Movie theaters that serve booze have been banned from selling alcohol to customers who are there to view the erotic flick Fifty Shades of Grey, reports CBS Local. Theaters showing the racy blockbuster were ordered by the Idaho State Police’s Alcohol Beverage Control to comply with a law banning businesses from selling alcohol to people watching sexually explicit films.
The statute passed in 1999 requires the ban for all films that contain sex scenes — a description that could apply to thousands of films if followed faithfully, though Fifty Shades is one of a very few that have been singled out by the Alcohol Control Board since the law was passed. There are serious consequences for theater owners who violate the statute: up to a $300 fine, a six-month jail sentence, and a suspended liquor license.
“Movies like Fifty Shades of Grey, the ladies come to our theater — responsible mothers, grandmothers, etc. — they watch a movie, they share wine,” said Dave Corkill, owner of local theater chain Cinema West. “It’s part of an experience. It’s part of what they want. We clean up the bottles, whether we sell those bottles to them or they sneak them in.”
It is unclear why Idaho lawmakers believe enjoying a drink while viewing an erotic film is dangerous. As one moviegoer told the Idaho Statesman, “I thought, ‘What year am I living in here? Women can’t control themselves when they drink during this movie?’ I don’t know what the message is.” [CBS Local] [Flickr.com/John-Pa]