OXNARD : 5 Protest Movie at Shopping Center

Five picketers at the Esplanade Shopping Center in Oxnard asked shoppers to boycott the center Wednesday to protest a movie being shown at the Mann Theatre.

The group objected to the movie “Whore,” billed on the theater marquee only as “a Ken Russell Film Rated NC-17.” That designation, which means no children under 17 will be admitted, has replaced the film industry’s X rating. The movie stars Theresa Russell as a prostitute working the streets of Los Angeles.

Protester Clara Davis, a member of the American Family Assn., which says it has 700 members in Ventura County, said none of the protesters have seen the movie, but they don’t need to.

“Like this sign says here, pornography destroys children,” she said, pointing to her placard, featuring a little girl holding a red rose. “It not only destroys children, it destroys women. It destroys families. It makes them victims of the pornography that is shown in the community.”

Naomi Knox, whose 7-year-old son, John, sat at her feet during the protest, said she “wouldn’t go in there to see it if you made me.”

Describing herself as “a fighting mom, a mom who really cares,” Knox said she is also outraged about an adult video store, Oxnard News and Video, scheduled to open in December on Vineyard Avenue.

“I feel that, if movies cannot be cultural to the society, something to lift up . . . to nurture our kids to do better, then there’s no use for them to be shown,” she said. “They’re not helping the families. They’re not helping the homes.”

The Mann managers would not comment on the protest or on why the film is not named on the marquee.