To the Editor,
In light of the recent controversy surrounding Tribe 8's "offensive" performance in the Wilder Disco, I would like to note that the most obscene film I've ever seen has also been shown on the Oberlin campus. It is "Lethal Weapon" starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, and it is without a doubt the most shrilly violent and prurient piece of garbage I've ever sat through. It titillates audiences not merely with the sight of Mel Gibson's bare bottom, not only with excessive violence, but also (most objectionably, in my opinion) with the torture of a young, scantily clad woman (the daughter of the character played by Glover, as I recall). By any sane standard, this film goes way over the line. Its makers, however, were right to assume that "Lethal Weapon" would be a turn-on for an awful lot of us, for it is one of the most popular films of our day - which just goes to show that there's no accounting for taste. Regrettably, I did not alert the police that this offensive material would be shown, but perhaps it is not too late for me to demand that it never be shown on campus again.
By now, I hope my point will be clear to even the most inept of Oberlin's administrators, and to even the least enlightened member of its faculty: We should not respond to disagreeable expression by forcing it into silence, but with old-fashioned, painstaking discussion. Further, Oberlin should take care to offer a wide variety of programs to its community. If the menu is suitably diverse, there should be something for everyone.
Oberlin should not seek to insulate the members of its community from provocative or disturbing material, but rather equip them to function intelligently in the world. One indicator of this capacity is surely the ability to stumble upon a disagreeable photograph or article in the newspaper and refrain from calling the police or responding with demands for silence. Outrage is fine - encouraged, even - but should be appropriately expressed, without the vice squad's help.
Despite the fact that "Lethal Weapon" disturbed me, I would hate to deprive others (or be deprived myself) of the opportunity to see it - or, indeed, to see any number of potentially disturbing films, exhibits, or performances, including (but not limited to) such Mel Gibson classics as "Brave Heart," "Ransom," and "Hamlet." I'd even add Bruce Willis's "Die Hard" to the list, not to mention Mapplethorpe's X portfolio or the work of Andres Serrano. Heck, I'd even add Tribe 8.
It amuses and dismays me when, even at progressive Oberlin, a challenge to the normative power structure results in such a fuss! Show "Lethal Weapon" and hardly an eyelash flutters. Put lesbians in a provocative act onstage in the Sco, and watch the fur fly! My hope is that Oberlin will always respond to such challenges not with censorship, but with intelligent dialogue.
In closing, let me twit any would-be custodians of moral purity at Oberlin by confessing that, as a gay student on campus, I happily indulged in acts widely deemed offensive, acts still illegal in certain benighted places. My queer ghost is haunting you. If you ban Tribe 8 (or the Flirtations, say, or Mapplethorpe's photos, or even "Lethal Weapon") from campus, I'll rattle my chains fiercely.
Copyright © 1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 9; November 15, 1996
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