Sex Z Pictures owner Bo Kenney says he is standing behind a controversial fisting scene in his company’s movie, Corruption, and is willing to pay any legal fees incurred by distributors or retailers carrying the title.
“I haven’t heard anything negative from retailers or anyone else about the movie,” Kenney said of the title, which received 17 nominations for 2007 AVN Awards.
“I just saw some things on the Web about retailers being worried about it and that it’s a bad movie and this and that and the other, so I wanted to show that we’re standing by this movie.”
Kenney has hired First Amendment attorney Paul Cambria to deal with any potential legal issue, but he affirmed his belief that the movie is not obscene.
At issue are separate scenes involving Kylie Ireland and Sandra Romain who get fisted. Meanwhile, Hillary Scott's fisting scene is featured in the director’s cut and high-definition version of the movie, set for release in January, following AVN’s Adult Entertainment Expo. An R-rated version of the movie will also be released in January.
But Kenney said a toned-down version of the movie, with the controversial fisting scene removed, is set for release on Dec. 4.
“We want to give retailers a choice as to which movie they want to carry.”
The movie tells the story of an amoral, corrupt politician who gets his mistress and family embroiled in his political machinations and deviant sexual behavior.
“For something to be obscene it basically has to have no redeeming social value and that’s not the case with Corruption,” Kenney said.
“This movie has a lot of sex but it also makes you think. It’s based on things right out of the headlines.”
According to the landmark case Miller v. California, obscene material must meet three separate criteria. One is whether an average person, applying contemporary community standards finds the material appeals to prurient interest, whether it depicts activities in a patently offensive way and whether the work lacks redeeming social value. The second part of the criteria is whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law, and the third is whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
“I believe this movie would pass the Miller test easily and all you have to do to know that is watch the movie.”
Cambria remarked, "As far as Bo's Movie I have been Bo and Shannon's attorney for many years and have successfully defended movies for them before juries including Max Hardcore movies before Virginia juries. Bo asked if I could make the services of my office available in the event defense was needed for his movie Corruption. We are a law firm of 65 attorneys we defend criminal cases all over the United States and have for many years with great success. Of course we would make ourselves available for Bo and those he is affiliated with unless there was some unavoidable conflict.
"There is a vast difference between what the prosecution may think violates the obscenity laws and what a jury would find after hearing both sides and all the evidence. There also has been a reference to an agreement concerning fisting conduct and the L.A. prosecutor's office.I am very familiar with that agreement since I entered into it for a client of mine many years ago. It was not as reported that fisting per se was against the law it was simply that unless the thumb was inserted it was not considered fisting. The agreement was no more and no less than that and had nothing to do with whether such conduct was unlawful again that is a determination that only a well informed jury can make."
In an e-mail to AVN, director Eli Cross said the movie is his artistic vision and that he supports Kenney’s stand.
“We wanted to release the movie we wanted to release and this guy stood behind me and this movie,” he wrote.
“This is a guy who really believes he’s got a movie that is entirely defensible as an actual work of artistic merit.”
Kenney added that he didn’t want to merely cut the scenes out just to ease some people’s minds, but that he wanted to take a stand in support of the First Amendment.
For more information, Sex Z may be reached at (888) 303-5443.
