by After Dark Home Video
Sales Rank: 66564
Price: $49.98
If you are buying this to hear Lou Reed's alternate version of "Walk On The Wild Side' specially written for this movie, DON'T! They took it out! I've seen the Lou Reed scene and it's certainly worth seeing, but you won't see it on this video. Otherwise, the video is very boring.
Viewer Reviews Damned in the USA is a well produced and entertaining examination of the culture wars and censorship battles that engulfed the National Endowment for the Arts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Paul Yule even takes on the more nuanced issues of art vs. commerce and objectification vs. aesthetic intent by backing the Mapplethorpe controversy up against feminist anti-pornography arguments. All parties get to voice their position and viewers can decide where they stand. Unfortunately for the American Family Association and the Morality in Media folks, most of the art and music crowd, with the exception of Andre Serano, are highly articulate and don't appear motivated by rigid ideology. As a result, the family values camp comes off like a herd of talking heads spewing the party line without any self reflection or capacity for critical thinking. The final blow is dealt by Jimmy Tingle who's monologue puts the entire issue into ironic context making the religious right look sheltered, petty and ill informed.
A must see for anyone interested in issues of censorship and questions about the role of the Federal Government in the preservation of culture.
