A 1982 Muncie documentary deemed too offensive to be aired in its original format by PBS is being shown at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Art and Journalism Building Room 175 as part of CCIM Week.
"Seventeen" is one of six documentaries featuring Muncie produced by documentarian Peter Davis as a part of the Middletown Studies Film Project.
The documentary was intended to focus on education in Muncie and depicts racism, drug use and underage alcohol abuse among Muncie Southside high schoolers, according to Provost Warren Vander Hill.
Vander Hill served as an academic consultant for the Middletown Film Project, although he did not work on "Seventeen."
Vander Hill said that "Seventeen" was scheduled to air on PBS in the spring of 1982, along with the five other documentaries.
Prior to its show date, PBS was under pressure from the Muncie school board and Muncie educators to edit scenes that portrayed Southside in a less than flattering manner, Vander Hill said.
"The school board expected a more yearbook-like film, and that is not what they got at all," Vander Hill said.
Vander Hill said PBS asked Davis to cut some scenes out, but he refused, saying it would harm the integrity of the film. "Seventeen" was never shown on television.
According to Vander Hill, the film has been shown in film festivals in Toronto, London, Scotland, France and New York. "Seventeen" has never been shown in theaters in Muncie.
"You wouldn't want to show it at Kerasotes theater," said Scott Olsen, dean of the College of Communication, Information, and Media.
Olsen said "Seventeen" is filmed in a style called cinema veritae, which uses minimal editing and narration, and expects the style to challenge students.
"The whole philosophy behind cinema veritae was to let the situation speak for itself," Olsen said. "Most students have never seen a movie like that."
Olsen said the movie, which includes a scene of a preadolescent boy taking shots of alcohol, will shock students raised on horror movies due to its reality factor.
"It is a really unpleasant thing to watch because it is real," he said. "It's not 'Dude, Where's My Car?' It's disturbing at a totally different level."
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