France threatens censorship of violent music video

PARIS, May 2 (UPI) -- A video by a French new wave band depicting the brutal bullying of a schoolboy has stirred outrage among officials, who threatened Thursday to censor the film.

The "College Boy" music video by Indochine shows a young boy at a boarding school being beaten, urinated on, crucified and shot because he is gay.

Francoise Laborde of the government agency that regulates electronic media said he was "outraged" by the video, The Local.fr reported.

"It shows images whose violence is immeasurable, and there's enough of this kind of violence already," he said.

Because the video was "extremely violent," Laborde said, it could not be shown on satellite TV. He said viewing of the video should be banned for anyone under age 16 and perhaps even 18.

The video's Canadian director, Xavier Dolan, rejected criticism it could provoke copycat incidents.

"To say this encourages violence is completely stupid," he said." Is it really any more violent than the movies that are constantly appearing on our streets?"

The video has received support on social media networks, with French radio and TV host Emilie Mazoyer saying the video "does turn your stomach for 6 minutes. But bullied students go through that 300 days a year. Imagine that."