The mayor disbanded a city film board that has kept score for 25 years on the amount of sex, violence and profanity on movie screens around town.
The nine-member Provo Media Review Commission has reviewed more than 5,000 films since 1977, when "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"--a film about a promiscuous teacher--caused a stir in conservative Provo and led to the board's appointment.
Mayor Lewis Billings said he was cutting the board to help balance next year's $129 million city budget. The board's portion was $6,500 a year.
Members did not pick or pan movies. They simply noted the types and amounts of sex, profanity and violence on screen. Using a review form and tickets paid for by the city, commissioners screened almost every movie that played in Provo.
"Our role was pretty straightforward," said commissioner Tara Riddle. "If there was nudity, we marked 'nudity' on the review form. If there was the f-word, we marked that down ... but not our opinions."
The board's reviews were posted online and attracted 65,000 Internet hits a month.
"Some movies were so bad I was nervous to be in the same theater with someone who would go there voluntarily," commissioner Rick Walton told The Salt Lake Tribune. "Most of the time I reviewed movies alone because I didn't want anyone I liked subjected to them."
He said the blood-soaked horror film, "Dr. Giggles," was one the most difficult movies to endure. Riddle was so rattled by Robert DeNiro in "Cape Fear" that she checked the undercarriage of her car for serial killers before driving home.
Utah Taxpayer Association vice president Mike Jerman said he supported the cut.
"Government should only be doing things that private organizations are not willing to do," Jerman said.
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