Christian TV Station Apologizes for Editing Pro-Life Movie

National   |   Susan Michelle Tyrrell   |   Oct 15, 2012   |   12:14PM   |   Washington, DC

Update: Monday afternoon viewers were reporting receiving the following letter from GMC as a response to their complaints about editing the important pro-life scene out of October Baby:

Thank you for your feedback regarding our airing of October Baby this Sunday. Everything we do here at gmc is for our viewers and we greatly value your opinions.

We understand the importance of this film to our viewers and it was not our intent to alter or dilute the impact of October Baby in any way. All movies on gmc are edited for length and for various types of content (graphic violence, sex, language, etc.). We always aim to ensure that the essence of the story is not altered by the editing process. Upon further reflection in light of your comments, we agree that some of these edits were not necessary. We will be re-editing the film to re-introduce these portions in all future airings.

Folks, no doubt if you had not spoken out, the movie would have stayed with the edits in place. Never be silent. Even seemingly small things like this can have a major impact! Now let’s see if they separate themselves from Komen and its pro-abortion funding.

….

The excitement about the world television premiere of the pro-life movie hit October Baby was dimmed for many pro-lifers Sunday night on the Gospel Music Channel (GMC) when GMC cut what some think is the most crucial pro-life scene of the film. The viewer frustration deepened when the ever-present breast cancer awareness pink ribbon in the corner of the screen led viewers to find a Susan G. Komen Foundation video on GMC’s website. Komen, of course funds the nation’s largest abortion provider. By the end of the evening, pro-lifers were aborting their viewing experience

The controversy for GMC began when the interwebs were filled with criticism of the movie being cut, not just in some logical place that didn’t affect the outcome. Most movies get cut a bit when they are aired on television. But cutting a pivotal scene from a movie that helps define its purpose is a whole other story. When we reviewed the movie last year we wrote about this (as most reviewers did because it was so integral to the movie):

A pivotal scene occurs when Hannah finds the abortion center nurse who assisted with the failed abortion (Jasmine Guy). The nurse tells her, “there were things that happened there, terrible things, things he had me do.” She explains how the abortionist called babies “tissue” so much that she began to believe it—until the day of the failed abortion:

“I didn’t see the face of no tissue; I just saw the face of a child.”

Viewers weren’t happy with the omission of this key scene which is one of the most important pro-life messages of the film. The GMC Facebook page was filled with comments like these:

 

Continued here (more comments and “likes” showed up throughout the evening.

But adding insult to injury, or perhaps it’s injury to insult, was the Komen connection. Alas! How anyone with a Christian name could not try to separate themselves from Komen after the controversy over funding Planned Parenthood, I don’t know, but GMC has not. Announcing it was going “pink” for the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, would be okay. Komen doesn’t have the handle on pink, though it may try to hijack it, except that a simple search of GMC for the word Komen or term breast cancer pulls up this video for Komen.

The end of the video links to Circle of Promise which is a Susan G. Komen trademark. The GMC video was uploaded last year, but the “Goes pink” signs and the active links leave no question as to the association despite the pink ribbon being a symbol for all breast cancer awareness.

Sunday night’s world premiere of October Baby was a disappointment for many viewers who felt betrayed by editing of an integral message of the movie, followed by the Komen connection which showed up on its site searches.

However, viewers probably shouldn’t be too disappointed because it turns out GMC isn’t so much a gospel network but an “inspiring” family network with the gospel name. Its site says:

America’s favorite channel for uplifting music and entertainment, featuring music and inspiring stories the whole family will enjoy. gmc is the only TV network with every program certified as family safe by the Parents Television Council.

The site continues by declaring its mission is “To inspire, uplift and entertain.” Under its employee values it includes:

-We value each individual, their beliefs, their faith, their passion and their unique contribution to our mission.
-We value an open, creative and energetic atmosphere where all points of view are encouraged.

Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with a TV network embracing all faiths, or even supporting Komen and editing movies. What’s wrong is when people are expecting an entity with gospel in the title to reflect the gospel. On Sunday night, GMC reflected abortion a whole lot more by cutting the scene of a movie that moved people to tears with its reality of life, by linking to the breast cancer logo which led views to find the Komen video on their site. Being uplifting and family-friendly is good, but calling yourself a gospel network makes the expectation biblical. Sunday night disappointed for many pro-lifers who were looking for an evening that didn’t compromise the pro-life entertainment. Instead the got the baby scene cut and some Komen promoted.

In the end it was viewers who aborted the movie, like this public tweet from Kelly Clinger.

GMC had a wonderful opportunity to show this movie with its meaning intact and blew it. Throwing in some pink ribbons that led to Komen was the poison icing on the stale cake.

LifeNews Note:  Susan Michelle Tyrrell is the editor of Bound4Life’s blog.