Who or what should censor our children’s films?

I. Observation or Discovery is made

When referring to Disney Animated Movies, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is considered a “G-Rated” movie for kids. Yet, there are some horrible scenes in my opinion that are not suitable for children. You might have seen several G-Rated movies yourself that contain language, violence, themes, and images that are not considered acceptable for children.

II. A Question(s) is asked based on that Observation or Discovery

Who or what should censor our children’s films?

III. How does this question(s) validate as being a "Month Long Question"?

I have been working with Steve on redefining this question. I am finally happy with where this question is leading. My original questions were; 1) What is the rating system based on? 2) How does one determine what is a G Rated Movie verses a PG-13 Rated Movie? Furthermore, is there a MIC Technology that would allow automated censorship by computer and a pre-determined set of guidelines rather than human observers who could fail in their duties? These are all fine questions to ask, but what is the big picture here? What am I really trying to ask with this subject matter? Steve replied to me and said; "Is it possible not simply to edit a movie to make it “Safe” but, rather, is it possible to write a movie (or a song, or a novel, etc.) using software with only a little bit of some human “steering."" Which lead me to asking the real question here. "Who or what should censor our children's films?"

How does this validate as being a month long question you ask? It validates as a month long question here because there is no specific answer or at least an answer you can give right away. Everyone has his or her own opinions as what is considered a G-Rated Movie verses a PG-13 Movie. The root of the core of this question is pretty much almost everyone is in favor of censoring our children's films. However, "Who or what should censor our children's films?" is the key question here. I plan to have my own thoughts about this topic and question the subject matter that I am researching. Who knows what I might read that might convince me or change my opinion or vice versa. I am ready for the challenge here! I am ready to explore these areas. I feel that this is a month long question as there is no indefinite answer you can give right away as there are many possibilities or ideas people have of the censorship of children's films. I talk about Disney films specifically, but it could be any children's films. I plan to explore this and see where it takes me.

IV. Where has this Observation or Discovery been?

I found it interesting that before the MPAA rating system, as it is today, there was the Hays Code. The Hays Code was put into place during the 1930s. 1930s based films that come to my mind are Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind in 1939. The MPAA's film ratings system was started on November 1, 1968. As I was reading the webpage at Wikipedia it claims that all through history parents have had a need to distinguish films for their children. In 1984 the films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins were in controversy. As parents claimed that the movies were very gory for kids to watch. They were originally rated as PG movies, but later classified as PG-13 movies. Hence, the PG-13 rating was put into play.

For more details please have a look at the following site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America_film_rating_system

Another article I read says that the MPAA was actually started in 1922. Movie ratings are determined by 10 board members who view each film. So you are telling me that the whole fate of movie ratings rest on 10 initial people. How can 10 people decide the fate of my child's future? In recent years movie makers have been in a dispute about rating systems. Basically it all leads to money and profits. NC-17 is not permitted in most theaters. Why you ask? Kids and Teenagers represent a huge amount of people who actually go to the movies a pay for a movie ticket. Well their parents might pay for their movie ticket, but that is not the point. The point is it is all about maximizing profits. If you take the young population out of the equation you are going to lose money. I found the article to be interesting. Please see for yourself.
http://movies.about.com/od/miscellanous/a/mpaa012907.htm

V. Where is this Observation or Discovery at present day?

Steve has been a big help on this question. He had recommended to me to look at something called the Motion Picture Association of America to better understanding rating scales. In my discovery I found a very unique site that just explains the bases for rating scales.

According to the article presented on http://www.mpaa.org/FilmRatings.asp, it explains that the parents are actually the ones who rate the movies. An independent Board of parents that have no affiliation with the movie business decide what is appropriate for children. Movie ratings allow parents to make up their own minds in what would be best suitable for their children. Movie ratings however are not movie critics. They do not tell you if the movie is good or bad. Movie ratings only provide whether or not a movie is best suited for children or more for adults. They warn parents of sensitive content. MPAA believes that movie makers should have the freedom to produce whatever movies they would like. However, parents should have the authority to decide whether or not a movie is deemed appropriate. Movie ratings actually accomplish both goals. They provide information to parents to warn them about inappropriate movies and allow filmmakers the freedom to create movies.

This site actually lead me to another site called http://www.filmratings.com. It actually explains what each type of rating means and what you should be aware of when choosing a movie for yourself and/or for your children.

G - THE MOTION PICTURE CONTAINS NOTHING THAT WOULD OFFEND PARENTS FOR VIEWING BY THEIR CHILDREN.

PG - PARENTS ARE URGED TO USE "PARENTAL GUIDANCE", AS THE MOTION PICTURE MAY CONTAIN SOME MATERIAL PARENTS MIGHT NOT LIKE FOR THEIR YOUNGER CHILDREN TO VIEW.

PG-13 - PARENTS ARE URGED TO BE CAUTIOUS. SOME MATERIAL MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR PRE-TEENAGERS.

R - CONTAINS SOME ADULT MATERIAL. PARENTS ARE URGED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOTION PICTURE BEFORE TAKING THEIR YOUNGER CHILDREN WITH THEM.

GENERALLY, IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR PARENTS TO BRING THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN WITH THEM TO R-RATED MOTION PICTURES.

NC-17 - PATENTLY ADULT. CHILDREN ARE NOT ADMITTED.

VI. Where do you see this Observation or Discovery moving towards?

So where are we going with movie ratings? What will movie ratings be like in the future? One such article I found amusing. The article questions movie ratings. The author of the article Sex, Violence, or Stupidity - The Future of Movie Ratings located at http://www.adultfilmmakingsecrets.com/218/sex-violence-or-stupidity-the-future-of-movie-ratings/ points out some interesting things. One such thing is that society seems to fuzz out or censor nudity. Yet, violence seems to be no big deal anymore. Shouldn't violence be also fuzzed out or censored? Isn't violence just as bad? He makes a comment about which is better for your kids to see nudity or someone cutting someone's throat open? So that leads me back to my original question "Who or what should censor our children’s films?".

VII. What are your opinions about the subject matter?

My feelings about the subject matter are that the movie rating systems should not be determined by the fate of only 10 people. They should instead be reviewed by many people. I would say at least 100 - 500 people. To me that would make much better since and may create a more accurate reflection of what the true rating of a film must be. My feeling is how do they determine the winners of the Grammies or the Oscars? How about the People's Choice Award?

When I did a little research for Grammies or Grammy Awards I found out that song writers and singers enter their work on-line. Then once the work has been submitted, experts from the recording industry review them. Only five acts can be nominated for each category.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammies

When I did a little research for Oscars I found that directors vote for directors and writers vote for writers. This might be a bad concept or bad example when it comes to voting on Movie Ratings. In the case of the Movie Rating System, it is determined by parents who have no affliction with the movie business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscars

The People's Choice Award might be a better way of thinking in terms of voting for Movie Ratings. According to my research the show has been held annually since 1975 and is aired on CBS Television Station. The awards are voted on by the general public.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Choice_Award

For my own example, The People's Choice Award might be a better example of how the Movie Ratings should be voted upon. I would say we should let the general public decide what is deemed appropriate for children.

So my next question is how do we do that?

My answer is how about the internet? How about we allow the general public access to watch the movie and determine for themselves if the movie is suitable for children.

However another thought accrued in my mind. Movie Makers are trying to make a profit. The whole purpose of producing a movie is to get people to watch the film for money. So how is that going to work?

My thought process would be how about a much larger board to decide the fate of Movie Ratings. Also how about having people all across the country decide. Which another thought occurred to me. How do we determine the president of the United States? We have the Electoral College and Electoral votes in which determine the fate of who wins the Presidency. In other words we have a point system and representatives "us" who vote to decide the major majority.

My thought would be how about having a small board of people from different states and having them decide as a group what in fact a movie should be rated. Then that group from each of the 50 states would submit their ballots on-line. Then MPAA I feel could make more of an accurate decision in what determines the rating of a certain movie.

After further research I encountered a program called ClearPlay. What the program basically does is takes R-rated movies for example and makes them G-rated or at least PG-rated. At least from what I understand. It allows parents to be able to select what is appropriate vs. what is not appropriate for their children. The DVD will then automatically speed forward through inappropriate scenes and the viewer won't even know they are gone. Filters are added and updated daily for new movies that are released. Basically the program automatically takes those parts out or scenes that are not suitable for children. In many cases parents have been doing this and not even knowing it. If they play a movie and find a certain scene inappropriate then they may stop the film or fast forward to a different scene. The only problem with this is in some movies it may all be inappropriate and you may lose the story line. So as you can see there are disadvantages and advantages about everything, but this maybe a start in the right direction. Perhaps the same technique could very well be applied to movies in a movie theater.

This concept or idea reminds me of when movies are edited to fit the time segment on TV. In most cases, some movies that are shown on TV are not the full versions of the movie. Rather, they have been edited to fit the time slot.

Another Idea might be that film makers need to come up with different versions of their movies. Maybe a version that is a little less intense and for people who like action develop a more intense film. I found the article to be pretty cool.

At any rate check the article out at http://www.blogher.com/censorship-if-you-could-change-movie-would-you

VIII. Can you back up any of your thoughts?

Basically what I wanted to prove here is that there is a problem with our Movie Rating System and perhaps we ought to consider changing it to meet the arguments of today.

To back up my thoughts about Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame take a look at this review written by Janet Maslin in 1996. What I want you to take a look at is this first paragraph. I did not write this. This is what Janet had to say.

"Having explored so many other avenues in the world of animation, Disney tries something new: self-parody. Or so it often seems during "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," the latest and most uncertain of Disney's animated efforts, with its manic mood swings and cloying, none-too-cuddly hero. In a film that bears conspicuous, eager resemblances to other recent Disney hits, the film makers' Herculean work is overshadowed by a Sisyphean problem. There's just no way to delight children with a feel-good version of this story."

Article can be found at http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9901E3DE1539F932A15755C0A960958260

To further prove my point at least that Movie Rating Systems seem to be corrupt check out this website "Are MPAA Movie Ratings Obsolete?" http://www.wisegeek.com/are-mpaa-movie-ratings-obsolete.htm

In that article it explains that sex is always voted to be an NC-17 rated movie. Violence is only considered to be R rated. So that brings up yet some more questions. Why is it that seeing body parts is considered absolutely forbidden to see by children and that violence is considered ok with some adult supervision? Shouldn't violence be considered just as forbidden as nudity? Many are claiming that the rating system is out of date for a 21st century audience. I agree completely.

According to the article, "Beware of the Movie Rating System" located at http://www.wayoflife.org/files/cb16cd5ed9bcfd5b8293927eee7eea67-468.html claims that the Walt Disney Company is not following the word of God. That many of their characters follow pagan traditions. Subject matter such as witches, demons, sorcerers, spells, genies and goblins are found to be inappropriate by many Christian families.

Now in my own personal opinion I would not have a problem with this. I find Disney for the most part to be fun, imaginative, and magical. I would think in most cases Disney is ok for children to watch. However, in the case of some Disney films like Hunchback of Notre Dame I beg to differ. Therefore, the idea here is this. Everyone has their own ideas of what is considered appropriate. So what is the best solution here?

I think the best solution here is to allow the general public to decide the rating systems somehow and by increasing the number of board members who view these types of films. Secondly, I think the concept of having different versions or edited versions by a software program maybe a great idea to suit everyone's needs.