That Time John Kasich Tried to Ban a Coen Brothers Movie From Blockbuster

Image by Getty Images
If there’s one thing John Kasich is clear on, it’s properly labeling movies at Blockbuster. Since it’s no longer the mid 90s, he probably won’t make it a large part of his platform. During the usually even-tempered GOP candidate’s lengthy political career, he took issue with the Oscar-winning Coen Brothers film “Fargo.”
Kasich was so offended by the brutality of the film, that he requested the local Blockbuster remove it from its shelves. He wrote about his shock after renting it for a quiet night in with his wife in his 2006 book, “Stand for Something: The Battle for America’s Soul.”
“It was billed as a comedy, but it wasn’t funny. It was graphic, and brutal, and completely unnecessary, and it rubbed us in so many wrong ways we had to shut the thing off right there in the middle… Next morning, I got on the phone to Blockbuster and demanded that they take the movie off their shelves,” he wrote.
Hopefully he doesn’t come after our Netflix queues.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

