Censhorship and the Movies (Split from Sci-Fi Thread)

[Wock]

From what I have heard the Movie script went under extensive edits for fear of reprisal because there is some that think the series of the books are "anti christian."

I have lost a lot of faith in Hollywood and the drive to appear "Politically Correct" to such extremes that many excellent works are either cleansed so much they appear clinical or are outright banned for fear of offending someone.

Some examples.
The Professional (Original Title is LEON but for some strange reason the American version was retitled The Professional?)

The American Theatrical Version (The Professional) is so edited down that the movie and character development is downright confusing. The editors for the American Version feared reprisal of showing an under age girl drinking or in scenes that may seem suggestive of a sexual relationship - which there wasn't, that many scenes that develop the movie and plot were deleted.

The full version is a much better tale.

Here is one that really bites me.

UNCLE REMUS - Once was a Disney Classic
In the 1960's his work was BANNED because some felt it may appear racist or portray certain races in an unsavory light just because the character UNCLE REMUS talked (narrated) in poor uneducated english.

Disney locked all their Uncle Remus Movie in their "vault" and getting a peek at it is impposible. So outraged are people that an online petition has been posted to get Disney to release the movie so people can have it
123,871 people have signed the petition so far and yet Disney won't budge on their stance. It is available to NO ONE. Just rotting in the Disney Vault.

http://www.songofthesouth.net/home.html

His stories were Children's stories and some of the best I heard growing up as a child. His characters like Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox were delightful in their antics. His stories would be enjoyed by anyone and yet out of PC fear are now hard to come by.

[shaking head]
Sometimes the powers that be try so hard to protect us from ourselves that they end detracting from our lives.

Examples are the idiot common sense lawsuits you see pop up every day. A lady keeps a cup of hot coffee in her lap while driving and then bruns her self when she turns the car. Stupid mistake. But now thanks to the lawsuit all "take out" cups of coffee must have a warning either on the cup or on the coffee dispenser warning us that the coffee is served hot.

How about the warnings of Not to use a Hair Dryer while in the shower. Not to use a toaster in the bathtub or Not to look down the barrel of a loaded gun as a fatal injury may occur.

Each of those stupid warnings we see now on products are direct results of someone doing something really stupid.

Instead of pointing out the obvious "hey you are an idiot" we instead come up with some legislation that causes more cost to be inccured, more time wasted, etc... all to product the stupid.

Now you see in media and entertainment across the board.

[shaking head]
Being politically correct has become such the norm that now a days everything is "steam cleaned" before reaching market.

Here is one example.

Has anyone noticed lately that almost every single horror movie that has been released lately has been PG-13 and NOT Rated R (NC 17)?

Also have you noticed that most of these "horror movies" aren't that horrifying?

Lets scare them but not too much. Maybe make them jump once or twice but God Forbid we should release something as scary as The Exorcist for fear we may fall under a lawsuit for violating someone's religious rights or scaring someone so bad that they suffer medical discomfort.

Oh well, American censorship is befuddling to say the least.

If you show a half naked woman or man in a movie or say a bad word it is OFFENSIVE and people MUST BE PROTECTED!

But if you make a movie were someone goes out and murders sixty people or chops them up with a chainsaw why then that is approved!

Sex and love = NO NO
Murder and Violence = RATINGS!

Sad when Rape can be something approved for all audiences on a prime time television show but Uncle Remus cannot even be viewed because he talks in an un-educated voice.

/rant over

[kewms]

Here is one example.

Has anyone noticed lately that almost every single horror movie that has been released lately has been PG-13 and NOT Rated R (NC 17)?

R is not the same as NC 17. R admits children with a guardian. NC-17 doesn't admit them at all.

In any case, the reason for this one is easy. Teenagers are the largest audience for movies, particularly horror movies. For years, the age restriction for R ratings was barely enforced: theaters ignored it, teenagers ignored it, and everyone was happy. Except parents, who were horrified to discover that their older children were taking their younger children to see Blood Bath on Elm Street 5.

Huge political stink ensues, R rating is enforced again, and R-rated horror movie sales go in the tank. I'm as anticensorship as they come, but I agree with the parents on this one. Parents have a right to decide what their children can see, and movie theaters shouldn't circumvent that right while claiming to support it.

Katherine

[Wock]

here is wierd

Code: Select all

A PG-13 rating is a sterner warning by the Rating Board to parents to determine whether their children under age 13 should view the motion picture, as some material might not be suited for them. A PG-13 motion picture may go beyond the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, adult activities or other elements, but does not reach the restricted R category. The theme of the motion picture by itself will not result in a rating greater than PG-13, although depictions of activities related to a mature theme may result in a restricted rating for the motion picture. Any drug use will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. More than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating, but such nudity in a PG-13 rated motion picture generally will not be sexually oriented. There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence. A motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, as must even one of those words used in a sexual context. The Rating Board nevertheless may rate such a motion picture PG-13 if, based on a special vote by a two-thirds majority, the Raters feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the context or manner in which the words are used or because the use of those words in the motion picture is inconspicuous.

Ok so if you say the F word more than once you get an R rating, you show someone chopping someone to pieces PG-13

Show some naked bimbo drinking beer and sleeping with 20 frat boys then going on a homicidal rampage killing twenty B cast actors and you earned a PG-13 rating.
http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp

But VIdeo Game Ratings are different as they use the T for Teen, MA for mature, etc.. etc..

God of War - a very popular video game that many teens own and play
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=3064413

Has a MA rating but most places will allow purchase or rental WITHOUT ID.

Contains nudity and violence throughout yet if it were made a Movie it would only recieve a PG-13 rating and NOT a R or NC-17 rating.

Scary.

Another nice one is the FCC's stance on television. I find it odd that now on prime time tv they use vulgar language, show nudity, drug use, violence, murder, rape, incest, and other things parents may wish their children not to see. It used to be R rated movies would only come on after 8pm on Cable channels (ie. HBO) and on regular TV Nothing higher than PG would ever be shown. Now the evening news contains more violence than some older R rated movies.

A sad thing is the MPAA is considering legislation to enact an R rating for any movie that shows anyone smoking a cigarette.

So to sum it up.

It is OK to

Get drunk
Use drugs
Get laid
Get Naked
Murder people
Be Violent towards others
Commit suicide
Drive Drunk
Teenage Pregnancy
Mob Violence
Chainsaw massacres

and any 13 year old is able to buy a ticket and see it they only stress minors UNDER 13 maybe should not view it.

BUT

If you say the F word twice, or if the legislation goes through, smoke a cigarette then that is R rating.

I find it odd that so many things are allowed for PG-13 and yet an R rating constitutes more protection but only against certain things deemed unsuitable for minors BUT video game rating is more strict on their rating system yet LESS enforced by consumers....


[/code]

[kewms]

It is OK to

Get drunk
Use drugs
Get laid
Get Naked
Murder people
Be Violent towards others
Commit suicide
Drive Drunk
Teenage Pregnancy
Mob Violence
Chainsaw massacres

and any 13 year old is able to buy a ticket and see it they only stress minors UNDER 13 maybe should not view it.

The recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake was rated R.

Katherine

[brett]

Agreed that Hollywood is so unimaginative that its writers think the only way to depict conflict is to bring in the guns and heavy artillery. There are movies in which the violence is actually necessary to make a larger moral point, but even in t hose cases, the filmmakers often depict it so graphically and exploitatively that it loses moral force and just becomes sickening. This is true even for some of the most acclaimed flicks of the past couple of decades; hip young directors who'd doubtless cower in fear in a real war try to prove their manliness by ratcheting up the screen violence and, increasingly, even torture scenes (not just slasher flicks, but even the last James Bond and others) and dismemberment.

I oppose censorship, but this stuff can't be good for kids or society. (I've read articles about how series like 24 -- written by a pro-war right winger -- are not only factually misguided and denounced by real military and intelligence figures, but are inuring Americans to government violence and torture.) While, as noted above, many in the self proclaimed "family values" crowd here screams about depictions of love or a brief wardrobe malfunction revealing a human body part even as they line up for onscreen massacres and torture. Onscreen love is NC 17, onscreen murder is PG. That's today's American society (at least as seen in Hollywood) for ya.

Maybe I'm too squeamish or empathetic, but I just refuse to subject myself to the kind of glorification of violence that pervades American cinema these days. So for the last decade or so, with rare exceptions, I avoid movies that focus on guns and graphic violence in favor of those that tell gripping stories, explore interesting characters, and inspire imagination. Sure makes it easy to cut down the list of what movies to see on a given weekend! And yet I don't feel deprived, thanks in part to being in easy walking distance of several art house theaters. Even discounting the indie, foreign and art films I see almost every week, I can still find plenty of good stuff in the mainstream; just in the past week or so, I enjoyed four exceptionally smart, thought provoking and emotionally rewarding mainstream movies: Ratatouille, Juno, I'm Not There (obligatory Portland reference withheld), and Michael Clayton. (Admittedly the last has a dead body and an exploding passengerless car.) And I'm looking forward to at least half a dozen other major studio releases now in town that prefer good storytelling to exploitative violence. When do we get to see the first one that originated in Scrivener?