Library Monkey

Here is a little disconcerting news from our friends up in Rogers, straight from the NWA Times:

Controversial film to remain on library shelf By Melissa Blakely
The Morning News

ROGERS -- The controversial 1992 film 'Basic Instinct' will remain a part of the collection of between 8,000 and 10,000 videos cataloged in the Rogers Public Library.

But the movie will now have a warning label to inform library patrons of its adult content.

The Rogers Library Board approved three motions Tuesday to keep the film 'Basic Instinct' on the library shelves, label the video case with an adult-content sticker and update the permission waivers that parental guardians must sign for new patrons under the age of 18.

Library patron Nieves Egelkraut asked the Library Board of Trustees in October to remove the film after she randomly checked it out and found it to be sexually graphic and violent.

"I really don't have an opinion on this," said Robert Finch, reference librarian for the Rogers Public Library. "My job is to find the films that have significant cultural impact."

Brice Wagner, a member of the board, suggested a new waiver that would require parental guardians of new patrons younger than age 18 either to allow or deny their child to see films with violence, nudity, sexual and derogatory language. The waiver would not require going backward and grandfathering in current patrons.

Currently, if a parent checks the box to allow a child to check out any material from the library, that means a child is not prevented from checking out any video or book in the library collection based upon a content criteria, said Judy Casey, library director.

Casey said, if a parent gives permission on a child's library card to check out any material, it's not up to the library to interfere with the parent's decision.

One suggestion was to give the film a rating of R because the film is the unrated director's cut, but the library cannot change its rating to an R since the Motion Picture Association of America gave it the NR rating, said Finch.

"I've never been sued by the MPAA, but a friend of mine was sued by the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and it was not a pretty experience," Finch said.

"I'm sure there are other movies out there that are equally graphic. She (Egelkraut) just hasn't picked them up yet," said Marsy Humphrey, Friends of the Library liaison.

The library is now doing more to let patrons know about the adult content films in the collection, said Casey.

Fast Facts

Basic Instinct

* An erotic thriller from 1992.

* Plot Outline: A police detective played by Michael Douglas is in charge of an investigation of a brutal murder in which a beautiful and seductive woman played by Sharon Stone could be involved.

* Grossed:

$118 million in the United States

$353 million Worldwide

* Rentals:

$53,000,000 in United States

* Future Airings: Basic Instinct the edited version will be shown Nov. 27 at 10:15 p.m. and Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. on American Movie Classic cable network.

Source: The Internet Movie Database, www.imdb.com

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/11/22/news/112206rzlibrarymovie.txt