Portland theatre pulls ‘Kindergarten Cop’ movie because it glorifies ‘over-policing’ and ‘systematic racism’

The screening was to have been put on by the Northwest Film Center. The film in question was shot within Oregon (in the town of Astoria OR to be precise), and the idea was to commemorate Oregon’s place in the history of filmmaking. It was to have been shown at the Cinema Unbound Drive-In, since regular theaters in Portland and throughout the country are still closed due to concerns over the pandemic.

Northwest Film Center itself bowed to pressure, and instead of showing "Kindergarten Cop" tomorrow, they are opting to repeat a previous show.

Their statement on the matter reads: "The additional showing on August 6 replaces 'Kindergarten Cop' which had been chosen for its importance in Oregon filmmaking history. After discussion with staff and community members, however, we agreed that at this moment in history, 'John Lewis: Good Trouble' is the right film to open this year’s Drive-In series.”

Lois Leveen, a Portland author who was one of the first people to vehemently argue against the screening of the film, didn't accept the apology and wasn't happy with the outcome.

"I think what you meant to type was 'Yes, we made a grave error in not realizing the implicit racism in that programming decision. We apologize and are rethinking who makes our programming decisions hereafter.' How deep a white normativity hole will @nwfilmcenter keep digging?" Leveen wrote on social media.

Portland has been the scene of increasing and prolonged political unrest in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis while in police custody.

Of course, on Twitter, opinions were different than Leveen's, and are opposed to the official version of the story. The vast majority of tweets were found to be criticizing Portland's ever-growing love affair with cancel culture.