The Center of the World
Date: 2001
Region: North America
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Film Video
Artist: Artisan Entertainment
Confronting Bodies: Gary Goldman, owner of the Esquire Theater in Cincinnati.
Dates of Action: June, 2001
Location: Esquire Theater, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Description of Artwork: The Center of the World chronicles a weekend in Las Vegas where a young millionaire and a stripper whose noncommittal sex takes several dark turns. The film is not rated. The five-second scene that was censored featured a background stripper performing an obscene act.
The Incident: Owner Gary Goldman, who runs the Theater Manager Corp., edited the film in fear of a backlash from the community. He said, "I found this act to be both degrading to women and most likely violative of community standards."
Results of Incident: Artisan Entertainment learned about the edited screening from a film reviewer who reported the missing scene to an Artisan employee. After confirming the report, Artisan withdrew the film from the theater. The film played eleven days of its scheduled two-week run. Goldman admitted that he was wrong to edit the film, saying, "Obviously, I exercised bad judgement and should have chosen instead not to play the film." The film reviewer was banned from the Esquire Theater as a result of the incident.
Source: NCAC, Salon.com Arts & Entertainment, 6.11.01.
