And Now For Something Not Entirely Unexpected...

IN a move that can best be described as stupid, cinemas in Townsville and Rockhampton won't be showing the new Heath Ledger movie Brokeback Mountain.
They haven't given a full explanation as to why this is so, but apparently it's not because no-one likes Heath Ledger there, but rather because it tells the tale of two male cowboys who fall in love. With each other.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Onya guys. Just when we thought it was safe to say you're a Queenslander after Sir Joh died and Pauline Hanson faded back to nothing, a few clowns have come out and shown once again that when it comes to good old-fashioned idiots, the rest of the country's got nothing on us.
Oh sure, NSW had the wonderful Bob DoesntdriveaCarr, who seemed to think that NSW stood for Newcastle, Sydney, Woollongong; Victoria's given us Jeff Kennett and Eddie Maguire; while every other state chips in with a few mass murderers and the occasional ultra-conservative.
Seriously, it must have been agreed upon when Australia became a country in 1901: NSW and Victoria will provide most of the political leaders, Queensland will provide the freaks.
Jokes aside though, what's more concerning is the censorship issue.
It seems every time a controversial movie comes out, a group of self-important people (let's call them People Against Other People Having A Good Time, or PAOPHAGT) decide that society will fall if the movie is released to the general public.
Most of these movies have gratuitous sex, nudity, violence or (shock horror) people kissing people of the same sex.
"Our children will be corrupted," they cry out fervently. "What if our children see this?"
Yes, it would be really bad if your children saw a breast. Terrible, really. Who knows what might go through their minds.
Of course, this all overlooks that fact that if a movie is rated R (18 and over only), children can't go in and see it. Considering I've twice had my id checked to see M and MA movies (15 and over; both times when I was past 18), I fail to see how masses of teenagers are going to be able to get in, let alone impressionable children.
A family friend of ours had a very good policy with her kids when it came to higher-rated movies. Anything with a lot of violence was out, but with sex or nudity was in, largely on the basis that sex and nudity is a natural part of life, whereas violence wasn't.
I happen to think that American football is one of the most boring games in the world, but I'm not going to tell adults they shouldn't watch it because of my views.
If you don't like something or don't agree with it, don't watch it. But don't stop me from watching it either.

Postscript:
In another article on the Sydney Morning Herald website, Roadshow Films has denied it won't be releasing the film in Townsville and Rockhampton, going against earlier comments from cinema operations.