Alabama Schools Urge Students to See Latest Eddie Murphy Movie; Channel One Ad For Movie Literally “Distasteful”

October 14, 1998

 


 

 

Channel One advertised Eddie Murphy’s latest movie called “Holy Man.” Like many of Murphy’s movies he pushes the limits of good taste. This school-endorsed movie has plenty of problems.

One reviewer had this to say about Channel One’s latest “Movie of the Week”:

“And despite its PG rating, “Holy Man” features what has become Murphy’s trademark of late — vulgar body function gags and sexual jokes that are highly inappropriate for young — if not all — audiences, despite the pictures being targeted as “family films.”

“In one scene, a character drinks what he believes is iced tea, but he is told the drink contains part of his “essence.” (This goes on for five mind-numbing minutes and is repeated later.)

“Two characters mistakenly refer to a laundry detergent product by a term that’s actually slang for a portion of the male anatomy. (This is also repeated ad nauseam.)

 

“Holy Man” is rated PG for vulgar sexual entendres, use of vulgar slang terms and other gross gags, profanity, gunplay and a chainsaw attack, and partial male nudity.”

Jim Metrock, president of Obligation,said, “This reviewer was going easy on the movie. Channel One advertised a real ‘dirt bomb’ for kids. No one at Channel One must have seen this movie before pushing it on eleven-year-olds. An older woman on the the home shopping network in this movie looks at the camera and says ‘I’ve made love twice today.’ She attributes this to the face cream she is selling. She puts some on her face, shivers with an orgasm and says, ‘Make that three times.’ Eddie Murphy’s character speaks for the first time on the shopping network. He says, ‘I wept when I saw a man with no shoes. Until I met a man with … no penis.’ The producers of the show go ballistic. ‘Did he say “penis”? one yells. Another says. ‘He said ‘penis” all right.” Somebody says, ‘Howard Stern can say “penis” but not him (Eddie Murphy’s character).”

Metrock said, “There’s much more. Parents would be very disappointed knowing their schools are showing ads for any movies during school time. But a typical Eddie Murphy movie is over the line by almost anyone standards.”

Eddie Murphy’s character in “Holy Man” is called “G”, just the initial. Metrock said, “Fun times are in for kids in the audience as a excessively long-running joke centers on the name of G’s new shopping show – “The G Spot”. Two scenes revolve around whether another character is actually drinking G’s urine or not. Parents should note that the urine scene was shown on the ad that ran on Channel One during school. The ad cuts out the word “urine” but the ad conveys to kids actually what was said.”

When Eddie Murphy is swimming in the nude, another man looks at Murphy’s genitals and says, “Oh, Free Willy.” The genital jokes are this movie’s main effort to get laughs. A business executive asks Eddie Murphy’s mystic character how he can overcome the fear of flying. Murphy tells him to grab his testicles and hit them together.

“There is more toilet humor, but enough is enough. Why does Channel One chose to dump this sleaze on our children? Money is the language of Channel One. To Channel One, children are very sophisticated consumers of pop culture and products. Parents need to keep in mind that no movie, even a “G” movie should ever be advertised in a school. Principals and superintendents and board members need to understand that they have no right to tell our children what movie to see. That is quite frankly none of their business,” Metrock said.

 

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