The decision by theater owner Barry Flood in Tryon, NC to shut down rather than continue to show "trash" has found a sympathetic ear at the Wall Street Journal. In a commentary appearing in the newspaper today (Wednesday), the Journal observes that Hollywood is not likely to listen to Flood.

The WSJ noted the reaction of Eric Watson, a producer of the unrated Requiem for a Dream, to the demand by United Artists and Loews theaters that Artisan entertainment make clear in its ads that the film was being released unrated because of "explicit sexual content."

Watson had told the Hollywood Reporter that the demand represented "a dark harbinger of a cold climate of censorship." Commented the WSJ: "It's that kind of arrogance that darkened Mr. Flood's theater."

Source: Studio Briefing