Donate

“Rio Theatre celebrates rape culture”: Protesters slam theatre for screening rape footage

Posted by 5234sc on September 19, 2022

Rio Theatre in Vancouver attracted international condemnation after announcing a “very special” 50th anniversary screening of the pornographic film Deep Throat, starring Linda Lovelace.

Rio_Deep_Throat_promo.jpg

Linda, who was subjected to horrific abuse by her then husband Chuck Traynor, had previously revealed that she was raped in production of the film.

Almost 40 years ago, Linda (pictured below) told a US Senate panel,

“When you see the movie Deep Throat, you are watching me being raped. It is a crime that movie is still showing; there was a gun to my head the entire time.”

Linda.jpg

So why did Rio Theatre choose to broadcast – and profit from – footage of a woman being raped?

When social media users – including survivors of rape and sexual abuse – objected to Rio Theatre screening footage of Linda being raped, the theatre disabled comments on the Instagram post and deleted critical comments on Facebook. Basically, they were well aware of the objections to the film, and Linda’s statement she was raped, but wanted to screen the film anyway. 

After several days of strong objections from around the world, and calls to boycott the venue, Rio Theatre shared a statement from the family of Deep Throat filmmaker Gerard Damiano. They claimed that Linda was wrong when she said she had been raped:

 “If the star of ‘Deep Throat’ participated in the film against her will, we would NOT be showing it. If the film itself glorified or promoted misogyny, sexual violence, or violence of any kind against women, we could NOT stand behind it.”

The filmmaker’s children argue that because Linda - a woman who endured horrific abuse, rape and violence - returned to the porn industry later in her life (out of financial desperation) her testimony that she was raped in the production must be false.

Rio Theatre owner and operate Corinne Lea defended screening the rape film because it was “historically significant”:

It’s not really clear that there’s just one way of viewing her experience with the film. ‘Deep Throat’ has always been a historically significant film in that it changed pop culture significantly and the way porn was viewed. 

It was the first porn film that focused on having a narrative, and it also focused on the female satisfying her own sexual pleasure.

The premise of the film was, however, that Lovelace’s character’s clitoris was located in her throat, and she experienced sexual pleasure by performing oral sex on men. 

Lea said she was “very against censorship” – which apparently extends to “censoring” video of a woman being raped – and that a portion of the proceeds would be donated to WISH, a local organisation supporting women in the sex trade. They refused the donation.

In broadcasting the rape of a dead woman, and ignoring and blocking those – including rape survivors – who objected, Rio Theatre has demonstrated exactly what they think of women. 

A protest was held outside the event. Protesters held signs with slogans including “Rio Theatre celebrates rape culture tonight”, “Justice For Linda” and “Stop profiting off of Male Violence Against Women”.

Sex trade survivor Trisha Baptie wrote,

As survivors of the sex industry we know far too often we cannot share the truth of our experiences until we are out and away from our exploiters as is the case with Ms Boreman [stage name Lovelace]. Once she was free from her abuser she was very clear this film was done under duress and in her own words “When you see the movie Deep Throat, you are watching me being raped”. You have Google in your hand. Before the movie look her up and if after learning her truth, you choose to watch this film you will walk out of this theatre just another abuser.

“My initiation into prostitution was a gang rape”

Linda described her entry into the sex trade in her autobiography ‘Ordeal’:

When in response to his suggestions I let him know I would not become involved in prostitution in any way and told him I intended to leave, [Traynor] beat me up physically and the constant mental abuse began. I literally became a prisoner, I was not allowed out of his sight, not even to use the bathroom, where he watched me through a hole in the door. He slept on top of me at night, he listened to my telephone calls with a .45 automatic eight shot pointed at me. I was beaten physically and suffered mental abuse each and every day thereafter. He undermined my ties with other people and forced me to marry him on advice from his lawyer.

My initiation into prostitution was a gang rape by five men, arranged by Mr. Traynor. It was the turning point in my life. He threatened to shoot me with the pistol if I didn’t go through with it. I had never experienced anal sex before and it ripped me apart. They treated me like an inflatable plastic doll, picking me up and moving me here and there. They spread my legs this way and that, shoving their things at me and into me, they were playing musical chairs with parts of my body. I have never been so frightened and disgraced and humiliated in my life. I felt like garbage. I engaged in sex acts for pornography against my will to avoid being killed. The lives of my family were threatened.

We stand with survivors of rape and sexual abuse - not those who profit from it. 

See also:

Violence against women in pornography is not a fantasy - it’s reality

What's the problem with porn? Collective Shout respond to common pro-porn arguments

Porn Stars Speak Out

Porn doesn't liberate women, it teaches them to smile at their abuse

The Dark Reason Porn Stars Keep Dying

pornography rape rape culture porn Rio Theatre Deep Throat Linda Lovelace Corrine Lea

Add your comment

  • Caitlin Roper
    published this page in News 2022-09-19 11:40:03 +1000
  • Caitlin Roper
    published this page in News 2022-09-16 16:46:06 +1000
Subscribe with RSS

You can defend their right to childhood

A world free of sexploitation is possible!

Fuel the Movement