WHAT'S UP WITH DAT?!? My rant about violence in kids' movies/shows.

By General Homsar on May 27, 2009 10:49:57 PM from

WARNING: The following is a rant, and thus, it must be read as such. Do not accuse me of being "unfair", "biased", etc. because this is meant to blow off steam. If you reply to the following text, please do so with some semblace of humor. If you must respond seriously, please do so with some civility. Thank you, and enjoy the rant.

Almost every day we hear some new crusader screaming about how the latest fad is "corrupting our childrens' minds", "didentigrating the moral fiber of our nation", or even "making the occult and evil fashionable and cool". And yet, if you look at what's been targeted, you'll notice something, most of it was NEVER MEANT FOR CHILDREN.

Grand Theft Auto? M-rated, justifiably.

50-cent, Nelly, ect.? Most of thier albums have a label that clearly reads "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content"

Gory violence in SAW? I really don't know how that thing avoided an NC-17 rating.

And yet, even though these things are clearly for mature audiences, and literaly labled as such, they attract controversy from all sides for "corrupting" the minds of kids who weren't supposed to see/play/listen too them in the first place.

WHAT'S UP WITH DAT?!?

What REALLY irks me is that stuff that bills itself as "family friendly" contains content that should NOT be shown to kids, and yet it barely raises eybrows.

Case in point:

In G. I. Joe, Pok`emon, and countless other "action cartoons", heroes and villians alike are electrocuted, blown up, fall of cliffs, get in FREAKING GUN FIGHTS, ect. and come out with barely a scratch. It's like, "Oh, don't worry, violence has no consequences."

WHAT'S UP WITH DAT?!?

I mean, sheesh. Showing a big, blood-and-guts fight where someone gets killed is one thing, but having everyone come out of a fight just fine, like nothing even happened? Which do you think is more destructive?

And while we're on the subject of violence, what about the acts of violence themsleves?

In the movie adaptation of My Favorite Martian, there's a scene where two security guards are beating up the hero. His girlfriend, watching in horror, chews some gum that turns her into a huge, tentacled reptilian alien. What happens next?

Does she go for something cartoony, like clunking the guards over the head with a heavy object?

Does the guards run off, sceaming like little girls at the sight of her?

Does the hero just clonk the guards' heads together, or something similar, while the guards are distracted?

The answer is: None of the above.

The heore's girlfriend picks one of the guards up, and after swinging him around, throws him into a computer monitor, which causes the deivce to explode in a shower of sparks. The other guard panics and runs, but is cornered by the heroe's girlfriend, still in her monsterous form. The gurad screams like a mainiac, then the heore's girlfriend EATS THE GUARD, then burps, giggles and turns back into a human like nothing happened.

WTH?!?

Why is it that scenes like the ones described above go relatively unnoticed in kids' movies, but objectonable content in media meant for mature audiences gets everyone up in arms?

In other words....

WHAT'S UP WITH DAT?!?

There's my rant, ladies and gentlemen. Tell me what you think about it, but please remember: If I sounded mad, I was supoosed to, 'cause it's a rant!

Good Night, and Good Luck.

+15 Karma | 40 Replies

Personally, I tend to agree with the OP. However, I'm also feeling a need to play devil's advocate, so allow me to point out that while controlling what children see is a generally a good thing, as it leads to established social norms and conventions, at the same time too much control can be just as bad as too little. Without any exposure to the various "evils" propogated by violent or sexual movies, games, etc, it would be difficult for us to fit those concepts into our beliefs and outlooks.

Although its tempting to try to completely control what children see, realisticly it's impossible to do so completely, and can even be harmful should you succeed (ever see what happens when something completely new hits a group of "adults"? It's not pretty. Once views and beliefs are established across society, changing them, or even challenging them, is generally a very painful process). The figure of speech about figuratively "smothering" someone by providing overbearing amounts of protection has roots in fact. They've had studies on various strategies to help children in the past, and sometimes you get surprising results. For example, I remember running across a study a few weeks ago about researchers finding that while early intervention programs in childhood education help in the short term, in the long run the children who didnt recieve early intervention did better on average. I won't claim that the situation here is completely analogous, but there are similarities.

Something to consider: every generation has something that people latch onto to motivate outrage (Think of the children!), be it Rock & Roll or violence in video games or any number of other newly arisen social trends. The problem is, most of the time instead of objectively looking at a situation and studying whether or not there really is a cause for concern, and if so how to deal with it, most of the time it ends up with a mob mentality degenerating into a less internet-centric flame war. As a result, there's very little in the way of true evidence or studies collected and presented to the public at large, and most of that ends up as skewed propaganda.

</end Devil's Advocate>

Agree with the OP! It is interesting to know that you have to have a fishing license, hunting license, drivers license, to legally do those things...YET.. one does not have to have a license to be a parent. Considering when I was a kid Dungeons and Dragons was the "end-all-be-all" corruptor of children, SURPRISE....I've led a wonderful, happy life.

One simple reason! Good parents. I agree with the above posters that site the responsibility of raising their children in the "environment" of their choosing is the real concern. No one can force all of the questionable material from being created BUT each parent can take an active part in their kids lives......mine did.....I have friends that were equally as fortunate as well. I also know people that did not ever play games like D&D or other such adolescent influencing media and are currently residing in prison. NOW, I do not pretend that the things I have said are hard an fast rules for why some children are more greatly influenced by exposure to negative media an such. I only say this to illustrate the problem lies solely with what "you" can controll........which is... your relationship with your children. You see, my grandfather taught me so much that I simply could not live with myself if I dissappointed him. Respect! Honor! Decency...Compassion. The right way to be a man! The problem is parents must structure and organize the lives of their children so that they learn those words and their meanings.......Respect.....Honor.......and then when they are exposed to such influences that are deamed potentially harmful to children..perhaps..just..perhaps, they will take it in the proper perspective as it was intended....as entertainment.

When I read the OP's post my first thought was of my wife and her niece. When GTA came out, her kids were maybe 10-11-12......but they played it regularly..... AS DID I. However, I pointed out to my wife as we drove away that I thought it was a bad idea for her niece's kids to play that game.....if you knew her niece's kids you would know why it was a bad idea......AGAIN I reiterate....GTA and video games/movies did not make her child turn out to be bad......just one more influence was all. (fyi, often, games/movies are baby sitters) Guess what there were tons of mistakes her and her husband made..like letting the kids run and roam to all hours of the night unsupervised..... but hey guess what ...that child is now 16 and 3 weeks ago stole a police car just to go for a joy ride.......of course after stealing all the money from his mothers' purse, and threatening to Kill people.

Unfortunatly, it is the same everywhere I look. The more activley people participate in their kids lives, the better they tend to turn out. I said unfortunatly because in our "fast food" society good parenting is becoming extinct. Take for example how harmless the Janet Jackson superbowl show was, but consider then the bigger picture....a 3 second pic of Janets nip and instantly gobs of people up in arms over it......if "said people" had done their job with their kids it would not even have been an issue. A mistake for sure considering our laws. And still, a minor glitch for the network but hey, thats showbiz!!! lol

Valkajin

I think the best for kids will be no censory of violence nudity etc. If something is to be banned then that unreal creations as american action films (rambo etc... nice example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnOfVI1tOaQ ) and films for kids... where violence is but when fight is over everyone is healthy... or that stupid cartoons like tom and jerry... totally agains nature... using tools, making trap and... a cat beaten by mouse? LOL...

I wonder why there are so many ratings for how old one must be to be allowed to watch something but nothing that warns from urneal scenes

BTW

Quoting Qieth,

reply 24

...

You see it, i see it. All the kids are seeing is DOLPHINS. Look again

Pure, uncorrupted minds..

eh... where are dolphins? i rly can't see any dolphin there... i was looking on that pic about 10 minutes trying to find any dolphin... failed...

Is your avatar Irving!?

Yes. All hail the the Insect King of Social Akwardness!

Your post was tl;dr,

Uhhh, is that good or bad?

electricity, bycicles, and even the tango.

WTH? I can understand Rock N' Roll, TV and Radio, but THOSE? How could electricity corrupt a kids' mind? Would not having to worry about a candle or oil lamp setting his house on fire make him lazy?

As for the bike, would he think walking was for "squares" and ride his bike every where?

quoting post

Children's movies: teaching them about redshirts from a young age.

Quoting Anupew,

reply 3

I think the best for kids...

I think that shooling and instruction concerning the proper use of grammar is 'what's best for kids.'

0_0

Quoting Ryat,

reply 8

Quoting SyDaemon,
reply 7
Predatory animals are always being depicted as evil, thus causing children to misunderstand and prejudge them.

Especially when you consider that the most dangerous animals are herbevories (Elephants, Hippos, etc.)

Contrary to popular belief, the most dangerous animal is not the lion or tiger or even the elephant. The most dangerous animal is a shark riding on an elephant, just trampling and eating everything they see.

Children's movies: teaching them about redshirts from a young age

What does that mean, exactly?

Have you EVER seen an episode of the original Satr Trek?

Quoting Scoutdog,

reply 10

Have you EVER seen an episode of the original Satr Trek?

Yes...

Wait, I think I get it: the characters wearing red shirts were usually the ones who got killed, often gruesomely, right?

Don't get me started about Mario here. Ever played Mario Galaxy? Mario goes from planet to planet commiting mass geonicde, killing all the locals... and they say GTA is bad.

Quoting General Homsar,

reply 5

electricity, bycicles, and even the tango.
WTH? I can understand Rock N' Roll, TV and Radio, but THOSE? How could electricity corrupt a kids' mind? Would not having to worry about a candle or oil lamp setting his house on fire make him lazy?
As for the bike, would he think walking was for "squares" and ride his bike every where?

Electricity was thought to provide a man too many hours at night during which he could do as he pleased, which led to sloth and lechery.

The bike was invented during a period where women were still all wearing dresses. It held your legs a good deal higher than the modern bike, and allowed for...explicit... looks between a woman's legs.

The tango, I should think, is pretty self-explanatory. It's an amazingly suggestive dance if you watch or try it.

Edit: Yes, Super Mario Galaxy is easily the most violent game I have ever encountered. The death animations... ohh. *shudder*

i have to agree wholeheartedly. most people just want to feel self righteous and point the finger, generally cause shit.

i had a friend, ive known him since we were both babies. his mum put him in a very strict catholic preschool, then took him out and home-schooled him so he wouldnt become corrupted etc

after a few years, she didnt want us to hang out because i played Rugby, and video games, and liked girls...

but we still saw each other in scouts and one of the last camps we went on together it was only the fact that i was there telling him to stop that he didnt steal 2 big cases of beer out of the back of someones car, and then later, a car itself.

the most satisfying thing was when she called me specifically to apologise and acknowledge that i was the person keeping her son in line all those years.

point is, the more you suffocate your kids, the more they will want to get out. my folks never said you cant drink alcohol, but did manage how much i drank (i.e. tasting a bit of wine when i was 12, having some beer at 15, whatever) and letting me work out my own limits etc, whereas the friend i was talking about before, his folks kept him on a leash, and he ended up being much worse than me.

i do have to say, though, that violence or sex or whatever is not a bad thing if introduced properly, because the kid can handle it later in life. i was having a conversation with my dad the other day. we were watching a new Sci-Fi show about monsters etc. so, as usual, the main character was a normal guy who just got introduced to this world full of crazy animals etc, and he was freaking out and in denial etc etc. it pissed me off so much because its right in front of your face, you can feel it touch it see it smell it whatever, and he was still denying it. i was just thinking, man the f*** up!

so i was talking to my dad, who was in the Israeli army, so hes been through a fair few wars, hes seen people die, i assume he's killed people but he wont tell me, so hes been through all this hell, and he said if he was in the same situation, he would freak out too, but said i wouldnt because from a very young age i was reading and watching Sci-Fi and all sorts of things, so, if and when it came to it, i realyl dont think i will be freaked out. if i see someone killed in front of me, its possible i wont loose my lunch as easily as someone who was sheltered all their life.

not even talking about the massive abundance of violence between humans. with sex, people are all so tight lipped about it, no one knows. i was watching the 'girl next door' with my girlfriend (the movie, not the actual girl next door =P) and one of the special features is a 1950's sex ed video. it was hilarious in a painful way, but one scene came up and there was this old woman who said her parents where so taboo about sex and puberty that they didnt even tell her about periods etc so when she had her first period and there is blood everywhere she freaked out and her mum was just like, oh, well, you're a woman now honey, and walked off...!!! if it was me and i started bleeding randomly i have to say it would be very worrying! if people stop worrying about taboo and omg, telling a kid about sex is so wrong, then everyone will be better off, i have to honestly say.

and, last but not least, (though i wont get into it here) the worst thing is when religion sticks its nose into how we raise our children. i mean, you guys proudly tell the story of Abraham who came THIS close to killing his only son for his imaginary friend, so i dont think u get the right to tell us about the morality of our kids.

finally, if introduced properly, cool, but if kids are kept in the dark until its too late, then its even more detrimental than telling them too early. stop complaining and pointing the finger!

I have been positively surprised by your post, seeing the title, i was afraid to read another troll.

Whaoo, we have our fair share of morons in France (and we sadly don't expect to see a shortage soon), beginning by our dear president but that is at on other level. Well, all things considered, associations like "Familles de France" must tell things like that, it is just that i rarely watch the tv.

By the way, if you really pay attention to the story of GTA IV, it is not in any way a apology of violence, it is even the opposite. Unlike many hollywood movies when randoms guys are killed by dozen by the hero. And GTA IV has to be 18+ and diabolised... well, just my 2c.

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WHAT'S UP WITH DAT?!? My rant about violence in kids' movies/shows.