'Kindergarten Cop' canceled, Angry Internet asks is it for 'boys have a penis and girls have vagina' scene?

However, anti-police critics led by local author Lois Leveen said the PG-13 movie promoted a 'school-to-prison pipeline’
UPDATED AUG 5, 2020
(Universal Pictures/Netflix)
(Universal Pictures/Netflix)

The comedy film 'Kindergarten Cop' has caused a furor on the internet since August 2 when an acclaimed author said the film “criminalizes” children. As a result of protests, on August 5, NW Film Centre in Portland announced that the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy would be pulled from the lineup and will be replaced by a documentary celebrating Rep John Lewis. 

The reason touted to pull off the film is that it glorifies police traumatizing children. Many activists and writers have also compared the children's film with explicitly racist 1915 silent movie ‘Birth Of A Nation’. 

On August 2, award-winning author of 'The Secrets of Mary Bowser' and 'Juliet's Nurse', Lois Leveen tweeted that the movie promotes "school-to-prison" system. Her tweet read, "What's so funny about School-to-Prison pipeline? Kindergarten Cop-Out: Tell @nwfilmcenter there’s nothing fun in cops traumatizing kids. National reckoning on over policing is a weird time to revive Kindergarten Cop. IRL, we are trying to end school-to-prison pipeline.”



 

She further added, “Yes, KINDERGARTEN COP is only a movie. So are BIRTH OF A NATION and GONE WITH THE WIND, but we recognize films like those are not 'good family fun.' They are relics of how pop culture feeds racist assumptions. KINDERGARTEN COP romanticizes over-policing in the U.S." 



 

Banishing the “criminalization” of children in the film she mentioned, “5- and 6-year-olds are handcuffed and hauled off to jail routinely in this country. And this criminalizing of children increases dramatically when cops are assigned to work in schools."



 

But soon after the film got dropped from the festival, a "legion of rabid KINDERGARTEN COP fans" got mad at the writer. They believe that the movie was being canceled due to a scene where the kid stands up and says "boys have a penis and girls have a vagina". "So now apparently a legion of rabid KINDERGARTEN COP fans are mad at me," the writer tweeted on August 5 after the cancelation of the movie. 



 

“Bet they’re cancelling it because of that scene where the kid stands up and says 'boys have a penis and girls have a vagina', tweeted Claire Lehmann, the founding editor of Quillette, a journal of politics, social life and science. Many supported her belief that the film is banned for this particular scene rather than any school-to-prison pipeline' ideology.



 

One fan of the film tweeted, "I'm surprised Kindergarten Cop hasn't been banned for this scene alone."



 

Some fans tweeted that kindergarten children had better knowledge of basic biology than woke activists today. "It reminds me that back in 1990, kindergarten children had better knowledge of basic biology than woke activists have today."



 

'Kindergarten Cop' shows a police officer who is going undercover as a kindergarten teacher in order to catch a drug dealer who is targeting his own ex-wife and son. The film was selected by NW Film Center festival for its significance to the state’s history in film making and to honor its 30th anniversary, according to Willamette Week. Many fans brought out the hypocrisy of the society after the news of its cancellation surfaced. They underlined that earlier the movie was termed unsuitable for children for showing mild violence and nudity and now it is being called unsuitable for adults too.
 
"When this came out we were going to go see it for my 9th birthday. But one kid's mom objected on the grounds that, due to some mild violence and nudity, it wasn't suitable for her child. That seemed silly at the time. Now, 30 years later, it's being deemed unsuitable for ADULTS!" a user tweeted. 



 

Some lashed out at the festival authorities for their reasoning behind canceling the movie. “The festival was cowardly for giving in. Screw them. I'm gonna watch the movie again, now because it is really good."



 

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