JAMES G. PRUSA
28081 Via Rueda
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Telephone: 714/ 240-3234
Facsimile: 714/ 240-3234
VIA FACSIMILE May 22, 1995
Mr. Roy Disney, Vice Chairman
DISNEY
500 S. Buena Vista
Burbank, CA 91521
Dear Mr. Disney:
Having recently seen the movie Priest, I am writing you to personally
express my absolute disgust with this film and with your company,
Disney, for having produced it. I was compelled to carefully
consider viewing Priest, for myself and on behalf of my friends,
after reading and hearing that it was a vicious attack on Catholic
priests. First, I spoke with many in my Catholic community to let
them know of my intentions. Then I promised to provide them a report
of what I found and I went to see the film with a good Catholic
friend. By copy of this letter I am reporting on the evil that I saw
and I now intend to broadly disseminate such copies far beyond my
immediate circle.
In my forty-six years on this earth many would find that I have been
around-the-horn. I have seen too many vile and disgusting things
that no person should have to be subjected to, even experiencing
first-hand, in Vietnam and other places, the wicked depravity of what
humankind is capable of. However, nothing in my experience prepared
me for the depravity I saw by viewing your film Priest and the sense
of loss I felt knowing that, a once wholesome American company,
Disney, has produced such a pornographic piece of evil trash.
I found Priest, with its setting in England and with the apparent
full support of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), to be all
of the mean-spirited defamation of every Catholic priest that it was
reputed to be -- and even much more shocking. If the film had
stopped with its undisguised, unbridled attack on our priests it
would have far exceeded the bounds of decency and fairness of any
Catholic or other Christian. To my further shock, Priest went even
beyond the reported outrages and slanders.
I discovered, as a Catholic lay person, that your movie exceeded the
grave depravation of attacking all Catholic priests in its twisted
representation of all five Catholic priest characters (one a drunken
misfit; another a hypocrite pastor having illicit sex with his
housekeeper; the third an insensitive, secularized bishop; the fourth
an individual performing abominable homosexual acts; and the final an
evil, cold-hearted recluse). Beyond this singular affront to the
Catholic Church, I also found Priest to be, in fact, an overt attack
on every person and everything that is Catholic.
As I sat in that theater, to my terror-filled realization, I found
that your film is also an attack on me personally! As the full
weight of what I saw hit me, I physically shuddered with a chilling
comprehension of what must have occurred in Nazi Germany in the
1930�s when, with initial subtlety, the Nazi propaganda films began
to attack our Jewish brothers in an effort to desensitize the
citizens. This film Priest was not even thinly veiled as parody or
satire, rather this was proactive propaganda. With such callous
insensitivity on the part of your management, it is no wonder that
the French people provided the disastrous reception that met the
opening of Euro Disney -- the French have always had vision!
I pray to God that this occurrence serves as a wake-up call to
Catholics and other Christians everywhere. The roles portrayed in
Priest depicted every adult Catholic character (priest and laity) in
the movie to be in one manner of profanation or another. From a
raving, evil, incestuous father to a cold-hearted and prejudiced
deacon along with a cold and unforgiving congregation, your film
characterized Catholics in every conceivable stereotypical evil
possible. I found myself asking, "Why would any person or group be
so ill motivated to produce such an obviously malicious depiction
that totally lacked any redeeming artistic or social qualities?" The
answer came to me like a ton of bricks: that only people full of
hatred for Catholics and anything Christian could have done this and
that this production was intended to stir hatred and division.
Frankly, it would not surprise me to find the film credits to include
the name of Joseph Goebbels at the top of the listing as such was the
identical spirit standing behind this production.
You, sir, by having allowed your company's subsidiary Miramax to
produce this evil, have done irreparable harm to the reputation of
every loving Catholic priest (who overwhelmingly dilute any handful
fallen into perdition) which I find as the most grievous assault.
You have additionally damaged every loving Catholic person in my
family, every loving Catholic in my community and all those who have
come before us in the love of Jesus Christ. Your company owes every
Catholic priest, every Catholic and myself an apology. In the name
of decency I demand that this film be immediately withdrawn from
distribution -- especially its vertical marketing and the video
distribution that is probably its real, intended market.
Until such apologies and the shelving of this trash are forthcoming,
I intend to dedicate myself to an effort to make the general public
aware of this hideous affront. I am only a small voice, but my voice
combined with others will become a deafening roar for your company,
its balance sheet and your stockholders' ROI. To contribute a ripple
that will turn to a tidal wave, I am canceling the Disney Channel and
informing my cable distributor why. Further, until adequate public
restitution has been made to the Catholic community, my family will
not visit Disneyland, purchase any Disney products or support any of
its affiliations -- and any business influence I can weld will be
directed to divert commerce from your company. I also intend to
press this issue, through my business contacts, to any and all
stockholders of your corporation.
Priest's only redeeming aspects were that the film finally ended and,
from my understanding, it is a box office failure -- I hope your
board at least takes a fiduciary look at the latter. What Disney
once built as decent and wholesome through the depiction of Mickey
Mouse and Donald Duck has been singularly destroyed in one "GOOFY"
movie. I pray that all decent people will pause to reflect on the
hateful viciousness of this evil film and ask themselves that
sobering question, "If I stand idly by while they attack some other
group of people, who will stand when they come for me?"
Sincerely,
James G. Prusa
JGP:jp
cc: Disney Officers and Board of Directors, Miramax, Cox Cable,
Orange County
Register,
Embassy of France, Others
DISNEY OFFICERS AND BOARD and OTHER CONTACTS
Gary L. Wilson Tel: 612/ 726-2111, ext 5 (ask for Mr. Wilson)
Co-Chairman Fax: 612/ 726-0622
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Senior Partner
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DIRECTOR EMERITUS:
Joseph F. Cullman, III Tel: 212/ 880-5000
Chairman Emeritus Tel: 212/ 907-5566
Phillip Morris Companies
120 Clark Avenue
New York, NY 10017
OTHERS:
Michael Eisner, CEO Tel: 818/ 560-1000
Disney Company Fax: 818/ 560-1930
500 S. Buena Vista
Burbank, CA 91521
Roy Disney Tel: 818 560-1000
Vice Chairman Fax: 818/ 972-9159
Disney Company
(IBID)
Ken A Green, Director Tel: 818/ 560-6166
Corporate Communications Fax: 818/ 567-4267
Disney Company
(IBID)
Marsh Reed Tel: 818/ 560-1878
Corporate Secretary Fax: 818/ 972-9159
Disney Company
(IBID)
Erica Steinberg, Spokesperson Tel: 212/ 941-3800, ext 3882
MIRAMAX FILMS Fax: 212/ 941-3834
375 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10013
Bob and Harvey Weinstein Tel: 212/ 941-3800
Co-Chairmen Fax: 212/ 941-3880
MIRAMAX FILMS
(IBID)
Mark Gill, President Tel: 212/ 941-3800
MIRAMAX FILMS Fax: 212/ 941-3812
(IBID) Fax: 212/ 941-2072
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