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American prison officer in trouble over movie Brokeback Mountain

Wednesday, 12 April 2006

American prison officer in trouble over gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain

An American prison officer has been disciplined for screening the gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain for inmates to watch and correctional authorities in Massachusetts said the film was unsuitable for a prison because of its "sexually explicit scenes".

A spokesman said the officer had neglected to follow guidelines requiring films to be vetted for violence, nudity or sex.

Brokeback Mountain is about two cowboys who meet and fall in love in 1960s Wyoming.

"It was not the subject matter," said Diane Wiffin, of the Massachusetts Department of Correction.
"It was the graphic nature of sexually explicit scenes," she explained.

Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee and which won three Oscars last month, had been shown to inmates in the state's largest prison in Norfolk, about 40km (25 miles) south-west of Boston.

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