I do try to remain open-minded and even click FoxNews links like this one about a drive to put Cosmopolitan magazine in an opaque cover. Looking at the sexually explicit content of the covers, I find myself agreeing with these petitioners.
Time was when most movies were more-or-less family-friendly. Nowadays, many fine films that would otherwise be fun for intelligent children to watch, are excluded by 1 or 2 gratuitous sex scenes. What’s the point of that? Requires less scriptwriting skill than a delighting next-morning breakfast chat?
I think that there’s plenty of kid-appropriate entertainment available, and not all entertainment needs to be kid-appropriate.
As for Cosmo, it’s not an age-restricted publication. You’re welcome to fret about the cover if it kills a few minutes for you, but I’d be more concerned that kids who are old enough to be titillated by the cover are welcome to buy it.
Funny she should say that—that’s precisely what the grocery store near me started doing a couple of years ago, by putting opaque screens on all the tabloids displayed at the checkout lanes (the same shields you might see covering Juggs and Hustler at the 7-11). As far as I know it isn’t a law or ordinance; I assumed it was the work of some local busybody (or cabal of busybodies) who’d convinced the grocery chain to start using them.
I’ve only noticed them covering the tabloids, and not Cosmo and the like. I suppose the argument is that one is “forced” to see the covers while standing in the checkout lane with one’s (probably bored, inquisitive) kids. Probably good for inspiring other kinds of sales, though:
In Germany, serious weekly news magazines like Der Spiegel put naked breasts on their covers nearly every time the title story is health-related (often showing a naked couple). Nobody is batting an eye. The German *Cosmopolitan *covers look much the same as the ones discussed here, and there are often pornographic magazines in places like gas stations - often in the top row of the racks, but still within reach of everybody except smaller children.
I don’t think Germans are more screwed up than Americans sexually.
There’s the 1995 opus Sex Toy Story, it could have been a wonderful movie about a kid getting his toys back, but this beautifully written, heartwarming movie was ruined by one simply atrocious choice by NegaPixar in production.
I think those kids should get off your damn lawn already.
In other words, as we age, most of us get to that point where we think that things are going to hell in a handcart, and everything was better in the old days. I bet in 16th century Italy, there was some guy who was in the square saying “You know, the Commedia dell’arte is not like it was some years ago. Now it’s full of rude off colour jokes and sexual comments. Disgusting.”
“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint.”
I think it’s that the covers had the word “sex” on them. And not just sex, “bad girl sex”. The kind with open eyes and paroxysms of something other than guilt.
I thought it was the other way around? I remember movies having much more nudity and sexual content when I was younger. In fact, I remember reading about this in Entertainment Weekly maybe ten years ago, in an article about the creation of the PG-13 rating.
I’m more interested, though, in why the fuck you think that all culture should be sanitized to a level appropriate for children. Why is it, in your view, that we can’t have some entertainment that is appropriate for adults only? Some people don’t have kids, and feel no need to orient their viewing behavior to conform with the needs of minors. Other people do have kids, and still want to be able to watch adult-themed movies and shows once in a while.
I’m also curious about whether its only sex that pushes your censorship button. As far as i remember, Saving Private Ryan and Reservoir Dogs are not sullied by any scenes of fornication. Do you think those are fine for kids to watch?
Finally, as a couple of other people have suggested, i think there’s actually some value in exposing kids, especially older kids, to more adult-themed movies as they grow up. Obviously, it’s up to each parent to decide when that might be appropriate, but intelligent kids can cope with far more than the movie ratings system gives them credit for, and under appropriate supervision can be taught to appreciate more mature cinema without getting all freaked out or prurient about it.