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Published: April 6, 2009
“For the enjoyment of the student body”
UC-Davis among several schools across U.S. presenting hardcore porn film offered free to college students by skin-flick’s producer
More than 400 students showed up to view a hardcore pornographic film on Thursday night, April 2, at the University of California at Davis. The triple-X rated film was offered under the auspices of the Associated Students Entertainment Council, which is funded by mandatory student fees.
Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge, reputedly the most expensive pornographic film ever made, was shown in a chemistry lecture hall that seats about 440, and news accounts said students lined up outside to see it, with many being turned away once the lecture hall reached capacity.
The film’s producer, Digital Playground of Van Nuys, said in a March 31 news release, “Over 2,000 excited students cheered and clapped throughout recent screenings at UCLA, Northwestern University, Carnegie Mellon University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Southern Connecticut State University.” Digital Playground is making the film available free to university students “with the intention of breaking down the popular notions of what adult movies are capable of,” said the release. “With over 600 special effects, thrilling fight sequences, and a comprehensive story, Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge continues to build a huge mainstream following.”
 In its own release a day before the pornographic film was shown, the UC-Davis Entertainment Council said, “Initially, EC intended to use no funds towards this screening. However, because of negative response, EC has made the decision to hire Cal Aggie Hosts to monitor the event. EC assure the UC Davis community that the only university funds or student fees that are being used for this event are assuring the protection of students. The film was licensed free-of-charge to the Entertainment Council’s Campus Cinema division for public performance at UC Davis and all staff members working at the event are volunteering their time for the evening. Staff will be checking state-issued identification at the door to ensure that all attending audience members are over the age of 18. The Entertainment Council respects the differing choices of adult students, and allows students to make their own decision about the film. All Entertainment Council events are sponsored for the enjoyment of the student body, and attendance at these events is at the discretion of those who choose to participate.”
UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell told the Sacramento Bee that the university “does not censor student events, performances or publications” and school administrators had no intentions of halting the showing.
The campus student newspaper, The California Aggie, defended the screening of the hardcore pornographic film in an April 2 editorial: “There will, of course, be those on campus and in the community opposed to the public showing of a pornographic film. It's important to remember that this screening -- like other on-campus presentations -- is by no means mandatory. Additionally, viewers won't be permitted to enter Chem 194 without identification proving they're at least 18 years of age… UC Davis is a community about fostering discussion in hopes of furthering education. Sex sells. It's worth talking about, too.”
Golda Criddle, a coordinator for the Entertainment Council, told the local CBS news affiliate, "I know that porn is viewed widely, there's no way you can stop that. I hope they'll be able to view porn critically and objectively."
According to KXTV News 10, “A handful of protesters showed in opposition to porn, but the people lining around the Chemistry building waiting to get in, far outnumbered the group.”
Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 8:13 AM By kathy
Take heart. I just looked it up and UC Davis has a total enrollment (grad and undergrad) of over 31,000 students. If only 400 students showed up out of that population, the EC should be finding better entertainment for their students. There are always those who think they are enlightening the masses and nobly serving the greater good by being counter-culture.
Maybe it will also cause some of these colleges' Catholic students to step up to the plate and get on their EC councils to have a voice going forward. The blame (and shame) is on us too.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 9:30 AM By Peter
What good is learning without virtue? This nation's higher education system is, over time and at a huge cost, proving to be a social/moral failure.These same students enjoying the denigration of fellow human beings will probally be standing in line as they watch the collapse of this nation between now and 2050
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 9:51 AM By Maryanne Leonard
Send your kids to Thomas Aquinas College. That is a great place to get an undergraduate education that is oriented toward learning to think, as opposed to memorizing facts for regurgitation or preparing for a specific job. The campus is easily walked, the weather is wonderful, the setting is quite beautiful in a serene way, the academic environment is rich, the Catholicity is palpable, and they have a beautiful new church which offers Latin Masses. This is a Catholic school that is still Catholic, and I am quite sure they don't allow this kind of nonsense on campus. I know some of their teachers and some of their graduates, as well as a few of their staff members, and I would be proud to introduce any of them to any of my family members at any time. If you have kids to educate, remember this college in your considerations.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 9:52 AM By Fr. M.P.
So they don't want to censor evils? But they will censor good, like Jesus and the Ten Commandments. Peter, God's Justice will occur sooner than 2050 given the way things are going. Much sooner.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 11:03 AM By Marie
The owner/producer is Ali Davoudian, located on Hart Street in Van Nuys.
Your article fails to say how many UC administrators showed up to watch the sick flick.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 11:43 AM By Dan
Our President has just told the world that America is not at war with Muslims. He apparently doesn't realize the degrading sexualization of this country by, among other things, the glorification of porn, is enough to keep Muslims at war with us.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 2:21 PM By Lisa
the time is near -- look at the signs -- when calling evil good and good evil -- our redemption draweth near. Oh Lord My God please have Mercy on us.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 3:30 PM By Life Lady
If you have sent your child to that school, I would consider taking them out, and finding a more suitable place for their education. If most of those participants were male, and they viewed the film, then the women on that campus are at risk for being attacked. It is no stretch to say that porn is responsible for the crime of rape of women. Ask any rapist doing time, or any serial killer who raped and murdered his victims. If you are a parent of one of the participants, all the more urgent that you act now.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 7:04 PM By BJ
It interesting is it not that there is always opposition to religious oriented films with a positive theme? I would venture to guess that the Entertainment Council would not support the screening of Pope John Paul II: The Movie, Brother Sun Sister Moon (about Saint Francis of Assisi) or A Man for All Seasons (Sir Thomas More). Much like the Roman Emperors (e.g.persecuting the Christians by feeding them to the Lions); these so-called "student leaders" are merely pandering to the crowd, the lowest common denominator. The student leaders on most college campuses (public and private) are usually elected by a very small group (sometimes less than 2% of the total student body) because most students do not care or do not have the time to participate in the election. Hence, they live with the "dictatorship of the minority". As all of the readers on this web site know, true leadership requires consideration of values, standards and also fortitude. For list of films promoted by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, visit their website for the fifty best Catholic films of all time. You will be pleasantly surprised by the breadth and quality of the films listed.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 7:05 PM By The other Mike
UC Davis is owned and operated by the State of California, so what do you expect? The question is, when are these same porno flicks going to be shown in state high schools, and state grammer schools? Answer: sooner rather than later.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 7:54 PM By JLS
Garvan, that's a good point. Islam would, in my understanding of it, perceive the decadence of the West as an attack on God. And in this they are right, the moral defiance of the West is an attack on God. What Islam does about this perception is a bit more difficult to grasp.
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 8:37 PM By mark mitchell
Not knowing that much specifically about UC Davis, I think this much I do know: they're obviously part of the cabal of sec-lib establishments of higher 'learning' that are constantly endeavoring to "push the envelope". I wonder how much they would push in the present regard if they could know how many of the 400 present to view this "posh" porn might act on the stimulus of this filth to, say, attack some poor young girl on the UC campus. Can't happen, they'll say? Famous last words.
And where are all the feminists who are supposed to be so against this sexist, among other things, trash? Aren't these porn flicks considered to be exploiting women any more? More hypocrisy from that camp.
Seems to me a sign of the times (once again). --GOD BLESS, MARKRITE
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 8:43 PM By Jim D.
Now how long before this pornography makes to Santa Clara, Notre Dame, and the other colleges that claim to be "Catholic"? God help us!
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Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 9:53 PM By JLS
UC Davis, although "quiet" about it, hosts one of the most radical Marxist communities in the nation. It serves as a powerhouse in this way.
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Posted Tuesday, April 07, 2009 8:22 AM By Maryanne Leonard
Mark Mitchell, you asked where are the feminists who are supposed to be so against this sexist, among other things, trash? I am a feminist and a practicing Catholic, and I am absolutely against pornography in general and University of California campuses permitting the showing pornography on campuses I help pay for with my tax dollars and other forms of support. I have publically protested and continue to do so, and I am not alone. The fact that I believe that as a woman I was created equal to you does not mean that I think films or any other treatment that exploits and degrades women is ok. Please do not denounce those of us who do believe in the dignity and equality of women and accuse us of not speaking out when in fact we are. Although it is not presently hip to admit openly that one is a feminist, mainly because of people like you putting us down and blaming us for everything wrong in today's society, many men and women believe that women and men are created equal in the eyes of God, and you never know who among the outraged posters even on this forum believes that women and men both deserve to be respected and treated with dignity. Think twice before you blame people who believe in human equality and dignity for the outrages you see around us in today's world that we did not cause and do not support and in fact actively denounce. We are not the cause of the problems; we are as opposed to them as you are.
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Posted Tuesday, April 07, 2009 10:21 AM By Paul Courfeyrac
One of the purposes of college life is to begin the arduous venture of finding a mate -- or rather, the arduous venture of finding a suitable partner in marriage. Apropos, then, of pornovision on campus, most college students -- at UC Davis, Santa Clara, Notre Dame, and elsewhere -- know better. The friendship formed between a young man and a young woman is, in itself, a form of Eros. Didn't the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel advise: Don't take your date to a movie. That loses both of you the pleasurable time needed to come to know each other through conversation. Take your date to a cafe! Conversation, after all, is the music that accompanies the Eros of friendship. *** Conversation is lively and enlivening. Pornovision, by contrast, is self-isolative, an instance of second reality rather than first reality.
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Posted Tuesday, April 07, 2009 8:04 PM By mark mitchell
Gee, Maryanne, to paraphrase Shakespeare, I think you "doth protest too much", or, to put it differently, your comments remind me of the guy on trial for some offense, who's asked "And sir, when did you stop beating your wife?"; and the guy answers, "well, sir, (or madame), I never STARTED." Did you really think I had YOU in mind, or the whole Catholic Feminist movement, when I asked where the feminists were on this issue? I'm sure the devout Catholic feminists ARE actively doing what they can to battlle porn, even though logically there can't be a whole lot of them out there, the culture being what it is. And I'm thrilled to know that, as a DEVOUT CATHOLIC FEMINIST you do support your sisters in feminism in trying to beat back the related evils of contraception, legalized killing (abortion on demand), rampant homosexuality,and all the rest of the many ills that afflict us.
But, once again, there can't be that many DEVOUT CATHOLIC (OR CHRISTIAN) FEMINISTS around, because so few of them step up to demand that the SEXIST MALE COLLEGE establishment stop promoting events like these. As a matter of fact, its well-known that the secular feminist establishment is DEAFENINGLY (is there such a word?) silent about happenings like the one at UC DAVIS, when the same college may be OVERWHELMINGLY PRO-ABORT. Are you really not aware of such situations?
And what does "it is not presently hip to admit openly that one is a feminist", etc., mean? That might be true of you who are DEVOUT CATHOLIC (OR CHRISTIAN) FEMINISTS, but LOL untrue about your secularist feminist sisters who have not missed one opportunity in 30 years to VERY LOUDLY PROCLAIM to one and all how "hip" they are in their militant feminism. so, PACE, Maryanne, let your heart not be troubled; if you're who you really say you are, we're all on the same page. -- GOD BLESS, MARKRITE
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 6:17 AM By Maryanne Leonard
Thanks, Mark, for your comments. I am indeed who I say I am, a pro-life, devout, practicing Catholic and hold dear the traditional Catholic values that you espouse. There are many of us who believe that men and women are of equal value and also believe that pornography is offensive and harmful and that abortion is murder. The reason you don't hear a lot from us is, frankly, that we are not the loud ones, we are the ones who serve God and humankind to the best of our abilities, but usually without giving offense or grabbing headlines. There is an organization called Feminists for Life which many who share my values belong to, although I do not, simply because my plate is so full already. But many Catholics and other Christians believe that women are equal to men and that traditional Judeo-Christian values are to be treasured, honored, and lived, and those two concepts are quite compatible. The media choose to portray the wild-eyed radicals on the fringe of feminist thinking because it makes for sensationalism, which sells papers, or at the very least makes a journalist's job easier by contrasting 1950's era thinking with the outlandish behavior and philosophies of raving lunatics on the fringe. Rational, considered thought is much more dignified and sedate, and to some is not exciting enough to sell papers. Thanks for your comments, Mark. Next time, let's skip the put-downs though, okay? I do believe in speaking to one another with respect. We can discuss our thoughts without personal slights. Enough said.
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Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 1:37 PM By JLS
Maryanne L, "equal value" is not the same as "equal". But I really do not know why you want to split men and women from the nature of value. Nature includes both men and women; so, when people argue over various aspects of men and women, often they create an unrealistic sense that one sex can be evaluated without the other. Such an unrealistic way of treating ideas is found typically among atheists and modernists.
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Posted Saturday, April 11, 2009 4:41 PM By Talithia Kumi
YUK!
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