"Brokeback" scars, but it's nothing half a million won't fix

[Kringas]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:01pm

An eighth-grade girl and her grandparents have filed a lawsuit claiming a Chicago public school allowed a substitute teacher to show the movie "Brokeback Mountain" in class.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports on the suit in its Sunday editions.

Twelve-year-old Jessica Turner claims to have suffered psychological distress after seeing the R-rated film, in which two rugged Western men conceal a homosexual affair.

The girl and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking more than 400-thousand dollars in damages. The suit was filed yesterday against the Chicago Board of Education in Cook County Circuit Court.

The suit alleges that Ashburn Community Elementary School's principal, Jewel Diaz, knew the film was being shown to the students.

The Sun-Times article (which I saw in print but couldn't find online) says the substitute was named Ms. Buford and told the students, "What happens is Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class."

Ms. Busford, you are a dipsh*t.

Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, you are also dipsh*ts.

And yes, Jessica Turner, you too are a dipsh*t.






Girl's suit claims sub showed 'Brokeback Mountain' in class

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:04pm

This is absolutley ridiculous. If this girl wins this frickin' case, I've lost what faith I had left in America. I mean come on: pshycological distress from seeing a movie about gay men?


Though, also, gay men or not, who the hell shows an R-rated movie in an eighth grade class.

Updated On: 5/12/07 at 09:04 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:07pm

I'd be happy just to get the ten dollar admission back.

[Kringas]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:10pm

I take offense at the article calling Jake Gyllenhaal rugged.

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:12pm

At the risk of being a fuddy-duddy there is no reason a teacher should show an 8th grade class an R-rated movie-- Brokeback mountain has no educational value. She should be out of a job already

[Kringas]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:16pm

Agreed. I did say a little "thank god" (not Kirk Cameron's god, though) when I read that it wasn't a gay male teacher who showed it. That would have just made things even worse.

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:17pm

LOL! That made me smile!!!!

[Kringas]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:20pm

I would like to know what possessed Ms. Buford to show it.

And I still think they're all dipsh*ts. The lot of them.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:25pm

Was there a photo of Ms. Buford accompanying the article? Did she have short short hair and a lavender backpack?

[Kringas]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:27pm

There was a photo, but it was of those "rugged" Western men.

Posted: 5/12/07 at 9:32pm

Namo I was picturing a gal who maybe had a few extra pounds, but was a lot of fun, loved to dance, hung out with her male friends at the bars....

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 11:57pm

If these idiots get their money, then I want the same amount for having to suffer the emotional distress that was "Lestat"!

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 12:02am

Ok that is a ****load of money. What if I sue my 4th grade teacher for showing us "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman"? Theat scarred me, no lies. I could use half a million. College is coming up...

BUT I can kind of understand why someone would think to show 8th graders Brokeback Mountain. You know, like, outside of sex ed.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 11:26am

They should just sue the substitute for being a f****** idiot.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 11:52am

I wish I had had more teachers like Ms. Buford. We had to watch Brother Sun Sister Moon more times than I care to recall. You would think some of those Franciscan priests might try to slip a little Cruising in there one of those years...

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 12:10pm

Teachers have to get permission (and our parent's permission) to show rated R movies in my HIGH SCHOOL.

How did an 8th grade teacher get away with this?

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 12:11pm

Okay, a little reality cheque here. The film is clearly way too long to be shown in its entirety in one class, so obviously the sub was showing scenes, not the whole shooting match (so to speak). I doubt she was so stupid as to show the tent scene.

Distress? And this kid lives in Chicago??? Yeah, right, honey. I just *bet* you were distressed...

[bella cantato]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 1:44pm

When I was in middle school, we had to get permission slips to even see a PG-13 movie. They would NEVER have shown something rated R. That was a bad decision on behalf of the teacher- not just because it's inappropriate for the kids, but she should have known that there are some super strict parents out there who would be really upset.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 2:39pm

Nah in my high school it's the same thing. We wanted to watch SCHINDLER's LIST after studying the Holocaust and reading NIGHT but we weren't able to get permission. THAT is a scarring movie.

[Mandi Moo]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 2:53pm

A sub let us watch Silence of the Lambs when I was in 9th grade. That was certainly interesting.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 2:58pm

Damages?? What a gold digger.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 3:10pm

The worst part is, she has a HUGE chance of winning because it can be considered sexual harrassment if she was personally offended by something sexual.

[misschung]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 3:23pm

what class was this anyway? I mean I could see showing it to a group of seniors or college students if they were studying sexuality or something - in which case anything with Gyllenhaal should be an integral part of the syllabus anyway

She definetly does have a chance of winning - and I agree that its stupid to show an R rated movie to an 8th grade class, tent scene or not

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 4:48pm

They're all idiots. Why would you have distress from such a thing? Why would you even show it? And, if you didn't want to watch it, you could leave the room.

Do they have any proof of other kids saying that they watched the movie.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 5:34pm

The story gets better and better. From actressarchives.com:

Richardson claims that his granddaughter Jessica was traumatized by the movie and has had to undergo psychological treatment and counseling since seeing Brokeback Mountain in school. It isn't the first complaint by Richardson, who also complained to school administrators about reading material that he felt was inappropriate because it included curse words. He told the AP, "This was the last straw. I feel the lawsuit was necessary because of the warning I had already given them on the literature they were giving out to children to read. I told them it was against our faith."

So we have some religious wacko who apparently has no problem suing at the drop of a hat (or a pair of pants). I wonder how much of that "distress" is caused by him.