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Issue date: 10/3/08 Section: Views

San Angelo - the cultural wasteland that has held me prisoner for four years, has done me a final injustice.

Patiently, I've awaited the cinematic adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel, "Choke," to be released in theaters Sept. 26.

I read the book ages ago and several times since.

In fact, I've read every book Palahniuk's written. So you can imagine I was rather stoked about the movie.

For those of you unfamiliar with my man, Chuck, I'm sure you'll recognize the title "Fight Club."

Yes, the gritty, brilliant artistry from the author of "Fight Club," was once again posed to stain the silver screen.

However, the movie, "Choke," did not and will not appear in the theaters of San Angelo.

Well, being the uncouth cyber sleuth that I am, I tracked the Sundance film down online. And, it was everything I expected: witty, gritty and hilarious, with tons of gratuitous nudity and innuendos.

Beyond that, it wasn't just an experiment in shock value. It wasn't trying to 'push the envelope' of what you can show or say on the screen like every other cookie-cutter R-rated mainstream movie that appeals to nothing but the lowest common denominator.

I'm not saying this movie was in anyway tasteful, but that's kind of the point the story is trying to get across: the duplicity of human nature.

The dialogue was laced with thought-provoking ideas.

It was a morality-deprived love story that asks uncomfortable questions and forces you to see life or yourself from a baser view.

An engaging movie may not be everyone's cup of tea. I don't blame you. I, on the other hand, get bored too easily to stand seeing the same movies come out year after year.

So my question is: "Who the hell decides what is or is not coming to San Angelo cinema?

I remember when the movie "Sideways," a movie about a pair of friends who drink wine as they speed up and down the California seaboard, came to San Angelo.

But the highly anticipated August release "Bottle Shock," an intelligent and provocative movie in the same vein as "Sideways," was nowhere to been seen.

Is it just too scary for some to defend their morals and beliefs? Are they afraid they'll falter and then they'll be lost? I don't understand being so fearful of culture and art. Or for that matter, are they just scared of themselves?

My point is that San Angelo isn't exactly a Mecca for free thought, nor a place that encourages artists to move into the community.

This just one example: Over a year ago, Flex Bizzaro was all but run out of town when he tried to open a movie rental place, "Video Bizzaro," that catered to the macabre and bizarre.

He was ostracized for daring to open the community to artists with his late night movie showings and Saturday barbecue art exhibitions.

He was protested and picketed and eventually shutdown because of a small party of conservative activists.

Though the community has certainly grown in leaps and bound since I arrived here four years ago. (When I got here, liquor stores were not allowed within city limits.)

Maybe progress takes time, but what I'd like to convey is that all of us within the community are responsible to speak our minds and fight for what we believe and maybe give San Angelo a splash of color and controversy that challenges us to become freethinkers.

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