‘Pride’ director defends removal of gay references from US DVD cover
By Will Stroude
Pride
director Matthew Warchus has defended the removal of all references to gays and lesbians on the film’s US DVD cover.
After Pride was released on DVD in the US on December 23rd, a Twitter user noticed that the film’s Blu-ray cover has removed any mention of the group’s sexuality, and that a banner reading ‘Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ seen in promotional pictures had been photo-shopped out – find out more here.
Warchus has now responded to the controversy, telling BBC Radio 5 Live that the ommissions are a “clumsy” but “valid” strategy.
“Changing the cover is kind of clumsy and a bit foolish,” he said, adding: “But this is a film that is loved by people of all political persuasions and sexual orientations.
“I’m just keen for as many people who have yet to see the film to see it.”
The 48-year-old argued that he “didn’t want to preach to the converted” and wanted the film “to find a mainstream audience [and] broaden people’s minds.
“I think someone in the marketing department in the US used their marketing judgement to try to remove any barrier to the widest possible audience.
“It’s clumsily done but I understand it and it’s a valid instinct,” he continued, describing “the nature of marketing” as “over-simplification [and] reductive”.
US film censors had already come under last year after giving the film an ‘R’ rating – which means that children under the age of 17 must be accompanied by an adult to see it – despite the fact the film contains no explicit sex or violence.
Pride was one of the big winners at the British Independent Film Awards earlier this month however, scooping three prizes – find out more here.
Meanwhile, following its critical and commercial success, the story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners could now be heading to London’s West End – read more here.
Warchus is set to take over from Kevin Spacey as artistic director at London’s Old Vic theatre later this year.
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