This week the theme is "Movies," as a movie buff I have been torn on which direction to go. But when I got the email about the theme I was in the dorm, and thus the following commentary on movies.....
I live in a bubble. In fact I've lived in a bubble for a good part of my adult life. No, I'm not like Tod Lubitch, as I live in them by choice. The kind of bubble I'm talking about is the religious setting, like at a college, or currently the high school I work at. Now don't get me wrong, bubbles are not always horrible places to live, but they can really distort people's perception of the real world.
Take for instance movies. Before we show a movie here, we often have to check out some site like Kids In Mind or Screen It to make sure the movie is kosher. Don't want too much offensive language, no skin, easy on the violence, and definitely nothing that hints at evil things like witchcraft or Elvis impersonations. And don't get me wrong, those are two really good websites to find out about a movie's content.
But for a while we even had these boxes called the TV Guardian (endorsed by Mary Lou Retton) installed between our video machines and televisions. These devices would read the Closed Captioning feed and would cut out the sound when an offensive word was played. They would also then display the dialog of the movie with the offensive word replaced by the "family friendly" alternative. I don't know how many times I would chuckle internally, and sometimes externally, when I would read phrases like, "He is such a rear head," and my favorite "Hug you."
That wasn't enough for some, and now in many bubbles around this world people subscribe to programs like Clean Flicks, Family Time Movies,and Clean Films. These services will actually take movies and edit out all the skin, language, and excessive violence from a film. You then rent the edited copy, so your family can watch movies in your own safe little world.
I've got news for these people, it is censorship and wrong, so stop it now. As a society we have almost stopped burning and banning books for objectionable material, so why do it with films? But you are probably asking how are you and your family supposed to enjoy quality films like Stealing Harvard, Momento, One Hour Photo, Sleepy Hollow, Panic Room, Igby Goes Down, or Dreamcatcher? (all of these films can be rented at above editing websites) Try this one on for size, if you are offended by elements of the film, don't watch it at all. Editing some of those films still leaves you with something I would not show to any kid of mine, regardless if there are no F-bombs. Why do we want to Christian-ize everything? Can't we just draw a line, and say for me and my family we choose not to watch ______ films (fill in the blank with your appropriate rating, level of violence, the word Disney, porn, or Ernest) There are just some films that are not worth watching - edited or not. Just like some books, artworks, magazines, and other products of society are not for my tastes. And I just accept that, not try to make them fit my mold.
Here is a novel idea, go outside into the real world and check things out. You can't plug the TV Guardian into the people on the subway (please don't try, it could get embarrassing.) and you can't edit out the billboards as you drive down the highway. The world outside of the bubble is full of offensive stuff, but that doesn't mean we need to hide from it all. (Nor does it mean we need to embrace it all either) We just need to accept it, and try to make a change for the better. Censoring and editing will not make the difference. Heck, cause when you buy an edited version of a film, you are still buying a copy of the non-edited film, thus you are not "sending Hollywood a message that we want clean films," as you just brought home a scratched up copy of some film with 24 F-bombs, a naked butt, and three guys drinking.
All I'm saying is that sometimes when I stub my toe, I don't say "Golly gee, that kinda stings." And I like my films like I like the rest of my life, unedited and as the director wanted.
Be sure to check out the other entries for this week by clicking the little button.
Currently listening to: Dolly Varden -
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