There was a Letter to the Editor in Tuesday's newspaper that I thought you would get a kick out of -- it gave us all a moral thumping for watching R-rated movies.
Rather than posting a link, though, I recruited Anthony Taylor -- 'member him? -- to read it for us. Stick around for the end of the video. He gives us the scoop on an upcoming community film project he's involved in and you could be too.
Soooo, yeah, who's joining Jack and giving up R-rated movies to stop the moral decline of America?
PREVIOUSLY: I Hate You, Mike Oz Vol. 8
You can make fun, but I agree with Mr. Wheeler's sentiment if not his hyperbole. I have a longstanding rule against R-rated movies for the simple reason that you are more likely to encounter filth there and I don't need my head filled up with junk. Thoughts need to be regulated as much if not more than actions, because the mind is where it all starts.
I do believe America has seen an overall moral decline. In some areas we've seen real growth--racism and abuse are not tolerated like they once were--but in other areas we do fall short and continue to fall. The content in R-Rated movies is only one symptom of this decline, but in the complicated cultural system that is our society, that which reflects also generates.
The stopping of one thing is never going to stem all tides, but that's hardly an argument in that thing's favor.
The Sean Penn film Milk is rated R and serves to illustrate the very real dangers of intolerance towards homosexuals but according to your personal policy, you'd refuse to see it because you might happen to see some "filth".
That you seem to lack any nuance or ability to distinguish between varying degrees of "filth" sounds just as dangerous to society.
Ignorance is a shield for those who refuse to engage with reality.
"Ignorance is a shield for those who refuse to engage with reality."
I'm sorry...but I am just going to have to quote you, now. That was beautiful
I understand what you're saying, but there are many other ways to learn about the evils of bigotry than watching Milk.
I do understand nuance and can distinguish between Schindler's List and The Hangover. However, the R rating is there for a reason and when that stop sign is thrown up there, I take it seriously. I don't think the onus is on me to just be subjected to whatever a filmmaker wants to throw at me in the name of an important message or salient point about humanity's struggles. I think a filmmaker can choose how they want to present their messages and if they want to put things in there that I find objectionable, that's certainly their right--but it's perfectly fine for me to choose not to watch it and say "Hey, I think the bad outweighs the good there." If a movie is of particular interest to me, I'll seek out a version of it that I find less objectionable and watch it that way. That may be blasphemy to most cineasts, but I'd rather see a movie than not.
My stance against R-rated movies is really born out of that internal conflict--the movie buff within me vs. my personal standards. If I give myself an inch, I'll take a mile. So I draw a line at R-rated movies to keep myself in check. I'm still informed, I'm still intelligent, but I try to do right by myself and keep clean. I don't know how that's a bad thing.
And that works for you, and that's wonderful. I won't watch most war movies or anything that involves human/animal suffering. I can't let it go. It haunts me.
I know I've missed some truly wonderful pieces of film art ( because one cannot discuss the perils of war without discussing the perils of war)...however, it is my choice and I keep it to me. I, unlike, Wheeler, would never deem to tell another person they were wrong for going to a war movie.
Yet... not all of these movies are the same...and I take the time to find out if the story outweighs the content. Schindler's List did/does haunt me and I knew it would, but the good of that movie is tied into the bad. Yes, it stuck with me...and for that I am thankful, because we should not forget. I think nuances wind even deeper than "I don't want to incorporate it into my life"...because sometimes even those things we don't want....are things we may very well need ( in the sense we should not forget, we SHOULD be bothered, we SHOULD be haunted).
I'm not saying that you SHOULD go see R rated movies.... I'm just saying that no one has the right to dictate to others....and sometimes we do ourselves injustice when we dictate to ourselves based on a narrow idea. I know I have.
Agreed. I don't think movies I deem inappropriate should be unavailable. (Nor did I get from Mr. Wheeler's letter that he was advocating any kind of censorship.)
Even if I do think the world would be a better place without them, the world in which they are not allowed would likely be far worse.
"Even if I do think the world would be a better place without them, the world in which they are not allowed would likely be far worse. "
Ahhhhh....something I must chant to myself, often, in reference to video games.
Ha!
My mom took me to Starship Troopers in 1997. It destroyed me as a person and now I am obsessed with boobs and violence.
I assume it is common place for professional news writers to make fun of the letters they receive but it is ethical for them to openly lampoon them?
Have we lost we completely lost objective reporting?
Huh?
Three things, Sir Dribbe:
1. This wasn't a letter sent to me.
2. It was a Letter to the Editor, sent to the opinion page and published by those folks (a different entity than the newsroom).
3. How does this have ANYTHING to do with objective reporting? It's a local actor doing a comedic reading of one guy's opinion that he sent to The Bee to get published.
I will take a stand and say that I also do not watch R-rated movies. Choosing to eliminate these types of movies from my life was a personal decision for me. The language, subject matter and nudity in many R-rated movies are just not something that I want to fill my mind with. Blessings, Tracy
Let me see...
The Passion of Christ
Saving Private Ryan
Jerry Maguire
A Few Good Men
Slumdog Millionaire
The King's Speech
The Green Mile
Eric Brockovich
The Birdcage
District 9
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
SCHINDLER'S LIST
Braveheart
The Last of the Mohicans
A short list of R-rated movies and to have missed most of them based on their ratings alone is a shame and I'm sorry for anyone who judges in such a way. Much as I am sorry for anyone who judges a person on his/her appearance/race/religion.
NC-17 FTW
I know, it is so hard living in the modern world, what with its acceptance of a wide variety of views, open acknowledgement of the baser aspects of our nature, its requirement for complex and nuanced thinking and its insistence that we judge the works, actions and ideas of our cultural world on their individual merits.
It's so much harder to navigate the world with all of these differences and shades of gray, we should just listen to Mr. Wheeler and give up thinking for ourselves and making our own entertainment choices.
Oh, and just a warning. . . stay away from local theater these days. My goodness, what with the Rogue Festival, The New Ensemble Theater Group, California Public Theater, and even Woodward Shakespeare Festival shilling violence, foul language, sexuality, the occasional bit of nudity and *gasp* nuanced social thinking. . . it's not just those evil Hollywood moguls who want to corrupt us. We're surrounded.
SURRENDER, DOROTHY!
I love to see people get all crazy when one person gives their personal opinion about something. This guy has a right to his opinion. He has a right to respond to what he sees in the Bee.
What I'd like to see come of this is a lampooning of the entire LTE page once a week. That would be something to see.
I used to do that. It gets old really fast.
And saying he's entitled to his opinion is a moot point. Of course he is. He got it published, didn't he?
Nobody is getting crazy. They're doing exactly the same thing you claim Mr. Wheeler can do, sharing their opinions.
I enjoy lampooning of the LTEs -- and I liked when Adam did it -- but I don't see it as a weekly thing. For one, not enough of them crossover into Beehive territory. I don't want to be a political blog. Second, it's kinda Worst Flier of the Week to me -- you do it when warranted.
Just as "this guy has his right" to give his opinion, we also have "our right" to give our opinion of HIS opinion..... especially when his opinion is to tread upon our rights over all.....
He shouldn't tell an adult woman to live according this his narrow moral standards.
Now, back to what I actually came back to post...if one were to look at the list of R rated movies compared to Pg-13 movies one will discover ( based off the highest gross list,etc.) that language/nudity/and difficult topics receive an R rating while violence and bathroom humor ( the lowest form of humor imo) gets a PG-13.
In some ways the whole idea of our society sliding downhill based off what we choose to watch, is true....but we should look at the PG and PG-13 movies to see where we really are in that downfall.
http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic/mpaa.htm?page=PG-13&p=.htm
Film producers and viewers are getting dumber by confusing new ideas with toilet humor. The TV shows "Two and A Half Men" and "Big Bang Theory" are smartly written and could be funny and entertaining without such stupidity. But then stupidity sells, right?
I plead the First Ammendment on the issue!