See, this is exactly the way I felt about Janet Jackson’s boob. Sex isn’t unnatural, nudity isn’t disturbing, and sensuality isn’t “sick.” They are all “adult,” however, and kids are perfectly capable of understanding that, providing they’re brought up by parents who believe all this. Unfortunately, many kids are brought up that anything revolving around sex is “naughty” and that any reasonable knowledge about it should be put off as long as humanly possible. “Just don’t do it! And don’t see it!” As a recent college grad, I can tell you how badly these attitudes hurt people when they’re finally trying to grow into their sexuality as adults. (It’s also how some of our grandmothers didn’t know where babies came from until their own–terrifyingly apprehensive–wedding nights.) Yeesh.
On the other hand, violence is unnatural, and torture is “sick.” It doesn’t bother me at all that my kids wouldn’t have to deal with visuals of people being tortured until they’re older. Yes, all that stuff happens in the real world, but it’s something that, unlike sex–which is more than acceptable under the right circumstances–we shouldn’t accept at all. We don’t accept it. Serial killers are seen as mentally ill, and we lock up people who torture. Our society does not want these people. There’s no way to explain to my kids that “it’s something you’ll understand when you’re older, but you don’t have to worry about it now.” I can’t tell them that it’s all pretend and expect it to all go away. That kind of stuff keeps kids awake at night. Boobs, on the other hand, well, don’t! A certain discomfort with extreme violence is emotionally healthy, no matter who you are.
Spekaing of which, I hate horror movies, because I am very discomforted by what they portray. However, my husband and most of my friends think they’re awesome. I have absolutely no problem with the existence of movies like Hostel, providing that we allow all people to decide whether or not horror movies are their kind of thing, and that we give them time to grow emotionally mature enough to make that decision. A teenager can decide, but a kid of 8 or 10 probably can’t. I’m sure someone’s going to come in here and tell me about her 6-year-old who watched Saw and laughed through the whole thing. I can’t help it, but it saddens me that people are proud of their kids being able to shrug off scenes of extreme, graphic violence.
