No Miracle

A few weeks ago, Roberto Rossellini's latest film, "The Miracle," was scheduled to come to Boston. Recent attacks on this film in New York however have caused its American distributors temporarily to withhold leases on the picture. These attacks are a direct attempt to smother the public's freedom of choice.

"The Miracle," the story of a feeble-minded sheperdess who is seduced by a stranger she thinks is St. Joseph, was passed by New York's official censors and praised by film critics. Nevertheless, certain religious groups found the picture objectionable and are now trying to impose their moral judgment on the rest of the population by pressure and intimidation.

Originally, "The Miracle" was passed by U.S. Customs, given a high rating by the National Board of Review, and approved by the State Board of Education. When an outraged city official tried to ban the film on his own, the State Supreme Court reminded him that "the right to determine whether a picture is indecent, immoral, or sacrilegious is invested solely in the education department." Then, on January 7, Francis Cardinal Spellman issued a statement condemning the film and criticizing the state entering for passing it. Spellman also asked all "right-thinking citizens" for stricter censorship laws to prevent the showing of similar films. Members of various Catholic organizations began picketing the Paris Theatre, where "The Miracle" is showing, carrying indignant signs and yelling at those who went in. Last Sunday, police were forced to clear the theatre and search for a bomb that had allegedly been planted there.

Spellman's demand for more stringent censorship laws is the most ominous part of the campaign. Controversial pictures are bound to offend the sensibilities of certain groups; those who are so offended are free to stay away and save their money. They even have the right to picket theatres and hoot at those who attend. But they do not have the right to use their personal judgments as a standard for deciding what the public should or should not see. Such biased "purification" of public media in the guise of public protection has been identified with every dictatorship. The city censors should remember this when, and if, "The Miracle" comes to Boston.