New ‘P.O.V.’ Flap Finds PBS at the Edge of Timidity

Stop the message!

That’s what the Public Broadcasting Service is conveying to America with the yanking of “Stop the Church,” a short film that captures the rage and desperation driving a 1989 demonstration in New York by the AIDS advocacy group Act-Up against elements of the Catholic Church and Cardinal John J. O’Connor.

Some of Robert Hilferty’s film makes you squirm. But that’s exactly what challenging TV is all about.

“Stop the Church” was to have aired Aug. 27 amid a cluster of other short films presented by “P.O.V.” (for Point of View), that brave PBS series that, especially lately, has been walking on eggshells in its mission to offer a rare TV forum for independent filmmakers with strong perspectives. With the stopping of “Stop the Church,” an eggshell is getting squashed.

Thus, PBS is once again teetering dangerously on the cutting edge of timidity. The medium envisioned as a beacon on the TV landscape is sinking deeper and deeper into the safe, cushy middle ground under the crushing weight of its own network of cautious stations. With public TV always having to scrape for operating money from a variety of sources, most stations see their primary role as raising funds, not consciousness.

These are the same stations that recently had to be coaxed and cajoled to consider running another defiant “P.O.V.” film, Marlon Riggs’ dazzling video about black men loving black men, “Tongues Untied.” Many rejected it, and of those that didn’t, many aired it at times when it would receive the least exposure.

A statement released by “P.O.V.” president David M. Davis gives the impression that PBS and “P.O.V.” made separate decisions to withdraw “Stop the Church.” But you can bet that “P.O.V.,” which has had “Stop the Church” on its schedule for months, acted only under severe pressure from PBS.

In contrast to “Tongues Untied,” stations are not even getting the option of airing or rejecting “Stop the Church,” so frightened is PBS--and apparently now also “P.O.V”--of their response. “I felt another controversy at this time would break their backs and undermine their confidence in ‘P.O.V.,’ ” Davis said.

That’s called self-censorship.

The stations themselves should rise up against this preemptive action. But that would be like the warden rising up against the prison he runs.

PBS now calls Hilferty’s film “inappropriate for distribution because of its pervasive tone of ridicule overwhelming its critique of policy. In addition, it does not meet PBS’ standards for quality.” PBS seems to tailor those standards to fit its evaluation of a program’s political content.

As for the film being “inappropriate for distribution,” that is rubbish. “Stop the Church” attacks the church as a political institution, not as a religious institution. It shows the Act-Up people preparing for their demonstration at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Through statements and posters, O’Connor is ridiculed and pilloried for his public statements on AIDS and the gay community. “That cretin,” someone calls him.

Hilferty also shows the activists disrupting the St. Patrick’s service at which O’Connor is presiding, shouting “Stop killing us! Stop killing us!” and lying in the aisles before being removed by police.

O’Connor himself is heard urging an attitude of “love and peace” toward the activists, and parishioners interviewed by Hilferty are critical of the demonstration.

The film is militant and often outrageous. It is also grossly unbalanced, which is to say that it reflects the points of view of Hilferty and the movement he is showing. And that precisely conforms to the mandate of “P.O.V.,” one unique to mainstream TV.

The way that this likely hot potato was scheduled to be presented within a program showcasing other short (but relatively benign) films gives you the impression that “P.O.V.” executive producer Marc Weiss almost tried to slip it onto the air unnoticed. But when it was discovered, everything blew up.

Despite being a rare island of boldness on PBS, “P.O.V.” will now surely draw the wrath of Act-Up and others for capitulating to the network. Unfairly so.

It’s the PBS stations that favor “fuzzy bunny shows, ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ and cooking shows,” notes Peter Adair, whose AIDS-related film “Absolutely Positive” opened the present “P.O.V.” season. “It makes me sick that it’s the lower half of the gene pool--the station managers--who deserve the brickbats, but that Marc and Dave will be the ones shot down by the left and called sell-outs.”

Selling out to live another day?

“Broadcast television is a game of compromise,” said Adair. “ ‘P.O.V.’ doesn’t exist without the cooperation of the station managers. Marc and Dave felt the series was really threatened if they ran this piece. They could go down firing and say the hell with you all. But that would end any kind of voice for independents (on PBS).”

A voice now muffled.