Bethany Hamilton - The new movie 'Soul Surfer', inspired by the story of Bethany Hamilton, has come in for criticism after it allegedly obscured The Bible, reports UPI.com.
Hamilton's story is told in the highly anticipated new movie starring Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt. The surfer is portrayed by the young American actress AnnaSophia Robb and country musician Carrie Underwood makes her acting debut. After allegations that The Bible was purposely obscured from a scene in the movie, Sony Pictures issued a statement saying there was never any intent to censor the religious text. The studio also confirmed that while the title of the book was digitally removed for pre-release testing, it does appear in the final version. The statement added, "This movie has a strong spiritual core . and while one of the versions tested did have the scene in question, it was never unclear that the book was the Bible". Tom Hamilton, the father of Bethany, told the Hollywood Reporter that he was pleased to see The Bible's title in the final version of the scene in which he reads passages to his hospitalised daughter, saying, "I could see the words bright and clear. I looked at my wife and whispered, thank you God, they put it back"
Bethany Hamilton was surfing with friends on 21st October 2003 when she was attacked by a tiger shark. Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton returned to the sport shortly afterwards and took 1st place at the Nssa National Championships in 2005.