Mike and Diane Howard were a typical young couple with dreams of raising a family and starting a business of their own. They opened the first videocassette rental store in St. Louis in 1981. It was a tremendous risk trying to balance a new baby and a new business, but they believed in the American Dream. With hard work, their company grew into a multi-million dollar chain of stores.
During the growth of the company, the Howards were visited many times by a group of religious people called the Citizens For Decency. The CFD insisted the Howards remove movies from their stores that they felt were "...obscene or a detriment to the community and its children." Films such as Taxi Driver, Agnes of God, Blazing Saddles, Animal House, Mr. Mom, and many more were targeted. The CFD also asked for the removal of the movie Splash, claiming the movie promoted sex with animals (bestiality) because Tom Hanks makes love to a mermaid.
When Martin Scorsese's controversial film, The Last Temptation of Christ, was released on video, the Howards' were the only video stores in St. Louis unafraid to offer the film for rent. The CFD declared war with pickets and boycotts. They harassed the Howards and their employees, vandalizing stores and cars. The situation worsened when the couple received death threats to their little daughter saying she would be "... sent back to God to be reborn to parents who worship the Lord."
When the Howards refused to buckle, the CFD blackmailed the Prosecuting Attorney with information about the prosecutor's secret sex life. The prosecutor had no choice but to ruin the Howards any way he could. He filed obscenity charges against the Howards and, misusing the RICO racketeering laws, he confiscated every movie from every store. The prosecutor fed the media vague details about investigations alleging that the Howards had ties to organized crime. The Howards' friends distanced themselves and they were shunned as social outcasts. The Howards won their court case, but the negative publicity and legal fees bankrupted their business and harmed their family.
Unemployable and in the deepest of depressions, Mike's thoughts were of suicide. After an aborted attempt, he pulled himself together with renewed strength. An unexpected meeting with a former prostitute made everything clear. The woman had fallen into the religious group after leaving the sex business. She found the emotional acceptance she needed by picketing gay funerals, abortion clinics, and anything else the CFD decided to target, which included the Howards' video stores.
The Prosecuting Attorney had been a regular customer of the woman and she had told the religious group about the Prosecutor's hidden sex life. She felt terrible about what had happened to the Howards and agreed to help set up up a sting to expose the corrupt prosecutor. Everything that could go wrong did, but revenge is not for the timid.
It's rare that the powerless can beat the odds, but this film is Rocky versus the Religious Right, and the fight isn't over till it's over.
, and hopefully Americans will wake up and smell the fascism. I can't wait for this thing to come out.
