I was there...Were you?

Last night my husband and I went to the world premier of Banned in Oklahoma, at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Before I get to my impression of the documentary (and The Tin Drum which was also shown) I want tell everyone to be sure to attend a film at the OCMoA--this was my first time to attend a film there and I really enjoyed it. Okay, now to my comments on Banned and Tin Drum.

Banned in Oklahoma:
The long and short of it is--I liked Banned. Although most of it focused on Michael Camfield's court case against Oklahoma City and OCAF's behind the scenes activities--it introduced all the players involved in the controversy in an informative and entertaining way. The legend of the "Tin Drum Controversy" lives (just read the commentary on the IMDB.com Tin Drum entry)--but to have an understanding of the facts is much more important, especially for those who work with and in libraries. This documentary gives a great overview.

Tin Drum:
The long and short of it is--eh. What I saw as the underlying theme of the Tin Drum was in Oskar's pursuit to not be like the adults around him--he became lustful, greedy, demanding, and in short a miniature of all he detested since leaving the womb. He desperately wanted to march to the beat of his own drum--but failed time and time again to realize it's more than faith in your ability to be righteous--you must show it in deeds as well. The story is well written and the color/sound was beautiful (although my husband did comment that he was thankful that wasn't filmed in surround sound because he would have snapped to have to hear that drum for 2 hours via surround sound). The movie just wasn't my cup of tea--that and the eel fishing scene almost made me sick.

Over all, besides having a nice evening out on the town, I feel it was important for me as a professional to see both of these films. Banned in Oklahoma so that I could hear the concerns of each player in the controversy -- and Tin Drum so that I could see how my interpretation of the film would/could impact my handling of a similar situation.

I'll close with this last thought--I did not think Tin Drum was child pr0n. But, I can see how some people could reach that conclusion. However, as an information professional it is my job to allow people to reach their own conclusions and not to censor material from or for them.

Did you attend? What did you think?