Sex and Violence and all that it entails.

This came up in a other forum I was in when someone mentioned American's obsession with censoring sex and sexuality, but being okay with violence. That is taken completely out of context for the record.

I am asking for your views on what should be censored and why. Is a gratuitous amount of sexuality okay? How much bloodshed is allowed? What are your views on other cultures views on sex and violence.

Also, what is safe to show a child? I remember being a kid and being quite alright with killing people in gta but kinda weirded out by the strippers. How about you? Any movie scene that disturbed you as a kid?

Please.

Our standards for sex could do with some loosening up when it comes to editing and rating in the US. Mentions of masturbation have unnerved members of the MPAA rating's board because "I would be uncomfortable with my teenage daughter watching that" and other such shit which leads to things like higher ratings or being forced with removing or editing the thing.

Our standards for violence could probably use some strengthening maybe. Maybe. I don't care too much about it.

As a kid I was far more disturbed by portrayals of violence with blood than I was with things like strippers and sex. Sex and strippers just intrigued my small child brain. Blood made me ill.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Honestly I say there ain't nothing wrong with sex. Violence has it's pitfalls, but it's on the whole okay in media so long as the parent does their goddamn job and explains to the kid that violence in the real world isn't okay.

Then again I've been desensitized to violence from a young age, before I saw video games and violence. Having a drunk dad shove a loaded 12 gauge in your face at age 5 kinda does that.

edited 19th Apr '11 7:03:22 PM by MarkVonLewis

I got desensitized to violence to such a high level and at such a young age that I can't really begin to comment on what levels are acceptable for the average joe.

I don't believe children need to see explicit sex scenes or hear graphic depictions of sexual happenings, but the mere mentioning of sex or sexuality should not be censored.

I don't have any problems with how violence is censored in American works; the handling of violence is actually getting better nowadays.

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

Also. NC-17. Needs to die. Actually...the rating's board in general needs fixing. Needs people with fancy fucking qualifications and names and standards being open to the public. Or at the very least the film makers.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Don't forget cursing! That's also subject to some pretty lopsided censorship.

edited 19th Apr '11 7:26:20 PM by EnglishIvy

Oh god yes. Like asshole and how it gets bleeped...Why bleep the "hole" portion? ???

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

I don't really understand the issue with nudity. At all.

I don't think I'd ever seen a dick or boobs onscreen until 14, maybe, so not sure if I can give any useful input. On whether or not sex/nudity should be censored, I'd go with the option that makes kids/teens less inclined to have that "hurr hurr penis hurr" or "omg it's a dick! ew" attitude.

I think there is a double standard regarding nudity/sex between genders. I feel that female fanservice/sexuality is disproportionately portrayed, as opposed to male fanservice/sexuality, and the latter usually appears only in romance movies (Or I might just be biased because I disproportionately watch movies that are not "chick flicks"). Anyhow, I think female nudity is a lot more "ordinary" to people, nobody bats an eyelid at bare tits, butt, or cameltoe but almost everybody makes a big deal if they see dick.

edited 19th Apr '11 8:01:14 PM by melloncollie

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that violence is easier to divorce from reality than sex? I mean, it's taken as a given these days that your average person is going to have sex in their life, but who actually goes around shooting people?

So when teenagers or kids see violence, it's easier for them to think 'right, that's not acceptable in real life' than it is for sex.

Be not afraid...

This is true; bending a chick over a kitchen counter is a lot more acceptable than taking a Barret .50 cal rifle to a mall.

THAT IS SO FUCKING INSENSITIVE!

-runs to his room crying-

D:

You hurt Barkey's feelings! You bad person!

-goes to comfort Barkey with cookies and dangerous weapons of death and destruction-

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Here Barkey, you want some of this bottle of Jameson?

Oh, and references to alcohol, cigarettes, and sundry other substances. Those get censored as well.

So, does it matter whether the sex is deviant? Does it matter the nature of the deviance (for instance, does scat fetishism rank higher than Fritz The Cat-style furry sex?)

I know that I personally was ready to handle mature subjects far before adults thought I was, and I also know that as a reader I find it incredibly frustrating when the author throws in a Deus ex Machina to avoid impending mature content (typically brutal death.) I'm not sure I can generalize from that, though.

edited 19th Apr '11 8:33:22 PM by feotakahari

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

the problem is each group of people have different value on sex and violence.

ideally i think various different certification would be needed. Media Nudity Organization, Violence on Film Certification, Animal Violence Watch, Christian Media Certification, etc. so everybody could pick and choose what they want, somebody could say " i dont allow my kids to watch movie unless it have certification from Violence Watch ".

personally bloodshed and violence is okay, seeing bruise and bodies which bother me. half rotten corpse, broken bodies, etc. Never liked horror. nudity also don't bother me. sex however should be for 14+. children should't be able to play rapelay.

My view is that nothing should be censored without a reason much stronger than obscenity or "think of the children". e.g. I'd support censoring of content whose effect upon the viewer is sufficiently direct, unambiguous, guaranteed, and significantly negative for it to constitute a Brown Note, as such content would constitute a public health hazard on the scale of a virus outbreak.

Yes.

All of it.

There are few things a movie could possibly show that are any worse than your average fairy tale or news report.

If we disagree, that much, at least, we have in common

^

Pictures.

I always felt the news could get the damn point across much better when they talk about war if they were able to use pictures.

What Barkey said.

Also, context matters, though. I would encourage my future children to read Grimm's fairy tales and, later, The Metamorphoses and Orlando Furioso, which are full of (usually non-consensual!) sexual content. I would certainly not encourage them to watch an R-rated film with a bad message!

“Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled.” — St. Bernard

I was going to say something about basilisks AKA Brown Notes being the only thing acceptable to censor, but it seems that that chap with the difficult to remember name, Tongpu, has completely covered it. So yeah — what Tongpu said, exactly.

edited 20th Apr '11 2:45:00 AM by SavageOrange

'Don't beg for anything, do it yourself, or else you won't get anything.'

No censorship, just warnings for me. In the time of the Internet all kind of obscene material already exists and is easy for me to access, so there's no way that anyone could actually "protect" me from disturbing stuff. Only I can protect myself.

I remember being horrified of the theme song of X-files and as a small child, I got uncomfortable watching people kissing, especially if I was watching TV with my family. That being said, I haven't never heard of anyone who would have been scarred for live because of fiction they've seen or heard as children.

No censorship. At all. Ever. Under any circumstance.

Even if a movie were to KILL the viewer, á la IRL The Ring, a warning should suffice.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.