The song, “Ya Got Trouble,” from the musical “The Music Man,” has a line, “Well, ya got trouble, my friend. Right here, I say trouble right here in
At the outset, it should be pointed out that this is not about the morality of any individual or what they do in the privacy of their own hotel room or home. It’s about the character of our community. the family friendly values that make Branson such a wonderful place to visit or live and underpin its economic foundation, and the contemporary community standards that will determine whether or not something within that community is obscene.
Recently the Ole Seagull heard that the Hilton Hotels in the Branson Landing would definitely be offering sexually explicit movies through their pay per view movie program at one or both of the two hotels they would be operating there. Both of those hotels are located on property that the City of
Because of the incongruity of sexually explicit movies with the character of our community and the values upon which its basic economic foundation is built, the Ole Seagull sent an email to Mark W. Hartman, General Manager, Hiltons Branson about the situation. When asked, if under the typical Hilton scenario whether a person would “be able to turn on their tv, select pay for view, and access a selection of adult movies that will show naked or semi naked people performing sexually explicit acts?” Hartman replied, “They will be able to choose MA rated movies.”
An Ole Seagull would point out that the rating “MA” is not even on the rating guide for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). It would be a good bet that the majority of the current films with an “MA” rating would meet the definition of “Explicit sexual material” “nudity,” and, based on what he hopes is Branson’s current contemporary community standard, “obscene” as defined under Missouri’s pornography statutes.
In response to the question as to whether or not any consideration was being given by Hilton to changing their typical scenario at Branson Landing “to be more consistent with the family values that Branson is noted for” Hartman replied, “Not that I am aware of.” Taken in total, the responses add new meaning to what Conrad Hilton meant when he said, “It has been and continues to be our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.”
A reasonable person might ask the question, “How in the world, in Branson, Missouri, America’s home of family values and entertainment, can anyone use City of Branson owned land to promote sexually explicit acts whether legally obscene or not?” The answer is relatively simple. The non elected and elected leaders of the City of Branson led the city into a long term lease of the property to the developer of Branson Landing without including conditions limiting or prohibiting these and other acts that are inconsistent with Branson’s entertainment heritage and value structure.
It’s kind of ironic, the very community that got so aroused about the alleged moral depravity that would occur in it if a casino went in at Rockaway Beach, over ten miles away from Branson, did nothing as the serving of alcohol expanded into its family friendly entertainment venues right in Branson. Is there any reason to believe that, without the economic issues that really powered the Rockaway Beach gambling issue, our community will rise up and fight this latest encroachment against the value system that has made Branson what it is today? If history is any indication the answer is, “We got porn my friend, right here, I say porn right here in
