BANNED: Zack and Miri Make a Porno Poster

Because obviously U.S. audiences can't handle the above poster for Zack and Miri Make a Porno, it naturally was banned from U.S. venues.  Not so over the Internet, where it's allowed to flourish.  So, let's all just move to cyberspace, where free speech reigns.

About the poster:  Is this really something to, uh, lose your head over?  Give me a break.  The U.S. continues to regress culturally in ways that are embarrassing.

Recently, I wrote a review for a publication in which the word "sex" was axed in favor of the presumably less-offensive word, "mate."  For instance, instead of saying, "He planned to have sex with her," the wording was changed to, "He planned to mate with her."  Is "sex" a dirty word?  Is it a crude usage of the act?  Apparently, to somebody it was.  The decision to alter the word irritates me for the specific reason noted above--we continue our long slide into cultural timidity, which can only lead to a kind of cultural obscurity.  This is a world in which we've taken the idea of offending no one to such lengths, we've essentially cut off our own balls.  Or testicles.  I suppose that's a safer usage of the word.

What kills me is that years ago, for the same publication, I reviewed John Waters' "Pecker."  Nobody batted an eyelash then--and it was a very racy review.  The same was true when I turned that copy into a review for television.  These days, each venue would faint if that copy hit their desks, particularly when I said on air, "Everyone should turn out to see John Water's 'Pecker.'  It's fantastic!"

Anyway, click on the above poster to supersize it.  If I had a nude version of it, I'd post it.  Just because.