RTFA

An email petition has made it's way into my inbox, calling upon my sense of 'Canadian Decency' to help ban a film.

This particular email calls for a stop to the creation of a film documenting the rape and murder of two girls by a sick and depraved couple. What makes this film different from all the other true-crime tales to hit our televisions and local theatres, is that this crime happened, not in big bad LA or New York. It happened here, in Southern Ontario, and it happened not more than a decade ago. Under the blanket reason of, 'protecting the families of the victims', there is a hue and cry to ban the film.

Never mind the dozen Law & Order shows that fill the airwaves. Never mind CSI. Never mind the film 'Monster' which won numerous awards both in the US and Canada. Nor the made for TV movies of the traumatic or shocking event of the week. Ignore the dozen shows on forensic science or tales of true crime. Forget the rush of Canadians across the border into the US who went to read the grisly details that didn't make it to our press due to a publications ban. Ignore the sections of libraries and book stores dedicated to True Crime. No - it's just this, and only this film, which demonstrates the depravity of entertainment and must be stopped. Only this needs muzzling, for the good of the victims.

Needless to say, this little rally call for censorship of an extremely narrow minded variety irked me.

Aside from the issue of censorship, would you like to know what I found particularly distasteful about this email?

It's not that the petition is so poorly written that there is no clear goal or objective requested. Nor is it that email petitions carry absolutely no weight with any politician, business or serious organization.

No - what's distasteful is that within the body of the petition itself is a link to an article explaining that this very petition is poorly written and carries no weight. Right there! Right in the email itself!!! Over 200 people had signed the email petition by the time it reached my in-box, and I imagine there are hundreds of other who are right now signing and forwarding this thing on. And all of whom are missing that right within the petition itself is a link explaining to them that the petition is useless and ineffective. What does that tell you?