Hatcher Condemns Film As Indecent

Hatcher Condemns
Film As Indecent

By Larry Bush | acceptance of tilings that were
(Higher Education Reporter i i previously considered unaccept-
University President Harlanlable."

iHatcher yesterday condemned! Tracing the history of public
]., ,,„, ' . ,, , ,, „., i morality from Victorian prud-
|the "Flaming Creatures film ^ness to the present, he said

shown recently on campus as "we have been experiencing a
"indecent," while members of form of evolution, and it is that
the U-M Board of R e g e n t s ^^^Ldi•sulrbs.me^^m^^
struck out at the "MichiUtin
Daily," student newspaper. '' :

accepting "shocking" advertis-
|ing.

\ Hatcher said the film seized"
!by Ann Arbor police during a
icinema Guild .s h o w i n a: last
I month "is outside the concept
'of human decency "

I "This I'njvcrsr ' ""iny
'off on i '.'•" n presentations
jof this ... .c are just not
j going to do it," he said at an-
' other point, i
It pains me to see academ-

I'reedom and freedfl^jofi
spc-eeh tangled up*in%T^%tid-'
dv kind^' srtaft w U-M prcs-1
i(icn(^-S.y^"

He declined, however, (o rcc
ommcnd action against (he
ci^.m;> Guild, Jvhich he praised
jforDrlltiau^lfality films to the
campus which otherwise would
not be seen.

"We don't want censorship at''
the University of Michigan,"!
he said, and pointed out that it
is up to civil authcrili ;r en-
force laws on such i iiid
not the University.

4

"I am not ready to make any
recommendations" at this time.
"There is a strong element of
which he said he believed would
bring "self correction."

Regent William B. Cudlip, R
Detroit, told the board that "I
was looking at the Michigan
Daily and was amazed at the
arrogance in two advertise-
ments.

Later he said of the Cinema
Guild advertising "it is shock-j,
ing—it is almost defiant."

Regent Frederick C. Mat-
thaei, R-Ann Arbor, countered
with the statement, "I wonder
|if the people in charge don't
;have an entirely different view?
iof art than their predecessors
jdid." '
| Regent Robert P. Briggs, R-
I Jackson, said "I hope greater
I care is exercised in what is pcr-
imitted to get into the Michigan
;Daily."

He said he felt damage was
i being done to the University by
obscene words that get into
print on the student newspa-
per's editorial page because it
'is read by legislators and oth-
'crs outside the University com-

-1 unity.

Regent Paul G. Goebel, R-
Grand Rapids, who heads the
U-M's $55-million fund raising
program said: "Because of the
publicity that has gone out all
over the country I have to
spend most of my time defend-
ing the University" instead of
raising money.

"I am very much distressed

-y it," he said.

Katcher said he had been
"oded by letters on two things,
's the beer drinking chain-
;iip and the second the
Cinema Guild."
He told the board that :

on the beer drinking contest by
U-M students has "appeared on|
front pages of newspapers across
the nation."

Probably the parents of these !
stuednts were crowding into •
telephone booths, swallowing
goldfish, or flag pole sitting, a
m e m b e r of the b o a r d corn- .
mented.

Turning to the question of the
'l-'l.nning Creatures" film,
; Hatcher said "it poses some
problems for us about where we
| are and where we are going."
j He said, however, "the Cine-
ma Guild is a fine organization
and the community is deeply in-
debted to it for bringing pic-
tures" that have wo -s in
foreign film festival ii- ^ the
best of American films of the ;

past that would not be seen oth-,
erwise. ,
'• Then he noted, "there has
'seen a change of taste—a break-'
!own of taste into vulgarity inj
'" of view. There is now;

iance of pornographic
•• — there is a publici

the end of it all no holds the -Flaming Creatures.' There
barred?" are 600 of these films available

"I think we have started on a from rental a^: nd they
road of evolution that needs cor- have been pan. popular
rection. More and i-m •' -i [c, on college campuses.
a lack of taste and ii v," | "Many of them are outside
he said. the concept of human decency,

"The underground of film- and one of these is 'Flaming
dom has been making films like Creatures,' " he said.