Below you will find two movies – both of which have been rated PG-13. Clearly after viewing them you should be able to understand that children should not see them at all.
The current rating system as followed by the Motion Picture Association of America is inadequate, misleading and dangerous.
The following two movies contain information and images that are normally associated with individuals suffering from schizophrenia.
Considering the tax write offs, credits and handouts the entertainment industry receives from the Federal Government it is not unreasonable to ask you to question the current ratings system.
Why not a review of that ratings system?
It seems to me that an industry like the entertainment industry, which has become dominated by a foreign national company (like Sony) should be eyed closely in order to confirm that they are living up to our national standards. Clearly they have not been as their music business has recently been indicted by the New York State Attorney's Office for bribing radio companies to broadcast their songs. If they are doing it with songs what do you think they are doing with movies and television?
Please note that below are just two examples out of the thousands of movies, television programs, songs, games and other media that are dumped on our children every day.
White Noise (2004)
Universal Studios
PG-13
Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and language.
Boogeyman (2004)
Screen Gems
PG-13
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of horror and terror/violence, and some partial nudity.

You may also find a selection of items considered ‘okay’ for American television at :
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/worstclips.html

Originally posted by cranston36
Below you will find two movies � both of which have been rated PG-13. Clearly after viewing them you should be able to understand that children should not see them at all.......The following two movies contain information and images that are normally associated with individuals suffering from schizophrenia.

Huh?!!?!?!

What do you find so extremely offensive about children viewing -- ""movies that contain information and images that are normally associated with individuals suffering from schizophrenia"..............?!?!?!?!

Do you think their little minds will be irrevocably harmed by seeing a movie that presents brief images of nudity, or images that are "normally associated with individuals suffering from schizophrenia".......???

They are not rated G. They are rated PG13. That means children under thirteen will not be admitted and parents are advised that these movies might be too intense or adult for their children. I am a great believer in the responsibility of parents, not the government, to decide what is right for their children.

IF I, as a parent decide my children may see either or both of those movies, that is my decision to make. I know my children and what they can handle best.

Originally posted by cranston36
Below you will find two movies – both of which have been rated PG-13. Clearly after viewing them you should be able to understand that children should not see them at all.

I haven't seen the two movies in question, but as Frogger pointed out, the PG stands for "parental guidance". Why do you want the government to supplant the parents in this case?


The current rating system as followed by the Motion Picture Association of America is inadequate, misleading and dangerous.

Dangerous? To whom?


The following two movies contain information and images that are normally associated with individuals suffering from schizophrenia.

I'm not sure what the point is...


Considering the tax write offs, credits and handouts the entertainment industry receives from the Federal Government it is not unreasonable to ask you to question the current ratings system.

Can you tell me more about the "handouts" received by the entertainment industry?


Why not a review of that ratings system?

Because I think the present system is fine. It's not broke, don't fix it.


It seems to me that an industry like the entertainment industry, which has become dominated by a foreign national company (like Sony) should be eyed closely in order to confirm that they are living up to our national standards.

What "national standards" would those be? By coincidence, do they happen to match your personal standards?

It seems to me that an industry like the entertainment industry, which has become dominated by a foreign national company (like Sony) should be eyed closely in order to confirm that they are living up to our national standards.

Court cases dealing with obscenity have held the policy that there is no such thing as 'national standards'. There are local community standards. What is permissable in New York City or Chicago is quite possibly not okay in Hattiesburg or Sevierville.

Originally posted by Frogger
I am a great believer in the responsibility of parents, not the government, to decide what is right for their children.

IF I, as a parent decide my children may see either or both of those movies, that is my decision to make. I know my children and what they can handle best.

I think this sums it up pretty good. Most folks don't let their 13 yr old go to the bars so why can't they stop them from doing other things they don't believe in. When did it become the governments responsibility to babysit, personally I'm getting sick of the government trying to act like Big Daddy to all?

Originally posted by Vilepagan
Can you tell me more about the "handouts" received by the entertainment industry?

Vile, I may be mistaking, but I think Cranston36 is talking about the grants, tax right offs etc... that can be had for a business.

If you can't see what is wrong with the films and the expenditure of money for such garbage then you are part of the problem.

Cranston36, maybe you like "Gone With The Wind" and maybe I don't, should we ban it? I do agree with you about money being wasted but that's life.

Originally posted by mad dog
I think this sums it up pretty good. Most folks don't let their 13 yr old go to the bars so why can't they stop them from doing other things they don't believe in. When did it become the governments responsibility to babysit, personally I'm getting sick of the government trying to act like Big Daddy to all?

That's very well and nice but what about the many kids whose parents are too busy/irresponsible/missing to take care properly of them ? Should they be allowed to do anything ?

Yeou see these laws as restricting parent's freedom. But in fact they are here to protect kids. If parents do their jobs, great, but I don't see any problem with laws restricting access to some places or products considered dangerous for kids.

Don't take for granted that all parents are perfect.
Kids who don't have the luck of being raised in caring families should at least benefit from the protection of such laws.

Originally posted by astrapol2
Don't take for granted that all parents are perfect.
Kids who don't have the luck of being raised in caring families should at least benefit from the protection of such laws.

But the problem with such laws is that they frequently, if not always, move beyond attempts to protect children from really bad things and become attempts to dictate every aspect of the child's life.

I believe in parental rights and responsibilities.
I believe in states rights.

Keep the friggin government out of all we can.
Big government is already too much in our lives.

Originally posted by astrapol2
That's very well and nice but what about the many kids whose parents are too busy/irresponsible/missing to take care properly of them ? Should they be allowed to do anything ?

Yeou see these laws as restricting parent's freedom. But in fact they are here to protect kids. If parents do their jobs, great, but I don't see any problem with laws restricting access to some places or products considered dangerous for kids.

Don't take for granted that all parents are perfect.
Kids who don't have the luck of being raised in caring families should at least benefit from the protection of such laws.

I have no problem with reasonable laws put in place to protect children, which includes the current movie ratings system. It lets parents know something about the film without having to watch a preview. The law is designed as much to give parents information as it is to physically prevent children from wandering into an R-rated movie.

I think the current system is fine as is. It's not perfect, but then again, what is?

Originally posted by cranston36
If you can't see what is wrong with the films and the expenditure of money for such garbage then you are part of the problem.

Cranston, I don't get you at all...you post a thread, usually a pretty good post, and when several people make some good comments, you come back with the above...what's your point?

Originally posted by cranston36
If you can't see what is wrong with the films and the expenditure of money for such garbage ...........

What do you find so extremely offensive about children viewing -- ""movies that contain information and images that are normally associated with individuals suffering from schizophrenia"..............?!?!?!?!

Do you think their little minds will be irrevocably harmed by seeing a movie that presents brief images of nudity, or images that are "normally associated with individuals suffering from schizophrenia".......???

Originally posted by cranston36
Why not a review of that ratings system?
It seems to me that an industry like the entertainment industry, which has become dominated by a foreign national company (like Sony) should be eyed closely in order to confirm that they are living up to our national standards. Clearly they have not been as their music business has recently been indicted by the New York State Attorney's Office for bribing radio companies to broadcast their songs. If they are doing it with songs what do you think they are doing with movies and television?




I agree that a rating system should be held to a certain standard, but that being said, let's not take the role of the parents out of the equation. Parents need to be taken to task when it comes to what their children will or will not see and a lot of common sense should be used.

I am against sheltering children from EVERYTHING. Frankly, I believe children are better off with a least a little understanding of what is grimey in this world.

I do not have a problem with the rating system so much as the enforcement. I went to a rated R movie this weekend, where 6 (clearly under 15) children slipped right in without so much as an ID check.

If you can't see what is wrong with the films and the expenditure of money for such garbage then you are part of the problem.

The more reason you should enlighten us with some explanation!

I watched about half of that clip. I didn't see the whole thing, but from what I saw there were no violent images. Mostly sexual images or very crude humor.

I think a better objection would be the dumbing down of our children. There should be a lot more educational material out there. It doesn't have to be dry and dull, but entertainment that helps build our children's minds and charactars.

I don't object to sexual content - but I do think it could be handled in a way that encourages respect and competence. our children shouldn't be educated in sex by snoop doggs and "reality" tv.

I really don't see the problem with sex on TV, who cares?

Originally posted by astrapol2
That's very well and nice but what about the many kids whose parents are too busy/irresponsible/missing to take care properly of them ? Should they be allowed to do anything ?

No there should be laws and the ones we have are fine, instead of making more dumb a** laws we should enforce the ones that are allready there. You are correct about some parents being bad, but does that mean the government should come in and babysit the ones of us that do care?

Yeou see these laws as restricting parent's freedom. But in fact they are here to protect kids. If parents do their jobs, great, but I don't see any problem with laws restricting access to some places or products considered dangerous for kids.

I do agree to a point, but I also don't need Big Brother going and further up my arse then he allready is.

Don't take for granted that all parents are perfect.
Kids who don't have the luck of being raised in caring families should at least benefit from the protection of such laws.

I don't take all parents as being perfect you should know that by now :). Maybe instead of getting after Joe Public we should go after the root of the problem the bad parent/s?

My 8 year old and 12 year old gather up their friends and I escort them to the theatre. I sit in the row behind them and I watch the same movie. We did this just last week to see Flightplan. Two 12 year olds, two 8 year olds and myself. The kids were exceptionally behaved...in part, because, the movie held their attention. (And in part because I threatened to beat them bloody if they didn't behave. :) JK)

Perhaps if more parents were "involved", people like Cranston wouldn't be so edgy. Like Vile (I think) said - PG means "parental guidance". R means "restricted - no one under 17 allowed without a parent/guardian". If the theatre is breaking the rules, then the theatre should be held responsible.

It's getting to the point where government already has too much "say" in our lives... the ratings are fine if you pay attention and use them as a guide.

There are waaaayyy too many other things concerning our government that you should be worried about. The ratings system is the friggin least of our problems.

I'm not positive, but I think the movie ratings are a voluntary thing that the movie studios and theaters agreed to put in place, rather than a state or federal law.

I can see it now, the federal government i.e. bush and cronies deciding what we can and can't allow our children to see. On the NO CHILDREN CAN WATCH THIS list would be all movies with a negative or questionable view about religion, all movies with any reference to sex or sexuality, all movies that even bring up evolution, all movies that show violence (unless it is minorities harming Amerrican soldiers), all movies the touch on the subject of women having a choice over their reproductive organs, all movies that portray America or Americans in a bad light, all movies that have corporate greed as part of a plot line.

What a crock of shit. Cranston, if you don't like what your children are seeing, pay attention and get involved in their life. But don't try and force your ideas of what is acceptable and not acceptable down the throats of the rest of us.

When will people stop trying to run other peoples lives and MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS!

In the end, there is nothing wrong with showing these things on TV, provided there are viewers and funding for such shows, the networks will put them on. If you do not like it, do not watch it, you've no place to tell others what to watch for entertainment, if they do not want to watch it they will not either. There are ratings systems in place to inform parents what age should view a particular program or what content will be in it. (Ex: TV-14 with the subtitles LSV aka some language, sexual situations, and violent imagery.

The duties of raising a child fall on the parent, not the government. If the parents do not keep an eye on what their children are listening to, viewing, or otherwise, it is their fault in this situation and they must reap the consequences of their youth reacting to this material. If the parents are involved then their children will not fall prey to anything they do not want them to (for the most part).

Children need to be exposed to this as they get older, and keeping them in the dark merely retards their ability to cope with becoming an adult and becoming a full functioning independent.

A parent is just that, a parent...it is their job to raise their children. Let it stay that way.

----and as a finishing note: i watched that movie in the link provided, and most of the segments were of scenes with a sexual nature, nudity, innuendo, and so forth. Why is sexuality abhorred yet violence, coarse language, substance abuse, and so on not given the slap on the wrist there? Most disheartening at how our society views these things...