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Man
dressed as the devil disrupts ‘Passion’ movie
By Bill Dinkel, THG News
Moviegoers at Country
Cinemas in Evansville attending a showing of “Passion of the Christ” got more
than they bargained for Saturday night.
They were greeted in the
lobby of the theater by a man wearing a ‘red devil’ costume. Tyler Wendell, a
19 year old freshman at the University of Southern Indiana, caused quite a
ruckus with his get-up. The audience, many who were part of church groups, was
visibly upset by the antics of Wendell.
”I always like to push the limits,” Wendell said. Many were upset that Wendell
chose to wear a devil costume to a religious movie. Many patrons jeered Wendell
as he stood in line for concessions.
Once inside the movie,
Christians began pelting Wendell with Gummy Bears, Ju-Ju Bees, and popcorn.
Management got involved after a 75-year-old woman, Hazel Meyer, poured a
64-ounce Coca-Cola on Wendell.
Brian Fitzgerald, General
Manager of Country Cinemas, asked Wendell to leave because he was such a
disruptive presence. “Our corporate policy is to eject anyone that
interferes with the movie experience of fellow patrons,” Fitzgerald said.
Scott Brown, a member
of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, was outraged. “This is no place for this
type of behavior,” Brown remarked, “This was already a sensitive subject,
and then to mock it by dressing up as Satan is despicable.”
When asked what he hoped to
accomplish by his actions, Wendell said he likes doing things to get a
reaction. He was also inspired by a biography he read about the Marquis de Sade.
De Sade was an 18th
century writer who caused scandals with his libertine behavior in
pre-revolutionary France. De Sade was once arrested for desecrating the Holy Eucharist to see if
God really existed. Wendell said his stunt was along the same lines.
Wendell, an atheist, said,
“If God really existed, He would have struck me down for dressing as the
devil.” He also wanted to prove “that Christians aren’t as forgiving as they
portray”. Wendell says his actions were also partially due to a genuine dislike
of Mel Gibson.
Fitzgerald
replied that Wendell was “a misguided and deranged person.” Fitzgerald also said measures are
being taken to ensure this type of disruption does not occur again. “From now
on, people dressed offensively will not be allowed to enter the theatre.”
Country Cinemas' management is in the process of creating new guidelines for
preventing people dressed as “evil beings” from gaining entrance to the theatre.
As of this writing,
Evansville police were investigating the incident.
