Videos you can't watch in Oklahoma

So in 1979, a German language film called "The Tin Drum" received the Academy Award for best foreign language film. The court described it as "a complex allegorical fantasy intended to symbolize the rise of Nazism and the corresponding decline of morality in Nazi Germany." The main character decides to stop growing at the age of thee "in order to proect against the absurdities and obscenities of the adult world during the rise of Nazism."

This seems like a pretty fascinating movie to me and I'd like to watch it. The only downside? Turns out it involves what some might classify as child porn. Whoops. There seem to be scenes in which the main character and a woman, who are both supposed to be 16 but are played by an 11 year old and 24 year old, respectively, engage in "sexual activity." The boy also then observes some sex on a couch. How do we know about the details of these scenes? Well, a citizen complained to the Oklahoma City Police Department. The Major then contacted the Lieutenant who contacted the Sergeant who then WATCHED the movie and, distressed by the 3 scenes, then brought his copy of the video to the county courthouse to request judicial confirmation of his opinion that there was child pornography in the award winning film.

The judge agreed with the officers and so the Sergeant devised a plan that required the officers to go to all of the video stores in Oklahoma City that had the video in stock and ask employed to voluntarily relinquish their copies. What happened if copies were checked out? Why then, the officers would just get the person's name and address and pay them a little visit!

Note: When trying to round up copies of porn in Oklahoma, don't go directly to the house of the Development Director for the ACLU who has rented said film in order to formulate rebuttals and policy responses on behalf of the union. This is an especially bad idea when you DON'T HAVE A WARRANT. Not only will you end up engaging in a "great debate concerning the artistic merits" of the film that you might not be prepared for, you'll also be brought to court for violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act.

Want more details? Search for Camfield v. City of Oklahoma City. Or rent the film! Nothing says movie night quite like WWII + questionable porn + ensuing lawsuit.