The Guild 45th’s marquee has always been a source of witty, occasionally snarky quips as subtitles to their movie names, but it seems someone got a bit too punchy this weekend. Beneath the marquee listing for the new Quentin Tarantino / Brad Pitt movie Inglorious Basterds was the line:
Better than the Holocaust
(Photo of the offending marquee in the Stranger’s Slog.)
The Guild hurriedly pulled down the sign and replaced it with something innocuous, posting an apology on their web site:
Landmark Theatres apologizes for the unacceptable message placed on the marquee of The Guild Theatre. The actions of this employee are not representative of our company and we sincerely regret any discomfort or offense this may have caused.
For context, the movie is about a group of Jewish-American soldiers (“The Basterds”) who have been dispatched to Germany during WWII to spread havoc and terror within the Third Reich. Maybe there’s a line in the movie that makes the offending subtitle make sense?
There’s an old saying that comedy is tragedy plus time. We’d say we still need a bit more time.
(Thanks Pat B. for the web site quote)
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I tend to give the Guild the benefit of the doubt. My favorite sign of theirs was quite a few years ago: “Hamlet. Everybody dies.” (What? No spoiler alert?)
I’m Jewish & found it amusing, not “offending”. Once you consider the plot & that it’s a Quentin Tarantino film, an over-the-top sign made sense. The trailer makes it even more obvious. I find it a little silly that people made such a stir that the theater felt compelled to offer an apology. As ever, humor is in the eye of the beholder.
You know, I don’t think anything can be said lightly about the Holocaust without being offensive. For me it is difficult enough that there are total idiots that say it didn’t happen, that it can’t just be something to find amusing.
What an incredibly horrible thing to have happened in our human history……
Yep, pretty poor taste by the employee that put up the sign.
Maybe they should take some lessons from the person who does the marquee for the Lusty Lady. I don’t read them regularly but the ones I have seen are funny (and not particularly offensive – or any moreso than the institution itself). One that sticks with me is “erin go bra-less” for St Paddy’s day.