Some of remember when the movies were not rated. People in movies kept their clothes on, graphic violence was not portrayed, and profanity was rare. Then sometime in the 60's all of that went the way of the Edsel. The MPAA developed its rating system to warn viewers what they would encounter. I believe they started with 4 ratings, G,PG,R,and X. They later added PG-13 and NC17. As a consumer I like this information as it helps me decide whether I want to chunk down my money.
Apparently not everyone got the memo. Yesterday we went to see The Hunger Games at the local theater. For those not familiar with it the story is based on a trilogy by Suzanne Collins set in post-appocalyptic America. The story revolves around a national "game" that is held each year in which two teens from each of 12 districts are pitted against one another in a fight to the death. The violence is pretty graphic and the movie is rated PG-13. Since Emma and I qualify we paid our money and found a seat. We discovered that the overwhelming majority of the audience was in the age range of the combatants on screen but there were about half a dozen clearly younger than the suggested 13 years old. Two 20 something moms lugged in 3 toddlers under 5 years old. Several 9 or 10 year olds were there with older siblings.
What were these parents thinking? The obvious answer is that they weren't! What about teenagers killing each other makes it appropriate for these young skulls full of mush? It's fairly unsettling for this old man but I can distinguish between reality and fiction.
What it all comes down to is parental responsibility. You can't legislate intelligence or judgment. In the case above the parents were either too lazy, stupid, or really didn't care what their kid was exposed to. On the larger scale are we just wasting our time trying to inform the public about entertainment content?
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