Well its happening. The Weinstein Company has officially announced release date for their censored, PG-13 version of The King’s Speech. Start painting your protest signs and planning your boycotts right now. Here’s the title of the press release, just to add some fuel to that fire: “Oscar’s Best Picture is now the best family film of 2011”. They’re actually trying to make it sound like they’ve somehow made this movie better. Also, I don’t care how much they censor it, this isn’t a family film. No kid is going to want to sit through this movie. The whole thing remains, utterly ridiculous.
In the interests of accuracy, here’s the complete press release, un-altered, in all it’s offensive glory.
OSCAR®'S BEST PICTURE IS NOW THE BEST FAMILY FILM OF 2011 AS The Weinstein Company'S THE KING’S SPEECH PG-13 openS NATIONWIDE ON april 1stQuadruple Academy Award® Winner To Open On 1,000 Screens, Will Be Only Version In TheatresThe Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that THE KING’S SPEECH PG-13, the family-friendly version of its Academy Award-winning historical drama about King George VI, will open on 1,000 screens nationwide on April 1, and will be the only version available in theatres. One of the year's most celebrated, successful and beloved films, THE KING'S SPEECH was honored at the 83rd Academy Awards® with Oscars® for Best Picture, to producers Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin; Best Director, to helmer Tom Hooper; Best Actor, to star Colin Firth; and Best Original Screenplay, to screenwriter David Seidler. The announcement was made by TWC's President of Theatrical Distribution and Home Entertainment Eric Lomis.Said Lomis, "We are thankful to the MPAA for their wisdom and swift action in approving the release of THE KING'S SPEECH PG-13 release. The action enables those to whom it speaks most directly - young people who are troubled by stuttering, bullying and similar trials -- to see it."The emotional impact of stuttering that was illuminated by THE KING'S SPEECH continues to be a topic of conversation with the recent statements by Vice President Joseph Biden about his own struggles with stammering. The release of THE KING'S SPEECH PG-13 offers families nationwide access to a positive story about stuttering and overcoming obstacles and social stigmas.
So much awful in there, it’s hard to know where to start. I already covered most of the reasons this is completely horrible here. If you don’t understand why this censorship is a really, really bad idea go check that out before you go any further. In the meantime, let’s talk about these new horrible wrinkles in this censorship story from the press release:
Quadruple Academy Award® Winner To Open On 1,000 Screens, Will Be Only Version In Theatres
The first part of this statement is a blatant lie. The PG-13 version of this movie has not won any awards, and never will. A more accurate way to state this would be "Watered Down Version of Quadruple Academy Award Winner To Open on 1,000 Screens". The second part of this statement is just another confirmation that they're yanking the R-rated version and replacing it with this perversion, taking away people's right to choose.
Said Lomis, "We are thankful to the MPAA for their wisdom and swift action in approving the release of THE KING'S SPEECH PG-13 release. The action enables those to whom it speaks most directly - young people who are troubled by stuttering, bullying and similar trials -- to see it."
They’re trying to make it seem as though they’re doing this to help children, but you and I know that’s bullshit. Young people have no interest in seeing this movie and if they did, their parents could have taken them to the correct version of the film. The way they try to relate it to bullying is particularly dirty pool. The movie has nothing to do with bullying and they’re only mentioning it because it’s a hot topic in the media right now.
The release of THE KING'S SPEECH PG-13 offers families nationwide access to a positive story about stuttering and overcoming obstacles and social stigmas.
Oh sweet irony. The movie was censored to pander to people with a social stigma against swearing, and now they’re positioning this move as a way to teach people about overcoming social stigmas. Meanwhile, the words they edited were a critical part of the stuttering sufferer’s journey in overcoming his problem, removing that seems a strange way to teach people about overcoming obstacles. They’re really just perpetuating a bunch of social stigmas here.
The changes to The King’s Speech may be minor, but the impact of what Weinstein has done to this movie will be far reaching. Don’t support it. Don’t let people you know support it. Help save The King’s Speech and stand up for stuttering sufferers everywhere, by letting the Weinstein Company know that neither you, nor anyone you know will buy a ticket for their censored version in the comments section below.
Instead of supporting censorship, strike a blow for free speech by encouraging everyone you know to get out and buy the R-rated version of the movie when it's released on DVD and Blu-ray April 19th. Details here
