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Banned poster. ‘I apologise for my choice of boxer shorts,’ says playwright |
TUBE BANS ‘FAT CHRIST’ POSTER
Crucified man in boxer shorts ‘likely to offend‘, rules Underground
UNDERGROUND bosses have banned a poster of a crucified man in boxer shorts advertising a play at Islington’s King’s Head Theatre.
Tube censors rejected the advert for Fat Christ, a black comedy starring topless model Abi Titmuss, on the grounds that it was “likely to offend ethnic, religious or other major groups”.
The poster depicts a portly man on a cross. He is wearing pink underwear and a crown of thorns. It was banned from Angel Tube station, where the Upper Street theatre had booked an advertising spot.
The ban has been criticised by the Rev Stephen Coles, of St Thomas’s Church in Finsbury Park. He said: “The itch to censor is something one should resist. I can’t quite see how this could cause offence. We’re grown-ups and Jesus can defend himself. One has to be a little wary of indulging the super-sensitive.” Mr Coles added that putting Christ in boxer shorts preserved his dignity more than usual.
Gavin Davis, the author of Fat Christ who also features as the man on the cross, insisted he had not set out to offend. “The play is a comedy and the poster accurately reflects its content and themes – the central character stages his own mock crucifixion for an art project,” he said.
“We don’t believe it to be blasphemous and can’t understand London Underground’s censorious position. I am, however, prepared to apologise for my choice of boxer shorts.”
The decision follows London Underground’s “nipplegate” veto earlier this week of a 15th-century nude portrait of Venus by the German painter Lucas Cranach the Elder, with which the Royal Academy hoped to advertise its latest exhibition.
Publicist Kevin Wilson, who designed the Fat Christ poster, is no stranger to religious controversy.
Corpus Christi, a play he publicised at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington in 2000, attracted nightly demonstrations by Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, bombs threats and a fatwa.
A London Underground spokesman said the Fat Christ poster was “declined” because it contravened a commitment not to display adverts likely to offend ethnic, religious or other major groups.
“Millions of people travel on the London Underground each day and they have no choice but to view whatever adverts are posted there,” the spokesman added. “We have to take account of every passenger and endeavour not to cause offence in the advertising we display.” |
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