Survey

Today, I went around and talked to several people about movie ratings and the movie rating system. I cannot give too much away, since this will be used in our final project, but I will say that not a lot of people know where the ratings come from for movies.

So- Here is a question for all those who are commentators, and not one of our blog members-

• Where do you think the movie ratings come from? (Please just give your gut answer- don’t just look it up to find the right answer)
• Do you watch R-Rated movies?
• Why or Why not?

For the Strength of Youth

I was looking through different church publications to see what kind of information was out there regarding movie ratings. The following passage is from the For Strength of Youth pamphlet:

• Our Heavenly Father has counseled us as Latter-day Saints to seek after “anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” (Articles of Faith 1:13). Whatever you read, listen to, or watch makes an impression on you. Public entertainment and the media can provide you with much positive experience. They can uplift and inspire you, teach you good and moral principles, and bring you closer to the beauty this world offers. But they can also make what is wrong and evil look normal, exciting, and acceptable… Don’t attend or participate in any form of entertainment, including concerts, movies, and videocassettes, that is vulgar, immoral, inappropriate, suggestive, or pornographic in any way. Movie ratings do not always accurately reflect offensive content. Don’t be afraid to walk out of a movie, turn off a television set, or change a radio station if what’s being presented does not meet your Heavenly Father’s standards

 This particular edition of the For Strength of Youth does not say “do not watch rated R” movies specifically. Instead, it says that movie ratings “…do not always accurately reflect offensive content.” I think this pretty much supports the point that we cannot just think that because something is rated PG-13 it is okay to watch it.

Do you think this applies to rated R movies as well? Could some rated R movies be “okay” to watch?

August Rush

First of all, let me just say, I did not enjoy this movie. I thought that having Robin Williams in it might make it better, but I was wrong. To sum up the movie really quickly, I’ll just give a brief description. This film is about a young orphan boy who hears his parents speaking to him through music and the sounds around him. He is a musical prodigy, and encounter different people from all walks of life. The other part of the film is about the boys parents. The mom was a rich young violinist, and the father was a young reckless rocker. They had met and had a one night stand. The rich girl’s father didn’t want them to be together. The girl was hit by a car, and that dad told her that she had lost the baby, when in reality, he had the baby sent to an orphanage. Throughout the movie, you see how music influences all the characters, and finally brings them together in the end.

Okay. Lame. August Rush is rated PG, which I think is pretty appropriate for this film. The two things that would not seem very PG to me are 1)Robin Williams character and 2) the one night stand between the young couple at the beginning of the movie.

1) Robin Williams- He seemed kind of scary! In the movie, he plays this musician who lives in an old theater in New York. He gathers homeless kids who play music, and lets them stay in the theater. He takes all their earnings, and the kids are scared of him. He tried to “snatch” August (the main boy) away, and was just a dishonest and scary man.

2) Promiscuity. Although nothing very graphic is shown in the film, it definitely implies that it’s okay to have premarital sex. Plus, there is some talk of just sleeping around and playing the film.

 All in all, it fits the PG rating, but I gave it two thumbs down.