence their children -- so near to the often graphic fare of the adult screenings. WorldNetDaily quotes one parent, Rehoboth Beach resident Cindy Carter, as saying she was "horrified" by the possibility that any child could, on that Saturday afternoon, easily have wandered into the wrong theater and been exposed to a sexually explicit independent film.
Carter told WND that she saw no one checking ID cards at the theater entrances, and apparently no age restrictions were being imposed for any of the festival films. The concerned citizen says she felt this was "irresponsible" and was "endangering children," so she went on a local talk-radio show to raise public awareness about the issue. However, Carter's alarm drew criticism by members of the local homosexual community, a group she says is both "very large" and "very active" in Rehoboth Beach.
Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute feels the parents in this Delaware community were right to be upset. He says it was inevitable that children attending the festival's Kid's Day screenings would wander into the wrong theaters and be exposed to material that would be unhealthy for them. "Anybody familiar with these independent homosexual film festivals know that they're saturated with sex," the pro-family leader says. "There's a lot of porn involved. They're not shy about it, so kids have no business being anywhere near them."
Bob Knight | |
Knight feels the festival organizers' excuse that the kids' films were being shown in a separate part of the theater is not good enough. He says there is a cavalier attitude on the part of pro-homosexual advocates, who believe there is nothing wrong with homosexual sex, and therefore, if the kids happen to get exposed to it, their response is "So what? Maybe some of them might be gay, and maybe this will inspire them."The CFI spokesman says that is certainly the thrust of many programs in U.S. public schools, which often ask children questions about whether they have had homosexual thoughts or have ever tried homosexual acts. He says such programs do not merely promote tolerance of homosexuality but are "geared toward getting the kids to think about it and perhaps even experiment."
Knight contends there were no ushers at the doors of the adult screenings at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival because homosexuals do not have a problem with exposing kids to their lifestyle. But he says "explosive situations" like the festival's so-called "Kid's Day" screenings are no place for children, and pro-family adults should make sure their kids come nowhere near such pro-homosexual events.
