“The message of Deep Throat was different strokes for different folks.”
– Randy Barbato And Fenton Bailey
I first saw Deep Throat about 15 years ago on grainy bootleg VHS tape [remember those?]. At the time I thought that Cinemax Friday Nights after Dark were more scandalous and titillating. However Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbatos documentary Inside Deep Throat schooled me just as it will school everyone else who forgot or never knew what an impact the seminal porno film had on this country. Through brand new interviews with director Gerard Damiano, Norman Mailer, Harry Reems and archive footage of Linda Lovelace we find out just why Deep Throat polarized America and ended up grossing over $600 million.
Let’s take a Warped Tour through the reality of animal testing. The only reason you don’t care about it, is because you haven’t had to bare witness to it. It’s a twisted world when people have stilled their reservations about putting animals through painful testing. Testing that isn’t necessary and may not accurately show the effects the products would likely have on humans. Once you have seen the reality of what these animals are put through, it’s not a matter of choosing, but a demand not to support these practices or those that enforce them.
This year PETA2 joined the Warped Tour to turn the spotlight on cigarette companies. While testing the effects of smoking on animals has been banned in many other countries, the United States has yet to do so. Which begs the question: Why? We already have a wealth of data showing the harmful effects of cigarettes. We know they cause cancer. We know smoking isn’t good for you. At this point, pretty much every smoker in the world knows this. We are generally an over informed public when it comes to smoking. So why keep testing on animals?
PETA2 is asking the same question. Like many anti-anything groups though, it isn’t so much about convincing the individual, as it is forcing an industry to change. PETA2 has started a grassroots movement to do so. PETA2’s production manager, Paige Snyder, explains: “Too often people feel like they have little say in getting anything changed.”
But change would not have come to the countries that have already banned this type of testing, if it wasn’t for similar movements. Highlighting the fact that people have the choice to buy products that don’t utilize this type of testing, well that’s a powerful way to create change at a corporate level. Because, when protest affects the bottom line in business, it forces a re-evaluation. Even if you are a committed smoker, there are plenty of companies that do not engage in such cruel practices that better deserve you patronage.
So how is the Warped Tour involved in PETA2’s latest campaign? And why should you or they care? Chris #2, who was recently on the Warped Tour with his band Anti Flag, had this to say in relation to PETA2’s campaign:
“Tobacco companies seem to be battling it out for the Most Inhumane award. Their disregard for human life, let alone their morally bankrupt testing they continue to perform on animals, has to end. Seeing first hand Peta2 confront the patrons of Warped Tour with this information, and seeing them directly throw their cigarettes — and hopefully their support of such companies — away, was a daily inspiring event.”
“It’s all about giving people a voice to speak and be heard. Then we reward them for their contributions,” says Snyder. Even without incentives however, once informed many feel obligated to act. PETA2 has found many allies on the Warped Tour with regards to this issue, and in response to the outpouring of support for their wider anti-cruelty stance, they have supplied vegan chefs so that those who choose to do so can eat cruelty free. We’re told that even artists who aren’t actually vegan, have been appreciating the food offered. It’s always been a free speech zone around the Warped Tour table. What better way to start changing hearts, minds, and habits, than with fantastic meals!
In my previous article, I discussed the way in which the mass media has mishandled the Aurora theater shootings. While some in the media approached the story with respect, the majority of them showed little consideration for the victims involved. But it’s not just the media that has been careless in the aftermath of the massacre. Many politicians have used this event as a spring board for their campaigns, while already failing to live up to their promises to the victims.
It’s been a week since I sat down in Theater 9, unaware of the hell that awaited me. I remember the high pitched screech, like a bottle rocket, as the coward tossed the gas grenades into a theater full of unsuspecting moviegoers. I can hear sounds of gunfire and see the bright flashes coming from the corner of the theater in the back of my mind. The screams of the victims in the theater haunt me at night. The vivid memories of wandering shocked through a crowd of people covered in blood, with no way of knowing whose blood it was, will stay with me forever.
I am just one of hundreds of movie patrons that share this horrific experience. Despite these mental scars, I am eternally thankful I have no physical wounds to match. Seventy people in the theater were not as lucky, and twelve of them paid with their lives.
The death toll could have been much higher if it had not been for the amazing first responders. The first police officers arrived on scene within minutes of the shooting. Several officers took it upon themselves to deliver victims to local hospitals in person, instead of waiting for the ambulances. Their quick action likely saved several lives. While the police, dispatchers, medics, firefighters, and ER doctors all did an amazing job that night, I feel they have already received a lot of praise. I therefore want to personally thank the unmentioned heroes of that evening; the victims’ advocates and local RTD bus drivers that worked alongside the ranks of emergency responders that night.
After we were all forced to wait outside the theater for a few hours following the shootings, the police finally got everyone organized and bussed us down to a local school. The bus drivers were very kind to all of the victims and tried to cater to our needs. Once at the school, the victims’ advocates showed up. They brought us food and water, and helped however they could. For those of us with missing members in our party, they were the ones that organized our information so we could be contacted as soon as anything was known.
Unfortunately, for many of the victims, that was the only night we saw this kind of support. Organizers had promised that there would be counseling available for the victims before a vigil held on Saturday. All of the victims that showed up early, including my group, were disappointed to find that the counseling before the vigil was reserved for the deceased victims’ families. All the other victims, even those who had been injured but released from hospital, would have to wait for the vigil to start and the victims’ advocates to come outside. Until then, we were left to fend for ourselves against the press.
The victims’ advocates did eventually come out to see us, but they hardly knew where to start given our number and the fact we were now spread out in the crowd. They did what they could. They consoled groups in mourning, whether they were at the theater or not. What stung the worst was to then hear the speakers stand up, one-by-one, and talk about how there needed to be support for all the victims, often emphasizing the mental scarring. Despite the diversity of the term victim in their speeches, their policies had a much narrower definition as to who the victims were.
On the day of the vigil, President Barack Obama visited the families of the deceased. He chose not to attend the vigil because he knew he couldn’t be there without pulling the focus away from the victims. His choice not to make an appearance at the vigil, even though it would have likely given him a boost in the polls, shows that he really did have the victims’ best interests at heart.
I only wish others could have been so selfless. There were dozens of politicians on the stage, most of whom didn’t speak. While he didn’t call them all off by name, Mayor Steve Hogan of Aurora stood for two minutes naming the ranks and affiliations of the dignitaries present, several of whom are up for reelection this coming fall. I understand giving credit to all of the first responders who were in attendance, but the long stream of elected officials felt too much like campaigning to the grieving.
For many in Colorado, this incident is hitting to close to home after the Columbine High School shootings. One victim of the Columbine shooting, Samuel Granillo, is working on a documentary about the school shootings. Through it, his goal is to find a way to provide counseling for those seeking it after the shootings at Columbine High School – which is desperately needed for those who still suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder in the wake of it. The funds for the Columbine victims dried up long before everyone had healed. Many of us that were in the theater on July 20th now worry that the support for the Aurora victims will also prematurely disappear.
There is hope; gestures of support have started to come through. Many speculated that Warner Bros. might make a contribution of some kind. On Tuesday, the studio made it official by announcing they were pledging a ‘substantial’ donation, without releasing details of the actual sum they plan to give to the Colorado Community First Foundation Aurora Victim Relief Fund. Many small businesses in the local communities are holding fundraisers for varying charities and victim support efforts. A group that helped bring the first Comic Con to Denver, organized a human wall at the vigil to counter protest the Westboro Baptist Church, even though the church never showed up. The Aurora Rise Benefit Event is being planned by All C’s Collectibles Comic store in Aurora, Colorado. Comic publishers including DC Comics and Image Comics have contacted them to pledge donations. The event is still coming together, but it so far looks to include a silent auction with proceeds going to victim support.
This outpour of donations from the local, online, and comic book communities has been phenomenal. The biggest worry is that the funds won’t reach most of the victims. My message to the politicians is simple: Have some class. Stop using this tragedy to get reelected. The best thing all the politicians can do now is to make sure that the support for the victims is allocated appropriately. There are several victims who have no way to pay their substantial medical bills, and many more that will need therapy for years to come.
In the final segment, I will discuss the ways in which social media has affected the tragedy. On a large scale, social media has created the most support for the victims. That isn’t to say there isn’t a downside to the internet hive mind.
A.J. Focht is a student, writer, and self-identifying geek. He has a BA in English, and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the University of Denver. He is a regular contributor to SuicideGirls. His work is also featured in Kush Magazine.
WHY DO YOU LOVE IT?: It’s really nice to see people’s photography and to get tips and tricks.
DISCUSSION TIP: I’m probably the worst person to ask for tips. I never post in threads I like because I always end up killing them. So if I like something I just stay as an observer.
“It’s very expensive to make a film in Britain because the exchange rate is so terrible. Dollars are worthless in the UK.”
– Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle is near and dear to the heart of probably every SuicideGirl and member. If not for his debut film noir Shallow Grave or the film that broke him through, Trainspotting, then definitely for the horror film, 28 Days Later. That film gave a pure shot of adrenaline into the heart of the zombie picture. His latest picture, Millions, might surprise casual fans. But Boyle nuts know that the man can tackle any genre and come up with a wonderfully inventive picture.
Millions tells the tale of a three person family; a practical nine year old called Anthony, his religious seven year old brother Damian, who sees saints around every corner, and their father who is the superintendent of a new housing development in Manchester. When a suitcase full of money falls out of the sky at Damian’s feet, it sets the boys on the adventure of a lifetime that leads them to realize that true wealth has nothing to do with money.
