A West Virginia teacher could be facing disciplinary action after screening part of Fifty Shades of Grey for her class.
The movie was meant to be an end-of-the-year reward for the class for hard work, and it was requested by the students. The teacher, whose name has not yet been released, was not familiar with the film or the BDSM erotic book series it is based on, and the teacher did not research the film before showing it in class.
About 10 minutes into the movie, an assistant principal was walking past the classroom and cut the “reward” short as soon as the film was identified. According to the school district, teachers are not permitted to screen movies in the classroom at all, but due to the sexual content in Fifty Shades of Grey (and that it is one of the year’s biggest movies), this looks especially bad. However, the school’s principal Jeff Woofter is giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt:
“I will say it was an extreme lack of judgment from an otherwise very capable teacher,” Woofter said. “The teacher didn’t do a background check on the movie or even ask about it.”
Citing school policy, Woofter went on to say he couldn’t discuss whether or not disciplinary action would be taken against the teacher or students. He declined to give any more information.
There are a few questions that need to be answered here. First, how was this teacher not aware of Fifty Shades of Grey? Love it or hate it, most people have at least heard of it. Second, why didn’t the teacher, at minimum, do a quick Google search or go to IMDB for a plot synopsis before agreeing to screen it in class? If the school has a “no movies” policy, then it is a good idea to know if the movie is worth breaking the rules.
Finally, and most importantly, how did they have a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey on hand to screen for the class? Did a student actually bring a Blu-ray of Fifty Shades of Grey to school, thinking the class might get a chance to watch it? Nearly everyone who went through the public school system has had a teacher pop in a movie during the last week of classes before summer vacation, but showing Fifty Shades of Grey in class, especially when the makers of Selma just gave away copies to every school in America, is really bad.
(Via Charleston Daily Mail)
