Supporters rally around Artcraft Theatre after online outcry over queer movie

At the Historic Artcraft Theatre all are welcome, officials said following the showing of a film with queer themes.

After certain online personalities stirred controversy over the Artcraft screening of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” late last week, fans of the theater, the movie and supporters of the local LGBTQIA+ community turned out Wednesday to show their support.

“Hedwig” is a 2001 musical about a gender-queer punk-rock singer from East Berlin who tours the U.S. with her band as she tells her life story and follows the former lover/band-mate who stole her songs, according to a film synopsis from IMDB. The controversy arose because the titular character Hedwig is transgender, with “the angry inch” in the movie title referring to the fact that her gender reassignment surgery was botched. The movie is rated R for “moderate” sexual content and also features “mild” levels of violence, drinking and smoking.

The movie was shown as part of the theatre’s Midweek Music Series, which features movies and documentaries about musicians. The series kicked off this year on Sept. 4, when the theater showed “Stop Making Sense” a concert film featuring The Talking Heads. In addition to “Hedwig” other movies that will be shown include “La Bamba,” a 1987 film about the life of Ritchie Valens and “Gimme Shelter,” a 1970 documentary starring The Rolling Stones. These movies will play on Sept. 18 and Sept. 25, respectively.

When the vitriol around the film started pouring in Sept. 6, theatre officials were confused, as it was announced in February that “Hedwig” would be screened and tickets went on sale more than a month ago. It seems the movie was noticed when posts were made about it on Facebook leading up to the event.

Comments spoke of outrage over the queer themes and alleged that the Artcraft had changed and is no longer a family-friendly theatre. One post even went so far as to tell followers to contact Franklin and Johnson County officials to get the Artcraft to stop the movie, alleging if officials didn’t act they aren’t “real Republicans.” At least one sponsor announced publicly they would no longer support the theatre.

However, many others rallied around the Artcraft. Supporters bought extra tickets to the movie and another sponsor stepped up to replace the one that severed ties, officials said Wednesday.

George Chimples, Franklin Heritage director of development and film, said it was expected the film would raise some eyebrows, as any R-rated film shown at the theater typically does. However, the type of response the movie received was beyond anything they had seen before, he said.

“There’s been some very loud, very negative voices and there’s not that many of them,” Chimples said. “Most of the responses have been warm, welcoming and supportive. Some people are comfortable stating that outright. Some people are stating it privately. But there’s been way more love shown than hate toward us.”

A Franklin police car parked outside the theatre prior to and during the movie out of an abundance of caution, but the gathering was peaceful. The atmosphere was “positive” with both long-time and new supporters rallying around the Artcraft.

“All these people are here, some of these are long-time supporters. This is just a really nice, positive atmosphere. People are having fun,” Chimples said. “The negativity has been almost entirely online.”

However, seeing the intensity of the criticism was disappointing, especially just a few days prior to the movie showing, said Andrew Weller, Franklin Heritage board president.

“I would just say that we’re kind of frustrated and disappointed with the way that we’ve been misrepresented online,” Weller said. “We strive to be a place that is welcoming to everybody.”

The controversy caused ticket sales to spike. Only about 50 tickets had sold before Sept. 6, but sales increased significantly in the aftermath, Weller said.

The Artcraft remains family-friendly and will continue to offer many movies suitable for children. The theatre recently concluded its summer movie series, which featured children’s films all summer long. However, like all other theatres in Johnson County, adult-geared and R-rated movies are shown to broaden the audience base.

The music movie series “Hedwig” is part of was created several years ago to show more movies throughout the week. The series keeps revenue coming during times that are typically heavier on events than movies, such as this month when the Artcraft is hosting Dancing with the Johnson County Stars and Franklin Heritage is hosting the historic home tour, Chimples said.

“We noticed that some years, in September, we were showing a film on a weekend and that’s it,” Chimples said. “You need to keep the people coming into the theater. You need to keep your need to keep your projectors running. You need to keep running movies. So we needed to add some movies to the middle of the week.”

Music films and documentaries were the chosen answer because they’re something unique and a way to draw a different crowd. Films in this series are shown on Wednesday nights, so audiences aren’t typically families with children, even if the movies aren’t rated R like “Hedwig,” Chimples said.

Like other movies in the series, “Hedwig” was chosen because it has “good punk music” and a “rock’n’roll attitude,” Chimples said. Beyond that, the movie is also critically acclaimed. When it was on the U.S. and international film festival circuit in 2001 and 2002, the movie raked in 33 nominations and 28 award wins for acting, directing, costumes and more.

Seeing a movie like “Hedwig” shown and the outpouring of support following the online hate means a lot to the local queer community, said John Michael Jones, assistant director of Greenwood Pride. Jones and Greenwood Pride Director Suzanne Fortenberry both thank the Artcraft for underscoring that all are welcome, he said.

“I’ve got a lot of great memories at the Artcraft. I love seeing them do something like ‘Hedwig,’” Jones said. “I think that the more we do events like this and show people that all are welcome that we’re not trying to single anybody out. We’re just trying to coexist in this crazy world together.”

Seeing the hate over the movie above other R-rated movies shown in the past, was hurtful because it was targeted specifically at the queer community, Jones said. The movie showing welcomed all and didn’t push an agenda on anyone.

“We’re all grown adults. We can make our own choices. If you don’t want to come and see ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch,’ don’t come,” Jones said. “Suzanne and I thought it was important for us to come here and show our support. [To] say ‘Thank you for for seeing us. Thank you for the representation. Thank you for showing us that Johnson County is a place for us to belong to.’”