MPAA Redbands Newscasts Over Foley Scandal, Declares "We Lost an Ally"

Of the 2 part headline above regarding the Motion Picture Association of America, which recently redbanded the trailer for Amy Berg's upcoming Deliver Us From Evil because "the content is adult in nature, with overt comments about child molestation throughout", one is true and one is false.

The first part - that the MPAA had actually redbanded (or restricted viewing to viewers of R and NC-17 films) the evening news over recent ongoing and sexually suggestive tales of congressional wrongdoing - is false.  Although reports of emails and instant messages between a Republican congressman and underage male congressional pages has been far more suggestive than anything in the trailer for Berg's powerful film, the MPAA apparently does not have the ability to restrict television viewing, although we're sure they're looking into it.

However, the second part, a declaration by an official of the MPAA that the scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) was "tragic for a whole lot of reasons", one of which happens to be that "we lost an ally" in Washington - that one is true. 

This mindblowingly dumb statement was made by John Feehery, a Republican who works as the MPAA's Executive VP of External Affairs, to the Hollywood Reporter, who quotes him in an article that is misleadingly headlined "Hollywood: 'We lost an ally' in Foley" (it wasn't Hollywood saying this, it was an official with the MPAA):

While entertainment industry executives were shocked by the explicit e-mails and instant messages between Foley and a page that led to his resignation, they considered the former congressman an effective representative for them with the Republican Party -- often considered a hostile environment for the industry. Foley resigned Friday after the e-mails came to light. "He was very effective," said John Feehery, a Republican, who is the MPAA's executive vp external affairs. "We saw him as an effective champion for the industry. It's tragic for a whole lot of reasons. There's the personal reason that it's tragic, especially for the pages. It's politically tragic for Republicans, and in the entertainment industry, we lost an ally."

Keep that in mind as you read (or re-read) this post of mine about the decision by the MPAA to redband trailers for Deliver Us From Evil and as you consider that at least one executive at the MPAA considers it tragic that Mark Foley, confessed predator (and now alleged victim of Catholic priest molestation), is gone from Congress.  Further, watch the trailer for Deliver Us From Evil and tell me if there is anything worse in there then what you've been seeing on TV.