# Movies and magazine covers are more explicit than decades ago **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 8, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830 "2012-01-08T15:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/101 "2012-01-10T18:17:19Z")
> [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > Because God forbid “intelligent children” find out that sex exists. :rolleyes: What with the internet and all, I’m surprised that all kids haven’t figured out what sex is. I was on my walk the other night and some boys were busy looking at a laptop and shut it as I walked by, while looking at me. I said: “Boys, there is a lot of porn on the internet, and it ain’t gonna watch itself.” They said nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/102 "2012-01-10T18:30:53Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > What with the internet and all, I’m surprised that all kids haven’t figured out what sex is. I was on my walk the other night and some boys were busy looking at a laptop and shut it as I walked by, while looking at me. I said: “Boys, there is a lot of porn on the internet, and it ain’t gonna watch itself.” They said nothing. Given the great lengths I went to in order to catch the briefest glimpses ( watching extended periods of scrambled softcore cable channels for those brief moments of suitable clarity, doing 20 seconds of previews on pay-per-view channels that charged after 30 seconds of viewing, and of course sneaking dirty mags whenever possible) I’m a little disappointed that my 16 year old doesn’t appear to be sneaking views. Perhaps he’s just smart enough to do so elsewhere, or knows how to selectively clean his computer while leaving a history of benign content behind. Or maybe it isn’t a big deal because we haven’t lunged for the remote whenever breasts show up. Kids today have it all too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/103 "2012-01-10T19:48:17Z")
As if any kid these days is going to look up from texting or tweeting or updating their status on Facebook to even notice there’s a magazine. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/104 "2012-01-10T21:19:13Z")
Why bother? It’s not like Cosmo doesn’t have a website. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/105 "2012-01-10T23:56:19Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I have a 10 year-old who is totally fascinated with war–the glamor, the honor, the bravado, the techno, the really cool fireworks and badass delivery systems… I _want_ him to see Saving Private Ryan. Especially the first 20 minutes. If he can have a nice graphic of things going wrong–or maybe “typical” depending on the theater–and still thinks it’s cool, then we can all have a round of applause for a budding young Navy SEAL. Might I suggest [“Johnny Got his Gun”](http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Got-His-Dalton-Trumbo/dp/0806528478/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1). I never got beyond the first chapter. Or [Catch 22](http://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-50th-Anniversary-Joseph-Heller/dp/1451626657/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326239700&sr=1-1) when he’s a bit older. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/106 "2012-01-11T00:05:04Z")
The girl I love Is on a magazine cover It seems they painted her just for me I’d fall in love If I could ever discover A little girl quite as nice as she Oh, my search will never cease for the girl on the _Police Gazette_ For the pretty young brunette on the pink _Police Gazette_ . . . ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/107 "2012-01-11T00:17:54Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > The horse head is still friggin’ gruesome, 40 years later. It’s a real horse, too. (No, it wasn’t killed for the movie – they got it from a slaughter house that made dog food) > [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > That’s not even to mention the challenging concepts of justice, vengeance, respect, criminality, social class and race just to name a few. If you believe that your child can adequately manage the mixed and confusing nature of these issues in The Godfather, he or she really ought to be quite able to handle the existence of sexual behavior and the viewing of bare breasts. Especially when you consider that they were married. And Appollonia was a virgin. 😉 So marital sex = bad. Mafia violence = good. 😛 BTW, does the movie mention that Brasi Had a midwife throw his illegitimate child into a furnace? Or was that only in the book? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/108 "2012-01-11T00:37:27Z")
\*\*Movies and magazine covers are more explicit than decades ago \*\*I know ! It’s awesome, innit ? [QUOTE=Darth Panda] I would say that less than 5% of all movies would not benefit from a topless Natalie Portman wandering around. [/QUOTE] I really can’t think of any, besides maybe _Schindler’s List_. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/109 "2012-01-11T00:58:41Z")
Kids are going to find this stuff out, with or without the store censorship. Hell, I remember sneaking a peek at the National Lampoon magazine because they had bare breasts in the foto funnies section. With today’s internet access, I don’t know how a parent could possibly keep a kid from finding out stuff I’ve probably never even heard of or thought of. That’s where I first saw a guy put his foot up a woman’s ass (literally). The internet is so graphic, I doubt kids would even notice that Cosmo cover, or anything else you might find objectionable. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/110 "2012-01-11T01:27:34Z")
There is so much more stuff available for my children than there was for me as a kid. There’s also more stuff available for me as an adult than there was for my parents. Overall, I’ll say progress is good. Kids have it good today, and so do the grownups. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/111 "2012-01-11T03:07:47Z")
I’d be more worried about my kids downloading a virus onto their computer from looking at porn, rather than the porn site itself. (Well, depending on the age of the kid – I don’t think I’d want a five-year-old watching porn, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/112 "2012-01-11T05:57:25Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Anyway, Mrs. septimus is the boss here and she objects to his viewing of sex scenes. > > Yes, I’d have to be lazy not to be able to check reviews before buying DVD. This seems to be the crux of the issue: a) His wife gets mad if his son sees sexual content in films. b) He admits to being too lazy to check ahead of time if a movie he wants to watch has sexual content. c) He apparently isn’t able to watch the movies he wants to watch (which contain sexual content) without his son being present. Setting aside any discussion of the violent (but “excellent”) movies which he _does_ feel are appropriate for his son to watch…I just don’t feel much sympathy here. Watch the movies with naked breasts after your son goes to bed, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/113 "2012-01-17T08:14:50Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > PS: I m NOT advocating censorship, merely expressing regret that many otherwise excellent movies become unsuitable for view with my children. Googling before purchase would be inconvenient and, anyway, outrule many I’d want to watch. Poor you! Too lazy to read an MPAA rating! What an overworked parent you must be. Look, children are the among the most catered to group from Hollywood. When I was a kid, there were maybe half a dozen children’s movies released a year, mostly from Disney. Now there is a new kid’s movie out every other damn week: Gnomeo & Juliet Justin Bieber: Never Say Never Rango Hop Rio Kung Fu Panda 2 The Lion of Judah Mr. Popper’s Penguins Cars 2 Winnie the Pooh The Smurfs Spy Kids 4D: All the Time in the World The Lion King 3D Dolphin Tale Puss in Boots Happy Feet Two Arthur Christmas Hugo The Muppets Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked The Adventures of Tintin We Bought a Zoo These are just the ones I found in a probably incomplete search for 2011. The idea that there is nothing to take kids to is preposterous. The fact that most of these movies are crap is more the fault of parents indulging their whiny brats and taking them to every damn thing that is promoted to them on television, of which at last count has more than half a dozen cable channels devoted exclusively to nauseating kidvid. When we were young, there were four broadcast channels, kidvid was limited to Saturday Morning, and we liked it that way. Now the little brats can stay plugged in to nick and Disney and God knows what else, 24/7. And we wonder why kids are fat and high school graduation rates are in the dumper. Now get off my lawn. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/114 "2012-01-17T10:54:35Z")
On the one hand, there are far too many restrictions that are ostensibly to protect kids but end up interfering with my own enjoyment. On the other hand, I am over all the gratuitous sex and grotesquely graphic violence they stick into TV and movies just to be edgy and to titillate. Make it important to the plot or don’t have it at all. The older I get, the less interested I am in seeing that kind of stuff in my regular entertainment. But then the restrictions that everyone has to adhere to also seem arbitrary and increasingly absurd. I like how Europe and the UK do it. I do not like how America does it. While Australia doesn’t have a frakking clue what it’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/115 "2012-01-17T11:26:58Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > While Australia doesn’t have a frakking clue what it’s doing. You should see Japan’s TV. It’s an odd mix between appalling, ridiculous, offensive, tacky, awesome and plain fucking weird. One thing for sure, though: they don’t even have “clue” in their dictionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/116 "2012-01-17T11:30:08Z")
7 day old thread isn’t a zombie… right? Hope not, because I want to weigh in here. Cosmo and Playboy allowed me to understand sexuality. Probably incorrectly, though my girlfiends and wife seem to have been relatively happy. Back in the 1960s, you NEVER saw nudity unless you went to a drive-in movie, at least not in Atlanta, Georgia. I would have been much better off being raised with nudity than violence. How the heck can we even equate them? Its like apples to exploded oranges. But, the marketplace will decide. If Kroger wants to cover up Cosmo, then I will make a point of looking anyway. After all, breasts are wonderful, and if I EVER see a Cosmo cover without cleavage I will know that the End Is Nigh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830.md?page=5)