# Gore, titties and the United States of America. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216 "2011-09-22T17:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/41 "2011-09-23T00:20:00Z")
Because the OP said “explicit hardcore pornography,” I assumed that it was fairly gritty and kinky stuff. However, it’s true that sometimes “explicit” means that it’s sex, not just nudity, and that “hardcore” can mean that we actually see the goodies, not just moving blankets and carefully placed fig leaves. If it’s a relatively vanilla scene, then I have much less of an objection. But the use of “explicit” and “hardcore” makes me think that it’s more than that. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/42 "2011-09-23T00:30:11Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > The violence because I don’t want to go to prison. Ditto. Being labeled a sex-offender for the rest of my life doesn’t sound too fun. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/43 "2011-09-23T00:39:48Z")
> [@furt](#): > > “Explicit hardcore pornography,” on the other hand, runs the risk of warping a child’s psyche regarding one of the basic parts of adult life. Lots of people have fetishes because of formative early sexual experiences; a handjob at 12 while in the shower might lead to a lifetime of being turned on by running water. What happens to the sexual psyche child forced at gunpoint to watch a rape scene/bukkake/gangbang/kiddie porn, I shudder to wonder. > > Mind you, if it was a tender love scene, it’d be different. But the OP didn’t say that. \*Would \*it be different? I wasn’t thinking about this until your post, but being \*forced at gunpoint \*to watch even a tasteful, romantic sex scene seems like the kind of thing that could screw up a kid’s attitude about sex for life. The violent DVD might frighten the child badly and give him nightmares, but I think fear and nightmares are probably inevitable regardless of which DVD is selected. This kid is being faced with a gun-wielding maniac who’s broken into his home. A scary movie isn’t going to make that much worse. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/44 "2011-09-23T00:53:06Z")
“Well, kid, you heard the armed maniac. You wanna watch _Saw_ or some porn?” ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/45 "2011-09-23T02:26:33Z")
Legal issues aside, I’d choose to show ‘loving couple’ porn, but the violence would be preferable to the more warpy porn as Furt said. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/46 "2011-09-23T02:27:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > the worst part of the scenario is the maniac jumping through the window with the gun. Don’t worry, let’s pretend he’s wearing a happy clown costume or something… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/47 "2011-09-23T02:33:31Z")
I voted for the violence. My daughter at age 9(now 18), sat on the sofa with me and watched _Blade_ among other videos that her older brothers rented and watched. She turned out to be the most pacifist/peaceful loving child. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/48 "2011-09-23T12:18:49Z")
First, I don’t understand the distinction - hardcore porn is also violence. There was an article in the ZEIT some years back about research that shows that (because teens today get hardcore stuff via the internet easily, circumventing the old ratings for Videos) watching a lot of hardcore porn negatively shapes boys’ perceptions of sex - they believe that if a girl says “no”, she doesn’t mean it, or that 5 guys on one girl is fun instead of gang rape. Second, it depends a lot on the individual child in question. Kids can be very different as to what affects them badly and what they shrug off. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/49 "2011-09-23T12:19:56Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Yeah, I was thinking more San Fernando Valley rather than Germany. What’s that supposed to mean? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/50 "2011-09-23T12:40:56Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > The poll is greatly flawed. If I am babysitting, I’m going to show the DVD that will raise the least objection with the child’s parents, regardless of my own beliefs. I would need to know what the parents would want. That’s a cop-out. Parents hire you as the babysitter and give you only basic directions for the care of the kids. They’re expecting you to make some decisions on your own; they don’t want a phone call where you say “hey, your son fell on a knife and he’s bleeding out, what should I do?” I expect a gun-wielding maniac is not going to give you an opportunity to call the parents and ask what _they_ want you to do for their kid. In the absence of any input from them, you’d have to guess what they want. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/51 "2011-09-23T12:57:59Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > What’s that supposed to mean? The exact opposite of this: > [@constanze](#): > > hardcore porn is also violence. Not all porn is violent. Unless you consider oral sex to be violent. In fact I’d say that 99% of porn is just straight-up sex that’s been video taped. Why everyone is focusing on that other 1% is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/52 "2011-09-23T13:03:25Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Why? don’t wish to debate you as to its wisedom but I am curious to know why it would depend on gender. There is just no circumstance where I could show porn to a little girl. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/53 "2011-09-23T13:03:57Z")
Ugh, this is a hard question. I think I’d choose the violence. It may add to the nightmares the kid is already going to have because of the armed gunman in the first place, but at least it may not ruin sex for the rest of the kids life. Just hearing my mother in the next room with her boyfriend when I was a child had a very slight negative effect on me, so that is probably playing a part in my decision. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/54 "2011-09-23T13:05:30Z")
With the added information I’d probably go based on what I know about the kid. Let’s take the maniac out of the question - if I was shown loving couple stuff at 10 I’d be mortally embarrassed and a little grossed out and very giggly. If I was shown the violence I’d have nightmares for weeks and weeks. So I’d have to judge based on the individual kid…but I’d probably lean towards the loving couple stuff in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/55 "2011-09-23T13:17:35Z")
The fact that people have been tending towards assuming the porn is at the freaky-deaky end of the scale is more interesting than the poll results, I think 🙂 Non-American, and probably the porn. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/56 "2011-09-23T13:39:08Z")
> [@Double\_Foolscap](#): > > The fact that people have been tending towards assuming the porn is at the freaky-deaky end of the scale is more interesting than the poll results, I think 🙂 > > Non-American, and probably the porn. The OP did say it was explicit hardcore porn. To me that means porn that pushes the boundaries, not just steamy sex. Tough question- I tend to avoid violence more than sex in what my kids see, but hardcore porn can have elements of violence and coercion that I’d be equally concerned about. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/57 "2011-09-23T13:52:24Z")
Why not split the difference and watch _Irréversible_? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/58 "2011-09-23T13:54:54Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > The OP did say it was explicit hardcore porn. To me that means porn that pushes the boundaries, not just steamy sex. “Hardcore” and “explicit” mean basically the same thing, i.e. the sex is not merely simulated or suggested, it is real and the details are captured on camera. Porn can be explicit/hardcore without being kinky; conversely, there is some very kinky (even perverted) porn out there that may not explicitly show the sex at all. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/59 "2011-09-23T14:05:28Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > “Hardcore” and “explicit” mean basically the same thing, i.e. the sex is not merely simulated or suggested, it is real and the details are captured on camera. Porn can be explicit/hardcore without being kinky; conversely, there is some very kinky (even perverted) porn out there that may not explicitly show the sex at all. Apparently I am not wise in the ways of hardcore porn. I’ll need to go get myself edumacated. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216/60 "2011-09-23T14:12:24Z")
From the title, I’d hasve expected it to be a choice betwen watching _An Inconvenient Truth_ and _American Pie_. Tough call. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-titties-and-the-united-states-of-america/597216.md?page=4)