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Susan Granger's review of "DIRTY PICTURES" (SHOWTIME TV - premieres 5/27)
In 1989, Dennis Barrie (James Woods), director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, booked an exhibit of shocking images by controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Months later, he learned that Washington D.C.'s Corcoran Gallery had canceled their showing because of the controversy it evoked. But with the support of his wife (Diana Scarwid) and Board of Directors, Barrie forged ahead, unaware of the emotional price that he and his family would pay when Sheriff Simon Leiss, Jr. (Craig T. Nelson) decided that five of the photos depicting lewd acts of sado-masochism and homosexuality, plus two nude portraits of children, were not only offensive but obscene. "How did this happen?" Barrie wonders. "I never wanted to be a martyr for a cause." Set in court, this Showtime Original Movie is the story of that scandal - which was evoked last year when New York's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani once again used the legal system as a club when he protested the "Sensation" exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Undoubtedly, this Barrie case is deeply disturbing but perhaps writer Salman Rushdie puts it best: "If you cannot defend what - to you - is unpalatable, then you do not believe in free speech. You only believe in the free speech of those who agree with you." On the Granger TV Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Dirty Pictures" is a significant 7, bravely tackling the provocative issue of freedom of expression and dealing with what is our most treasured and troubling Amendment. It's on Sat., May 27, and Wed., May 31, at 9 p.m. on Showtime - but beware - the film is for mature audiences only. It contains the seven disputed images and parental caution is mandatory.
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