Nearly 100 people protested the sold out film screening of “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” at North Carolina State University Wednesday night.The film is based on the best-selling book with the same title by Tucker Max, whose sexually intense true life stories about himself and friends have generated a cult following on the Internet.

The NC State Women’s Center organized the rally in response to the university’s decision to show the film.

“Films and books like this serve a larger and more harmful purpose in that they objectify women and disrespect women,” said Shannon Johnson, director of the NC State Women’s Center.”The real problem is that our culture accepts this as entertainment.”

Many protesters in sight of movie goers waiting in line held signs emphasizing a relationship between alcohol consumption and rape.

It is the sexual content of these stories that has enraged many at the Women’s Center.

“There are actual people that these stories are about,” said Juliette Grimmett, rape prevention education coordinator at the NC State Women’s Center. “We’re laughing about this, but this could be my mother, my sister, me or my friend.”

This isn’t the first protest that Max has faced during his promotion tour. A screening in May at Ohio State generated a strong vocal response from feminist groups.

But the NC State Women’s Center decided that a silent protest would be more effective.

“Tucker Max seems to feed off being very in your face,” said Joslyn Brenton, an NC State graduate student who protested the film.

“We respect everyone’s choices but we want to make our voices heard and the best way to do that is silently because our signs really send out our message,” he said.

The Women’s Center showed an alternate film for protesters outside called “Spin the Bottle,” an educational film about violence against women in the media and sexual violence in which alcohol was involved. A candlelight vigil was also held by the protesters after the movie to honor victims of sexual violence.

Despite the criticism the university took for showing the film, administrators are still deciding which charity to donate the proceeds generated from the film.

“It was a win-win for us,” said Will Lamb, Films Committee chairman for the Union Activities Board, a student-run group. “We got to enjoy the entertainment of the movie here, and others still got to get their message out.”

Some female fans thought that the protesters were making too big a deal about the associations with rape in the film. The theater’s 463 seats were filled.

“There was no rape at all in this film and everything was consensual,” said Lachelle Gatson, a student at UNC-Wilmington who travelled to Raleigh for the screening. “I love Tucker Max because he is so funny and down to earth with his stories and experiences.”

Viewers were shown a slideshow of rape and sexual violence stats on the big screen before the movie started which drew sharp laughs and boos from the audience.

“Rape is not a joke,” Max said in his post-movie question and answer session. “They (protestors) are devaluing the seriousness of an actual crime.

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