To the editor:
On my drive from Capeville to Food Lion near Cape Charles, I was a bit shocked to see the latest billboard for the Historic Palace Theatre’s “Films That Move” event.
The billboard features two women in their underwear in what I consider a suggestive position.
It is no doubt an expression of art made to stir some emotion in the viewer. And it did.
As a God-fearing man, it made me feel sad for the little town I’ve chosen to call home. But, oh well, I’m a grown man, I can look at the billboard, feel sad, and carry on with my day.
It’s nothing I’ve not seen before. But I have to wonder: If it stirs a sort of shock emotion in me, a grown man, I wonder what kind of emotion it stirs in the young children who pass it every day on their way to Kiptopeke Elementary School.
That’s right — I forgot to mention that the billboard is plastered directly in front of the school, a fact that surely could not have slipped by the owners of the Palace Theatre but that I’m sure slipped past many parents who live north of the school and never pass the sign.
Do they know what the theater is subjecting their children to every day? Are they OK with it? Will they also simply brush it off as art?
Even art has ratings. Films are rated PG, PG-13 and R for a reason — primarily to protect children and to keep them innocent.
At best, the imagery on the billboard is PG-13, although its provocative nature might imply a higher rating. So why subject elementary school children to it?
I think it’s clear to any sane, rational adult who is seeing what is going on in the school system throughout this country, and on children’s television shows, and on the outfits available at Target, what this is — it’s grooming.
Do you disagree? Please explain. I would love to hear why you want to subject children to sexual imagery.
Lotan Kritchman
Capeville
