Are the MPAA's screwed up?

Filed under: Health and Safety, Lifestyle, Media, Movies, Monitoring your kids, Outings, Marketing to kids, Making a Difference, Drugs, Environmental Been to the movies lately? My guess is that, if you did, the film was either animated and/or part of the Disney franchise, one that was full of violence and/or gore, or one that was full of sex. That's basically because most movies out there, at least the mainstream (see: non-indie, although they can pack a wallop too) ones, fall into at least one of those categories. Oh, and let's not forget DRUGS! Everyone loves a movie about drugs! According to this blogger, More Than Fine, the MPAA ratings are off their rocker, and heavily influenced by big studios. He makes a compelling argument. Why was a love story using a few "F-bombs" given an R-rating while the ultra-violent Pirates of the Caribbean 3 given a mere PG-13? That movie shows a child being killed, an attempted rape and pretty much everything else. Angelina Jolie is essentially nude in Beowolf, and larger than life if you saw her on Imax, yet that movie only got a PG-13 rating as well. Hmm. Something does seem rotten in Denmark, or at least fishy. More Than Fine then goes on to lament he feels like he's coming off as a prude. He comments that he's not against these kinds of things in movies--he's against censorship. My take is that he's also against big business changing the standards for their own means even if it compromises a system the American public--and especially parents--is trusting to help them make decisions. Sometimes the system does work. I saw Children of Men and boy did it deserve an R. Honestly, it was so unbelievably violent--and I do mean violent--that I almost couldn't watch it. I nearly had to leave the theater. What saved it was the amazing acting, writing, directing, and everything else. It was a movie I truly loved, but one I will never see again. Ratings keep people from seeing movies they should not see, but they also, when bent to serve interests (and I have to agree with More Than Fine here), let people who probably aren't ready see things maybe it's best for them to wait to see. Who decides that? Well, it's not me. I couldn't tell you a thing about what goes or should go into that decision making process. But I want to trust the MPAA and other like resources to give me good, unbiased information. Do you trust the MPAA or do you use other resources to make decisions about what you, and your kids (if you have 'em) see? Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments