Posters Draw Complaints

CAMBRIDGE, MA.--Posters for the traditionally X-rated Registration Day movie shown at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) drew phone complaints from some students this term.

The callers, both male and female, objected to the line drawing of a hude woman on posters for the movie "Sex World," shown by the Lecture Series Committee (LSC). Most said they felt the drawing was demeaning to women, Dan Perich '81, LSC lecture director, said.

In addition to the complaints, the posters in at least one dormitory were mutilated when an unknown person cut out the pictures. But one LSC member said it was unclear whether the cutting-out was "an organized protest or just someone collecting pin-ups."

The drawing was reproduced from a book of art by the French Impressionist Mattisse for use on the posters. "As a woman. I don't see anything degrading about it," Lina Janavicius, who designed the poster, said. "It's a classic, and a beautiful drawing."

The publicity photos supplied by the movie's distributors were "so degrading we were unable to use them," Janavicius said, adding that substituting the Matisse was a last-minute decision.