COLUMN: But it’s only rated PG-13 for violence
Two men walk into an apartment where they find another man sitting behind his dining room table eating breakfast.
Upon their arrival, the man enjoying his breakfast stands up, backs against the wall and begins pleading for his life. Without a single word of explanation, one of the visitors pulls out a gun a shoots the man in the head.
On paper, this description seems a little violent, which it is, however it is merely an excerpt from the popular blockbuster hit “The Departed.”
Having said this, I’d like to share a disturbing experience/discovery I happened upon this summer.
I was playing soccer in the back yard with my 11-year-old cousin and we were talking about movies. Together we cataloged and rated some of our favorite flicks: “Cars” was great, by the way. Then he informed me that he is going to go see “Batman: The Dark Knight” with his family.
“Aren’t you a little young to go see that movie?” I asked him while attempting, with little avail, to juggle the soccer ball on my knees.
“No, my parents said I could go see it because it’s only rated PG-13 for violence,” he said.
This comment smacked me in the face, along with my soccer ball which had gotten away from me.
After our little game we packed up and went inside to chow down on some grub, but the entire night I couldn’t stop thinking about my cousin’s statement: “It’s only rated PG-13 for violence.”
Now I’ve seen Batman, and although I loved it, I felt it was a little too twisted for my 11-year-old cousin. Truth be told, he’s a little twisted himself and might try emulating the Joker and I’d wake up with a pencil in my forehead.
But what really concerned me was that death and violence is more acceptable in our society than other adult things such as sex and swearing. What’s more natural two people making love or a guy blowing another guy away with a shotgun?
This mentality is ingrained into us as children. You all remember. You’re sitting in a theater at age 13 with your parents, popcorn in hand, getting ready to see that year’s big flick. After the credits the movie opens with a fight scene, maybe a group of people roughing each other up in the street.
You and your parents watch, mouths open at the effects, the stunts and the absolute awesomeness of it. Then roughly thirty minutes into the movie it cuts to a scene with two people making love (or having sex, whatever). In response to this your parents reach across one another to slap their hands over your eyes.
God forbid you see something natural!
Now I’m not here to advocate sex or outrageous behavior. Nor am I here to dismiss movies with violence as horrible. In truth, “The Departed” is one of my favorite films. I do, however, feel we as a society have our priorities backwards.
For instance, in “Batman: The Dark Knight” there was plenty of killing, tons of twisted turns and the incineration of a very pretty actress. This movie was only rated PG-13 for violence. Now if a boob would have popped out or if the F-bomb were dropped one more time, the film would have been bumped up to R.
Now I don’t want a film where they’re saying the F-word every few seconds, nor do I want to watch a porno, but the fact that those two things, which are much more natural the casual murder, have the power to change a movies’ rating makes me a little uneasy.
Having said this, I’m not calling for anyone to stop watching violent movies because I sure won’t. The epic “300” will forever remain in my DVD collection. But from now on, when I’m talking to people, especially those my cousin’s age, I’ll share my concern about a movie regarding both sex and violence in hopes that they don’t grow up thinking one is more socially acceptable than others.
Greg Boyles is a junior majoring in journalism. Reach him at greg.boyles@aggiemail.usu.edu.