From the Saturday, 6/24 edition of the New York Times:
“Youth Who Like Films Rated R, but Not Chaperones, Get a Card
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
With school out for summer, Kirsten Larson and Sydni Norris of Bloomington, Ill., often head with their friends to the Parkway Cinemas. But they do not always pick the same movie to see.
Kirsten, 16, and Sydni, 15, can get into R-rated movies that their friends cannot view without an adult along. They each have an “R-card,” a parent permission slip issued by the GKC Theaters chain, which has theaters in 24 cities, including Bloomington, in five Midwestern states.”
Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/26/movies/MoviesFeatures/26RATI.html?th
I think this is a fantastic idea. Our country is far too conservative for its own good and the MPAA’s rating system is absurd. Many films rated ‘R’ in the US (Restricted, under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian) carry significantly less restrictive ratings in many other countries, especially in Western Europe and guess what? It doesn’t turn the teenage populations of those countries into sex-obsessed serial killers.
My parents trusted me to see movies I wanted to see (knew I had a fake ID if needed, too) and I have never hit anyone in anger, ever. I have never asaulted anyone in any manner (unless politically-themed shouting matches with Republicans count). I have the utmost respect for women and overall have what I consider pretty good values. I don’t kick puppies, I don’t litter and I give up my seat on the subway for the elderly, disbaled and pregnant.
Do Jack Valenti and his ilk really think that if 14, 15 and 16 year-olds see The Terminator they are more likely to assault a police precinct? Are they more or less likely to become governor of California, for that matter? Or more or less likely to take massive amounts of steroids and treat women like objects like the fine, upstanding star of that film is reported to have done?
What about teens who see The Hunger? Will they begin stalking couples in nightclubs, take them back to their bedroom in mom and dad’s house and procede to kill them and drink their blood? Maybe they’ll start a lesbian affair with a brilliant, young hematologist.
I don’t know about you all, but when I saw All That Jazz as a 14 year-old, I ran right out and got a prescription for Dexedrine and began cheating on my younger girlfriend (who I left my wife for) with a sucession of steadily younger aspiring dancers.
Upon looking at a list of the more popular R-rated films released in 1984, the year I turned 15, there are only a couple I would not permit a 15 year-old to see. Body Double and a couple of slasher pics, maybe. I saw 48 Hours when I was younger than that and not once did I call any of my black friends watermelon, spear-chucker or nigger. Then again, I was raised in a multi-ethnic home and taught the value of non-violence. My parents raised me to be caring of others’ feelings and to treat people honestly and respectfully (all this without a religious background, mind you).
The thing is, there are places all over this country, South and North, rural and urban, where speaking like this gets one called “faggot” or “pussy.” And that’s just by the adults. The kids would call me a faggot and then hit me. Monkey see, monkey do? See?
Is there an effect of violent media on society at large? Probably. Are we being desensitized towards violent images? Clearly. Overall, television, movies and video games are much more graphic then in the past. Media up until and including the 60′s had rather stylized violence as compare to the much more graphic depictions in more modern times. That said, I am not here to start a debate about violence in the media, but really to point out that parents who take time to get to know their kids and involve themselves in their lives are more likely to know what that kid can handle than, say, the MPAA and parents who teach and practice non-violence are more likely to raise good kids.
You think violent and sexually explicit films are bad for kids? I think violent parents are bad for kids.