Bible Belt censorship: A movie theater in a small Tennessee town is receiving national attention after changing the title “Hellboy” to “Heckboy” on the movie marquee.

The act of censorship at the Dickson’s Roxy Theater was shared widely on social media:

When you ask what it’s like living in a small town in the bible belt, I give you exhibit A: pic.twitter.com/i8cHIqcjFo — Amber E. (@Gr33nFairy) April 20, 2019

Theater Manager Belinda Daniel tried to explain her act of censorship:

To my knowledge, we have never put any words on our sign that may be seen as profanity. This is the way l believe, thus this is way we conduct business.

Daniel continued:

We are located next to an elementary school and across from a church. Hundreds of children pass by our sign daily and we want to be respectful to them, our employees and everyone.

Daniel added:

As it turned out, our play on words became a little more exciting than we expected. We are glad that we could share a small bit of our great community while also sharing a laugh with the rest of the world.

And while it is true some people are laughing, it would be misleading to say that people are sharing a laugh with the backward theater management. Indeed, most people are laughing at, and not with, Daniel and her puritanical attitudes. For example:

Actually, it’s a perfect example of Bible belt values. They will play the movie and make money off of it but make a public protest of piety about the name. — Ser Wil of Gafney (@WilGafney) April 20, 2019

Should have renamed Missing Link to ‘Just a Theory’ — regularJim (@JamesQPurcell) April 20, 2019

And down the street there’s a billboard that says “HELL IS REAL” — Rusty (@RUXU_16) April 20, 2019

Bottom line: A movie theater in a small Tennessee town is receiving some national attention after changing the title “Hellboy” to “Heckboy” on the movie marquee.

(H/T Sarahbeth Caplin)