MADness—the Blog

I’m not always on the same page with Patrick Goldstein, but in today’s L.A. Times he calls out the MPAA and I couldn’t agree more.

Two films:  one, the “heart-warming” British film The King’s Speech, an expected Oscar contender, the other, Saw 3D, the “final chapter” in the torture-porn series.  Goldstein:

If you’re a parent, as I am, which film would you want your 12-year-old to see? No contest, right? Yet according to the Motion Picture Assn. of America’s crackpot ratings system, both films are rated R — meaning no one under 17 allowed without a parent.

“Saw 3D,” which hit theaters last week, earned the designation for innumerable scenes of violence, torture and depravity; “The King’s Speech,” which will be released at Thanksgiving, got it for one brief scene where the future king of England, encouraged by his therapist, utters a volley of swear words to cure his stutter.

You don’t have to be a parent to find that crazy, but I’d say being a parent does alter your perspective.  I have a four-year-old son and I’m amazed at the level of violence that’s considered acceptable in entertainment in general, and especially entertainment deemed appropriate for children.  (My pet peeve of the week is the latest DirecTV ad campaign running during World Series games, which start in the afternoon where I live.  Violent, nasty, and not at all funny when your son is watching with a contorted face as a film projectionist falls to the floor, apparently killed by a thief’s dart gun.)

I support free speech and artistic license.  Violence is the ultimate conflict and conflict is the foundation of drama.  I get that.  But the level of violence—and more important, the treatment of violence—we see in everyday entertainment is remarkable.  What does it say about our culture, and how does it affect our society?  These are old questions, but worth asking.

Look at old movies and old TV shows and you see everybody smoking.  That doesn’t happen anymore.  Smoking seems quaint, old-fashioned.  Maybe someday we could say the same about violence.

Meanwhile, the idea that most high school students aren’t fit to hear swear words in a movie is god-damned ludicrous.