The Journal

Issue date: 3/29/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of Webbies Production Clas Collin Preciado, freshman, (left) and Ryan Doris, junior, play Webster Public Safety officers Max Wildcard and Scott Breakfast in "Lethal Webbies".

Accusations of censorship are being bandied around by several students in the Webbies production class after a panel of faculty from the School of Communications declared portions of "Lethal Webbies" inappropriate.


"Lethal Webbies," a parody of the popular "Lethal Weapon" movie series, is a 45-minute video that details how two Public Safety officers attempt to foil a plot by a deranged international student. It would have been intermittently shown April 9 during the 18th annual Webbies, an awards ceremony that celebrates excellence within the School of Communications.


Now, only a trailer for "Lethal Webbies" will show during the awards ceremony, though other portions of the entertainment section will remain.


The main issue is the fact that the primary antagonist in "Lethal Webbies" is depicted as an absurdly stereotyped international student from Austria who is trying to derail the event. This is an issue because this year, three international students are being flown in from European campuses ­- including an entire family from Vienna.


After rumors of potentially offensive material reached the ears of Debra Carpenter, dean of the School of Communications, she convened several communications faculty members to screen a rough cut of the video March 23.


"I think there's some areas (the Webbies production class might) want to rethink given the international visitors," said Bill Barrett, chairman of the electronic and photographic media department and one of the faculty members invited to the special screening.


Prior to the screening, the dean presented the students of the Webbies production class with three options via an e-mail, said James Harrison, Webster University Film Series coordinator and professor of the production class.


First, if the faculty found little to no problems with the "Lethal Webbies," students could show the film as planned. If the faculty raised objections, the students were given a chance to edit any offensive or unacceptable material as a second option. Ultimately, the final option was chosen - to have the awards show without "Lethal Webbies."

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