French Film Series coordinators skipped over a nude scene in a film shown in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium Thursday night, Feb. 20, after a Pleasant Grove man complained.

The objectionable scene from the French film, "Manon des Sources," portrayed a non-sexualized, full frontal nude 16-year-old girl dancing by herself.

Thomas Merrill, the father of two BYU students, complained because he said he felt the film contradicted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' position against pornography.

He said playing the film would be hypocritical in light of the BYU forum this week that discussed the hazards of pornography.

"It upsets me as a father," he said.

But Richard Hacken, coordinator of the French film series, pointed out the Motion Picture Association of America rated the film PG.

"It is a scene that has gratuitous show of skin," Hacken said. "There was some question all along of whether to show it given the standards of the university and the audience, but now we decided to definitely not show it."

Hacken said the film was chosen for educational purposes.

"We're trying to do the best we can for the students," he said. "We're going to present the film in an unobjectionable and good way."

Hacken said he didn't want to respond to one person's claims. He has received no other complaints for films shown in the past.

"The controversy comes from one person's point of view, ripping a scene out of context, not showing the moral tale that the whole thing represents," Hacken said.

Various members of the French faculty work with Hacken to select films for the French film series, but ultimately he decides what runs.

The library and the French Department jointly sponsor the French Film Series. Hacken said the series' three-fold purpose is to give people a chance to learn about French language and culture, to function as an outreach from the library to campus, and to get some of the classic master films on screen.

"We certainly seek to abide by university standards," said Julene Butler, associate university librarian over all library events and affairs. She supervises several members of the committee who coordinate the French Film Series.

The university legal counsel advised the library they could legally skip the scene during a public showing because the film was shown for educational purposes, Butler said. Some students are required to attend the film for their French classes.

The library played the film on a DVD player, allowing them to skip the scene without editing the film, she said. Librarians initiated a discussion of the skipped scene, in order to give the context of the scene essential to the plot.



Copyright Brigham Young University 20 Feb 2003