People in Elizabethtown, Ky., who were hoping on seeing last week's number one movie "The Butler" at their local movie theater better plan on waiting until it comes out on DVD; the owner of the theater refuses to show the film because he believes that Jane Fonda is a traitor to the United States, according to the News-Enterprise.
Ike Boutwell, owner of MoviePalace and Showtime Cinemas, has never shown a movie featuring Fonda since he opened the theater in the late 1980s. Boutwell served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War and was a flight instructor during the Vietnam War, according to the News-Enterprise.
"I trained hundreds of pilots to fly, many of whom Ms. Fonda clapped and cheered as they were shot down," Boutwell told the News-Enterprise. "Our Constitution only mentions three crimes. Treason is one. That's aid and comfort to the enemy."
Fonda was a very vocal opponent of the Vietnam War. During the war she made a trip to North Vietnam and was derisively called "Hanoi Jane" after she appeared in a photograph with North Vietnamese soldiers sitting next to an anti-aircraft gun, according to the Telegraph.
"The Butler" tells the story of Cecil Gains, an African-American butler who served in the White House under eight different presidents. Fonda appears in the film as Nancy Reagan, a casting choice that further angered Boutwell.
"To add to this, I just really think it's a slap in the face to have a person of treason portray a patriotic lady, Mrs. Reagan," Boutwell said. "I just think that is throwing gas on the fire."
"The Butler" brought in almost $25 million on its opening weekend and would surely bring in a decent amount of money for Boutwell's theater. Even that temptation isn't enough to convince Boutwell to show the film.
"In life, you've got to stand for something, and that's where I stand," Boutwell said. "I just - I cannot give up to the enemy, and Ms. Fonda, as far as I'm concerned, is an enemy of the United States of America. That's exactly how I feel about it."
