Scary Movie, in case you haven’t seen it, is an R-rated film. R ratings generally mean that, well, the content isn’t appropriate for kids; officially "children under 18" aren’t allowed to see R films without an adult.
It makes me wonder why, then, the theater I saw the movie in had lots of kids. Lots. A number of them were 16-18 year olds, but I saw at least 4 babies and half a dozen kids… between, say, 4 and 10. The movie is wholly inappropriate for kids. It’s very crude and very raunchy. Apparently I’m not alone in seeing kids at this show, either.
So why were they there? Most likely, their parents wanted to see the film and brought their kids along because they couldn’t find a sitter. But exposing a young kid to jokes about things such as the male genitalia… that’s just wrong. Not when the kid’s 6 and sees it on a movie screen, you know?
The solution is a lot easier than some might think: bring back NC-17. The rating isn’t dead, but it might as well be with the way the movie industry works. NC-17 is essentially a deathbed for a movie, since theaters shy away from showing NC-17 films. It’s just because NC-17 has earned an incorrect stereotype: NC-17 films are the closest thing to porn this side of X. American Pie almost had an NC-17 rating, but was toned down to R. Then there’s Showgirls. Yeah.
Some movie has to come out that is adult-oriented, but breaks through the porn image of NC-17. Will it happen? Probably not; I imagine that the movie studios would rather spend money on toning down movies than educating people that movies can be for adults and adults only. Losing market share that way, y’know. -pm
Posted in Television, Movies, and Music