Another Ratings Rant

[BigSugar]

I read a piece in an old Entertainemt Weekly over the weekend. An OP/ED about the ratings system in the U.S., the thrust of it being that Hostel 2 was so violent that it went way past the R rating it received and should have been completely off limits to children. This is the only part of the article I somewhat agree with. Now, they guy goes on to say that, with an R rating, kids could technically be allowed to see this movies as long as they were with a parent, which is of course true. However, what this guy went on to say was that parents need to have this decision taken out of their hands by the ratings board. This is where the guy goes right into la-la land for me. No, I don't advocate Hostel 2 as a film fir for todlers, but if someone is so lazy-assed, silly, howl-at-the-moon fucking stupid as to take their kid to see this flick, then so fucking be it. I don't think you can say we need to strengthen the American family in the same breath as you say we need to strip parents of the right to choose what their kids watch, for good or ill. Yes, whenever I see a five-year-old in one of those films, I want to crack their parents' skulls open just to see if indeed they did have a brain in there. But the fact of the matter is, that's not my kid. And I have absolutely no right to decide a goddamned thing for that child, no matter how fucked up their parents may be.

The rating process is totally clandestine, but the results are right there on the posters and trailers. Now, if a parent can't bring themselves to make and enforce a decision about what their child watches in the theater and on T.V., isn't there a bigger issue here like NEGLECT that should be solved first before we go after movies? Not only that, but 99% of the time, this horseshit is coming from the mouths of religiosos who WEAR A FUCKING CROSS AROUND THEIR NECK! Folks who carry the symbol of their Lord and Savior being nailed to two pieces of wood! This is to say nothing of the hymns that invoke themselves being washed in blood, often sung after consuming symbols of said Lord's flesh and blood. From an objective point of view, which is worse for kids?

I want to keep kids out of horror films as much as anyone, but shouldn't that be a responsibility left to the parents? Sounds to me like some of these wonderbread motherfuckers need to get off of their asses and do some actual parenting instead of asking the state to take care of their kids some more. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[bigred760]

I agree. This guy is going too far (if you can find the article online, that would be great!). Why don't we have the ratings board, or government, raise all of our children and not the parents. Taking a kid to a rated R movie is poor parenting, but taking that responsibility is not the answer. That's the way the ratings system is.

[Simius_Dei]

parental rights are quickly going out the window all around...soon to include the film industry i suspect as well.

of course....if parents would band together and not be such fucking pussies.....we (yep i'm including myself) could take the power back....


but nope


here's to mandatory ritalin dosing *clink*
jasn

[Ki'esha Foxx]

I completely agree; the parents need to take responsibility for what their children watch, but to have that duty taken away completely is just another way for other people to control the masses. But did you really expect any kind of sense or sanity to be in the opinion section of any periodical (especially EW)?

For example, my high school newspaper (before you hit the back button, hear me out!) was pretty good for my sophomore year, then junior and senior years came and all it was filled with was this one girl's bitching about bracelets and prom dresses. No lie; the bitch took up two fucking pages to rant about how "unfashionable" a certain kind of bracelet was. After that incident, I lost about a third of my faith in the press, then nearly all of it after all the shit that's been happening nationwide in the past few years.

[Preston_79]

I agree with this thread.

I'm bummed though I thought for sure I'd get to see a response that disagreed. I know you delusional fucks are out there that think they know how best to raise everyone else's kids, so pipe up.

Maybe only sensible people frequent JoBlo?