Heart of the Beholder

reviewed by Bill Creasy

The executive producer of this movie, Darlene Lieblich, has sent regular emails to humanist and atheist groups. She has promoted it as a critique of the Religious Right that Hollywood is afraid to make. It is actually more than an atheist rant. This is a well-written story about a personal struggle against adversity and against people who want be in control. If the movie is against the Religious Right, it criticizes their methods rather than the people.

The movie begins in 1980 with a young couple, Mike and Diane Howard. Mike thinks of himself as an enterpreneur, and he decides to open the first video rental store in St. Louis. He convinces his reluctant, pregnant wife that they should invest their savings in the venture. Luckily, he stocks VHS tapes instead Betamax, and the video store does very well.

In due course, Mike is confronted by a local religious group, Citizens for Decency. The group demands that he remove certain videos from his stores. The list begins with "Last Temptation of Christ," but includes titles like "Splash" and "Mr. Mom." Mike refuses, and he faces threats against his family, arrest, and loss of his business.

The movie takes a humanistic turn after he looses the stores. Mike gets an unusual chance to confront the members of the religious group. They apologize when they are directly confronted, and then they help Mike get his revenge on others who had motives that were more financial than religious for making him fail.

The movie follows Mike as he must decide what he will stand for when he is told what to do. Most of the members of the religious Citizens of Democracy sincerely think they are doing good, even if they go too far. Unfortunately, even this small group has the capability to ruin the Howards's lives. They also provide a cover of sincerety for other people to exploit for their own reasons. The movie may be more of a cautionary tale for the methods of religious activists rather than a critique of their ideals or religion.

The movie is based on true events that happened to Ken Tipton, who wrote, produced, and directed. After he worked on getting it made for 10 years, one could say that his final revenge is making the movie about his opponents, but he's made it as a human story rather than an attack.

This small, independent movie can be ordered via the internet. It has been shown at film festivals but, not surprisingly due to the subject, the major distributors won't touch it. The movie is not yet rated, but they anticipate an R rating for language and sexual situations. The movie can be ordered through www.Beholder.com.

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