Saskatoon, Canada won't screen 'Dead Hooker in a Trunk' because of all the Dead Hookers

I do understand the caller's reaction to the film's title, based on the tensions in the community; but I think she should have researched the film and the directors before making the call.

I lost a member of my family--a beautiful, intelligent woman and a mother of two--to a senseless act of violence when I was a little girl. She was a mom, a career woman and a political activist; but now when most people hear her name, they think of her as a stalking and murder victim.

Through the years, when I've seen films that seem to trivialize violence against women, I've been sorely tempted to make some phone calls and tear down some posters myself; but I know that, in the amount of time that it takes to do that, I could be writing a news story to help raise funds for a domestic violence agency, do an informative research report, like Minerva is doing (your work sounds wonderful, Minerva), or volunteering as a mentor or counselor at a rape crisis center.

I do think it's important to discuss the impact of films and the media can have on these situations; in this case, for example, they could have invited the Soska sisters to the theater to discuss their film and their intent in making it; and maybe they could have agreed to donate part of their box office proceeds to organized efforts to help find these missing girls, and to bring their abductors to justice.

Megan - I appreciate where you're coming from on the note that they should have researched it first and I agree, but at the same time that only educates the one person. From the advertising I've seen locally and also what I've heard running through people's lips about it, it doesn't seem like people in general are doing the research into it. It's still going to be taken at face value by the community just like this woman did and that's the impact. Does that excuse everyone in this matter? No. And you're right, maybe getting the Soska's involved could have made a great impact and turned this into a good thing for everyone, but honestly we live in a day an age where many films and forms of media that come out trivialize and mock serious issues - they want to be sensationalist and offensive enough to make people come watch it because they know they're going to be controversial. So I can understand why some people wouldn't be able to take a film called "Dead Hooker in a Trunk" for anything else. Things could have been handled differently from all sides I think, but they weren't and I think it's only fair that people treat both sides of this issue with -respect-. Everyone is free to disagree with either side but one of the big issues this brings up is the total lack of respect for the missing women. It's an uphill struggle right now just to get people to see these women as more than "dead hookers" or to even give a damn that they're dead/missing.

And on the note of the poster vandalism - I'm not sure that it's fair to lump that into this issue with social sensitivities. It's Saskatoon, everything gets vandalized there.

Is this truly censorship? A theatre decided not to run a film because perhaps it realized that it was quite possibly going to be seen as a bad taste move at a bad time? Maybe it was a business decision because they knew they knew they were going to get ripped a new one when more women and families affected by this would get upset? Nobody banned the film. They declined to show it at this point in time. Should people in Japan get up in arms because a movie about a tsunami just recently got pulled from their theatres out of respect for all the recent deaths?

Yes, that was crass, and incredibly insensitive to be honest having re-read it. Most of the women affected by this type of life and violence probably do not give a damn about the movie and it's unfair to say "Well if they were still here they might feel honoured/support it/etc." and that they would somehow feel affronted by the movie being pulled. They're not here to make that call and without ever having met these girl's it's impossible to speculate. Most likely from what I've seen in my research they would have other things to worry about - crushing poverty, abuse, violence, crime, drug and substance abuse. Not about a movie.

I'm actually pretty shocked that at this. I always thought we were a group of Pro-Fem writers here but this crass reaction to the issue of the movie really seems to undermine the fact that people weren't protesting the film because they wanted to squash something they felt threatened their sensitivities but because they're trying to make an effort at getting the real issue at hand to be taken seriously by the greater public. Do we only care about the situation of women when it affects a movie? The Soska sisters could have made an effort to promote the film in a more favourable light and even prepared the theatre accordingly to deal with this. I would have expected someone to have been aware of the impact it was going to have.

Now I'll agree things could have been dealt with better but at least try to give some respect to those trying to do all they can to get an uncaring public to see these women for something worth respect.

Thank you Heidi, your response didn't disapoint me in the least. I guess when I reflected on the crass and careless reaction in my response it wasn't just pointed at your article, I should have made it more generalized because before I posted I did do a little snooping around about the pulling and you're right, all the other blogs and sites are just harping on about the movie and ignoring the issue of why it was a sensitive issue. Some of them have posted the phone number to the Roxy to encourage people to "fight for their rights" by calling and harrasing the theatre. Some are veiling it under "show your support" but most of the energy they're conjuring up is "Down with censorship!" and "That lady is a total bitch! How dare she!"

And Heidi, I just want to comment that you take a bullet a lot. I might, and have, disagreed with some of the ways things are portrayed here but in the end it's succesful in doing something about discussion. Even if I'm calling you out on something like this, surprise! People are getting educated. On other sites it's "Bitch, bitch, bitch and moan" right now, but yes, you addressed the missing women issue head on, in a way that made me a bit cranky last night but in hindsight, it's discussion. I guess sometimes we need something to spark passion in a subject before people will look at it.

Ok, talk about insensitivity and ignorance; this is what sometimes passes for humor online. I warn you, this is nasty:

This is a prime example of something that has no redeeming value; and if you'll notice, not a single negative comment has been posted in response. Effin' bastards.

That's one of the big problems with this issue right now Heidi. "Hookers" aren't people in many minds today. They're caricatures. Once people hear that someone's a sex trade worker it's like something turns off and they automaticly become an almost imaginary figure to some. They're the stereotype we see on tv, but they don't really exist to most people beyond background noise in a bad neighbourhood. It's not on purpose I suppose, but getting people to actually see sex trade workers as something human is one of the most difficult parts of the problem. They're something people won't talk about, think about or care about because they don't show up on most middle to upper class radars.

Anyone remember the Jon Favreau flick Very Bad Things, directed by Peter Berg? No one objected to that gang of miscreants killing a hooker and burying her in the desert. That movie got flack for its dark ending, in which Favreau became quadriplegic...which is worse than murder, I guess.

And let's not forget everyone's fave car theft video game, which makes killing prostitutes part of the fun gaming narrative!

Very true. No matter how offensive something might be, it has to be available to a creator to use. This ties back to an earlier forum conversation about use of the "N Word," btw.