Here's Bill Hunt's take on it all...

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Also this afternoon... I suppose I should have expected it in an election year, but it's still a little surprising to me how quickly some people are to turn any discussion into a hot-button political battle. I've gotten more than a few e-mails this morning (based on our earlier post) from angry people lambasting Michael Moore as a liberal, un-American, axe-grinding blowhard, and from others trashing Disney CEO Michael Eisner as a right-wing, ultra-conservative, neo-Nazi. And I just don't give a rat's ass about any of that. Seriously, people! Save the political rallying cry for November. I'm not interested.

My problem is with the idea of the mass communication of personal opinion, whether it be by filmmakers or editorial columnists or TV and radio pundits or what have you, in a media environment in which a few massive corporations control the entire playing field - all the outlets and resources for creation, distribution and exhibition of films, TV shows, newspapers, talk shows, news commentary etc. For years now, industry critics have been warning that as these massive media conglomerates were allowed to buy ever more studios, publications, broadcast stations and networks, and as they then merged into even larger companies (like AOL/Time Warner, Fox News Corp, etc), there would a greater danger of the stifling of opinions.

Look... I think Michael Moore is an okay guy, but I didn't care for all the factual liberties he took in his last film, Bowling for Columbine, nor did I care for his using the Academy Awards as a bully pulpit. I think Mel Gibson's a pretty decent fella too, and I've always loved his films, but I didn't much care for The Passion of the Christ - not for any personal political or religious reasons, but for the simple reason that I'm just not all that interested in sitting in a theater for 3 hours watching a guy get beaten to a bloody pulp.

The point is, whatever your feelings about controversial filmmakers and their works, people have a right to agree or disagree with them, and a right to see or not see their films. A few decades ago, when there were lots of independent studios and distributors and TV stations, this wouldn't have been an issue. If a major studio balked and pulled their support, there would be plenty of other independent labels to step in and take over. Not so anymore. How many studios and distributors bailed on Gibson? How many millions of his own money did he have to spend to get The Passion made and seen? You might be thinking, well so what? The film did get made and it did get seen. Turned out it was a monster hit and Gibson profited many times the amount he spent. The problem is not everyone has the kind of personal wealth Gibson does. Not every filmmaker can pull tens of millions out of their own pocket to back their work.

If a studio or distributor pulls support for whatever reason - political, economic or what have you - in THIS day and age, there aren't many alternatives. And the more filmmakers have to face these kind of market obstacles, the less likely controversial voices will be inclined to make controversial films. The same is true of any creative (but controversial) endeavor, meant for wide distribution to a mass audience. Look at all the trouble Howard Stern is having these days. The decision to pull his show from Clear Channel radio stations isn't just about economics, I'll guarantee you that.

THAT is my problem with this. Is this a Constitutional free speech issue? No... but it's a free speech issue of another sort just the same.

By the way, for the one or two of you out there who e-mailed me to say, "You're a DVD website! Stick to DVD news!" My response is this: There isn't a person on our staff who isn't about the love of film, first and foremost. The Digital Bits is a champion of films and filmmaking, and we are a champion of your rights as film fans and consumers. DVD just happens to be the best way for the most people to view films today, so that's what we deal with. Tomorrow it could be Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD or something else, and then we'll be a Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD or something else website. But we will ALWAYS champion filmmaking, and the rights of filmmakers, and your rights as film fans. That's why we fought DIVX, that's why we support anamorphic widescreen and the presentation of films in their original aspect ratio, and on and on and on. Hell... that's why we respect the right of George Lucas to make all the changes he wants to Star Wars, but it's also why we damn well want the original version preserved for the future too.

What does that mean? It means sometimes we're gonna stick our heads into an issue. You may not always agree ("I don't like widescreen - I want my pan and scan!"), and we respect that, but there it is. So get used to it or go elsewhere. I'm sure DVDHappyPlace.com or whatever would be glad to have you.

'Nuff said. Stay tuned...