The United Artists movie, Showgirls, which opens on September 22, has already been criticized for its indecency and that is why it has received an NC-17 rating. But the movie also contains a scene where vulgar words and behavior are used in reference to Our Blessed Mother. Language such as “The F_ _ _ _ _ Virgin Mary” is used and, in the same scene, a heavy set woman bares her breasts and makes a vulgar reference to the Virgin Mary while doing so.
Having had an opportunity to preview a portion of the movie for the purpose of a TV review on the NBC show Extra, Catholic League president William Donohue released the following comment on the movie today:
“Showgirls is not only a movie that is violent and sexually exploitative of women, it is a movie that insults the Catholic religion. The juxtaposition of indecency and blasphemy is nothing new, but the fact that this movie has already set the record for the most amount of money ever spent to promote an NC-17 rated film makes it all the more disturbing.
“It is bad enough that United Artists is determined to mainstream its filth into neighborhood theaters without also attacking Catholicism. This only goes to show that there are those in Hollywood who not only have no moral standards, they have no respect for religion—especially Catholicism—either. And the fact that screenwriter Joe Eszterhas has urged minors to acquire fake IDs to see the movie proves that their callous agenda includes the exploitation of children as well.
“The Catholic League urges parents to protest the showing of this movie in their neighborhood theaters. If this blasphemous stag movie belongs anywhere, it belongs in back alley theaters normally associated with the 42nd Streets of America.”
The Catholic League is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends the right of Catholics—lay and clergy alike—to participate in American life without defamation or discrimination.
