Images of Jesus, dancing puppets and fire played in the Ackland Art Museum Thursday evening to a soundtrack of a group chanting for civil rights.
The four-minute montage was a segment of David Wojnarowicz’s controversial film, “A Fire in My Belly.” The Ackland played the film prior to a panel discussion of the reasons behind the Smithsonian’s recent censorship of the film.
When the four-minute film debuted at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Catholic League and conservative leaders were outraged. They pressured the Smithsonian to remove the piece from the exhibit.
Amanda Hughes, director of external affairs for the museum, began the discussion by presenting the background of the film’s controversy, citing the portraiture of homosexuality and the reputed anti-Christian sentiment as reasons for the film’s censorship.
“It’s important for us to show and talk about a film like this one on a university campus,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to teach and to consider.”
Rich Cante, a professor of communication studies, spoke about the piece in the context of film history.
“In accordance with montage theory, the montage of image here emphasizes the clashes between the images,” he said. “It highlights the logic of the parts over the whole.”
Referring to similar examples in film history, Cante said that the film provoked questions about the role of our institutions in history in his own mind.
“On what ethical, aesthetic, and religious tenets do you fall back?” Cante asked. “That’s not a rhetorical question. I literally don’t know the answer.”
Michelle Robinson, an American studies professor who specializes in gay and lesbian literature, shared her thoughts about the relationship between the film and public activism.
She mentioned the film’s address of Jesus as “culturally inescapable” and said that the film fell into the rhetoric of the war on Christmas.
“Sometimes I wonder whether any of the film’s detractors have dared to go and view what they hoped to censor,” she said. “From what they’ve written about, it seems that they haven’t.”
Randall Styers, professor in the department of religious studies, discussed the nature and back story of the controversy surrounding the film. He focused on the role of the Catholic League in the piece’s censorship.
“Though these groups aim to harm the works they censor, it’s actually a symbiotic relationship,” Styers said. “They create more coverage for the film simply by censoring it. It’s a win-win.”
The three versions of Wojnarowicz’s film will run in the Ackland Study Gallery until Feb. 13.
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