New Prison Comedy Movie No Laughing Matter

In addition to his law practice, Richmond DUI and traffic lawyer Bob Battle has gained international attention for what he does when he is not practicing law- as a professional comedian and actor, as the press box announcer for the Washington Redskins, and even as a model for the tabloid Weekly World News. ("Woman Has Twins by Different Fathers!") As a result, he is in great demand as a speaker- both as a comedian and as an expert on the art of persuasion. Bob is converting his popular lecture "Winning Your Trial With Style: Teaching Lawyers the Untaught Art of Persuasion" into a book. Here he comments on a new movie about prison which is being marketed with the phrase "Don't Drop the Soap."

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that prisoner advocates are protesting a new film that makes light of what an expert has called one of the major untreated human-rights abuses in America today.


"Let's Go to Prison," a comedy released by Universal Pictures this month, is being marketed with the phrase: "Don't drop the soap."
That has angered Keith DeBlasio, founder of AdvoCare Inc., a nonprofit organization promoting criminal-justice reform, prompting him to write a Nov. 19 letter to Vivendi Universal Entertainment's president and CEO, Ron Meyer.
DeBlasio asked: "Would you promote a comedy that makes fun of women being raped? I hope the answer is, 'No.' Would you use the sexual molestation of a child as a way to gain a few laughs? I don't think so. So why is it so easy for you to chuckle at something that is so devastating to the actual victims?"

"I am one of those victims," wrote DeBlasio, who has also called the company's public relations offices. Other groups, including Virginia Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants and Stop Prisoner Rape, are upset by the movie.
Universal representatives did not return calls yesterday.

The movie's Web site, http://www.letsgotoprison.com/, notes that there are about 2.2 million inmates in U.S. jails and prisons and then states that, "While a sad statement on poverty, crime and our legal system . . . it also provides a few writers with very twisted senses of humor one undeniable thing: fodder for dark comedy."

In a statement released Monday, Lovisa Stannow, co-executive director of Stop Prisoner Rape, complained, "Sexual violence in detention shatters human dignity and derails justice, but as long as late-night television shows, sitcoms, and movies deem this type of abuse amusing, there will be no public outcry to end it"

In 1996, two years after DeBlasio entered the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Mich., the leader of a gang started making passes at him. DeBlasio was convicted of interstate trafficking of forged securities and embezzlement.
The 6-foot, 2-inch, 210-pound DeBlasio, who would later serve time in a Virginia prison, was forcibly raped more than 30 times over two months by the inmate, who was armed with a knife and had AIDS.

As someone who has performed as a professional comedian and represented clients who have been raped in prison, I am absolutely amazed at the marketing of this movie and comments about "dont' drop the soap", "dark comedy" and "twisted" comedy. Most of my favorite comics are constantly on the edge and far from clean. I am thinking of Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks. There is a fine line between edgy comedy and tasteless comedy. The subject of prison rape is not close to that fine line- it is just not funny.

This issue brings back several random thoughts. As a comic, I have performed for the Retired FBI Special Agents National Convention and for the DC Rape Crisis Event. Prior to each I got bizarre phone calls from the persons who hired me. Before the FBI gig, I was reminded not to do any J. Edgar Hoover jokes. I assured the gentleman who hired me that there were no J. Edgar in a dress jokes in my set for the evening. Even stranger, before the DC Rape Crisis Event, I was reminded not to do any jokes about rape. I told the woman that there was nothing funny about rape and I do not have any jokes about rape. I thought it was strange that I was asked, but I guess after reading about this movie, there are producers in Hollywood who have now "greenlighted" such a project with jokes about prison rape and call it twisted and dark!

As a grade schooler, Mike Morrison and I would often ask Wakefield High School janitor David Vasquez to let us into the gym to play basketball when the weather was bad outside. Vasquez (as he was known) would say very little and mumble what he did say, but he was nice enough to always let us in. It was well known that Vasquez was slow mentally. Fast forward about a decade and a woman is murdered in the house she purchased from the Morrisons. A police officer sees Vasquez walking by. He badgers him and badgers him in a police interview room. He screams at Vasquez that he knows he killed the woman. Confused, Vasquez says it must have happened in a dream. He asks Vasquez how he killed her. He is wrong several times and the detective yells, "No, you strangled her with the blinds." Vasquez begins telling this version of the story. At trial, the jury never hears of how the entire "confession" occured, just that Vasquez admitted he strangled this woman with the blinds. He is convicted of murder and spends many years behind bars. He is raped and abused in prison. Eventually, the real killer is found and Vasquez is released. (Note: false confessions and the push to require all interrogations to be recorded are fascinating topics. But that, Little Adam, is another blog post!)

There is no accounting for taste, but public opinion can make a difference. Just look at O.J. Simpson's new book. So please don't go to see "Let's Go to Prison." Go see something less offensive- like Borat! Or maybe you can catch Michael "Kramer" Richards at a comedy club near you. I am sure he has a lot of open dates on his calendar these days.




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