W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant winner Jane Evelyn Atwood opposes MGM’s Minamata censorship.
Minamata focuses on the industrial poisoning of Japanese fishing communities in Minamata by the Chisso Corporation and the courageous efforts by acclaimed photo-essayist Eugene Smith (Depp) and his wife Aileen Mioko Smith to expose this crime before a global audience during the early 1970s.
While Minamata has been released in many countries around the world, MGM, which purchased the rights to distribute the film in North America, has not screened it in the US.
In July, director Levitas issued an open letter revealing that he had been told by MGM’s acquisitions head Sam Wollman that the company was “burying” Minamata over concerns that “the personal issues of Johnny Depp,” could reflect negatively on MGM. The company’s arrogant and censorious actions constitute an outrageous attack on all those involved in the film’s production, including Aileen Mioko Smith, who was co-author of the book on which it was based, as well as the victims and families of those poisoned by Chisso.
Jane Evelyn Atwood was born in New York and has been living in France since 1971. Regarded as one of the world’s leading documentary photographers, she is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards.
Atwood’s principled opposition to MGM’s censorship of Minamata, her forthright defence of Johnny Depp, along with her reassertion Eugene Smith’s approach—to use “photography to expose and denounce the unacceptable”—are a welcome and valuable contribution to the fight for freedom of artistic expression.
Johnny Depp has been accused of beating his last wife, the actress Amber Heard. But apparently the woman is hardly credible, his former French wife has defended Depp and, as I understand it, he has yet to be charged with anything.
Let me emphasize that the #MeToo movement is great: because of it, women who claim they’ve been abused are finally being heard. But from what I’ve read, Depp may have been set up. Apparently he’s been “cancelled”—no more advertising jobs, no more acting jobs. Collateral damage of #MeToo? It is terrible and frightening that someone’s career can be ruined on the basis of rumors and unfounded gossip on social media and in the mainstream press. This is an important issue for all artists.
In any event, no matter how the actor has behaved in his personal life, I’m against censoring the film—just as I’m against censoring literature, music, or art of any kind. If people don’t want to see a movie because of what one of its actors is accused of (in this case, probably falsely), that’s their choice. But the movie deserves to exist in its own right, as does any creative endeavor.
I can’t help wondering if MGM’s censorship of Minamata might have more to do with the subject itself—mercury poisoning—than with the reputation of the lead actor. It’s also interesting to note that Depp was hardly paid for the role, and it was he who produced the film. Did he have to produce it himself in order for it to exist?
Finally: as an American, I find it outrageous that the film isn’t screened in the US, and I believe the excuse for censoring it is just bullshit. This is a movie that exposes an unconscionable tragedy few people know about, but everyone should. It deserves to be seen by the widest possible audience."
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