Paranoid Parents

Paranoid Parents
Written by Christopher Gallo

I.

It seems to me, Christopher J. Gallo, that over time, parents have gradually become more protective of their children. Many parents give thier children curfews, if they even let their kids out alone for a night. Parents monitor what their children watch, eat, they watch for what their friends act like, what kids do alone. Back before the events of September 11, 2001, parents didn't seem to care as much about letting their children trick-or-treat and go ringing strangers' doorbells. The biggest worry about pre 9/11 Halloween was that people could accidentally hit children walking across the streets, or that poisoned candy would be given out. Now, after our country has fallen victim to terrorist attack, it seems that we don't even let our children out of sight without a tracking device. We have invented contraptions to be placed inside vehicles so we know where our kids are at all times. We worry constantly. This isn't bad. Parents' jobs ARE to protect their children, to proivde loving loyalty and care for them. But it's not the things they DO NOT let the kids do that worries me. It's the things they let their children actually do that gets to me.

II. Sex and Violence/Films

It seems now that parents do not want their children to be sexually active in their lifestyles. And of course this excludes children under the age of 13. Children under the age of 13 should not be seeing pornography or masturbating or having any kind of sexually active lifestyle yet. But, it would appear that parents don't want their kids seeing things that could be deemed inappropriate by an unethical Christian community.
On the Internet Movie Database's message boards, I have come across numerous questions from children asking if they would be allowed to see gratuitously violent films and then comparing them to films that they have seen. Here's an excerpt from a thread I read. The names have been changed, but the films and posts have not. I chose my five favorite films and looked up the message boards, knowing I had seen some before.

"Pulp Fiction" Message Boards

questionasker: My little sister is 14 and she wants to see Pulp Fiction. I've never seen it, so I don't know whether or not it's too violent for her. She is mature for her age, though. Any suggestiongs as to what I should do?

response9: I saw this film when I was 12. I would say it is appropriate. There is a lot of swearing (270 f-words) and graphic drug use scenes (man injecting heroine, girl snorting both cocaine and heroine). There isn't too much violence. The scene where Marv[in] gets shot is pretty graphic but that's the only Tarantino style violent scene. Its a great movie. Go to screenit.com and look at more details.

MY NOTES: The 9th respondant said he saw it when he was 12, thus meaning he was allowed to see very violent films at his age, but I have nothing against that, considering the fact that I was allowed to as well. The thing that confuses me is that he goes to great length to explain that there are 270 'f' words,that there is graphic drug-usage, and that there is a graphic violent scene. Then, he says it IS appropriate. However, this user does seem to be quite ironic at times, he calls George A. Romero's "Creepshow" an 'alright horror/comedy' but gives it 8 stars. He calls Atari's video game "Battlezone" a 'great Atari game' but gives it 2 1/2 stars out of 4. He calls "Dodgeball" 'Just your average funny comedy' but gives it 9 out fo 10 stars!

What does this have to do with sexuality in films? I haven't got there yet. My point now is that the person asking the question states that his/her LITTLE SISTER who is only 14 years of age (3 years under the age requirement for R-rated films) wants to see it. "Pulp Ficion" is a great film, according to both the majority of critics and audiences, and it shoudl be embraces by a wide audience, but not by someone that age. It is rated R for "strong graphic violence and drug use, pervasive strong language and some sexuality". This rating is very heavy in description. Note that we do NOT get the person asking the question's parents' ideas as to whether or not the 14 year old little sister should see the film. This person asking the question is asking people she does not even know for their opinions before her parents.

"A Clockwork Orange" Message Boards

questionasker: I am 14 years old,and for a Halloween party,I'm watching some movies with friends.Now I have seen pretty disturbing movies and I admit,I love stuff that is sadistic or creepy which acording to my friend,Dannail,this is.I was wondering if it is alright for a 14 year old and some 12 year old friends to see this movie.Oh,and reccomendations for the party are greatly accepted.

response10: watch this... Watch pulp fiction... After these two watch STRAW DOGs
Then watch Reservoir dogs... Watch american HISTORY X.. WATCH A PORN MOVIE...

While it's obvious that the member responding was kidding, he serves a good point. A 14 year old shouldn't be watching this film, let alone with children 2 years younger than he. He even asks for RECCOMENDATIONS for sadistic films!

AS FOR NUDITY:

"Enter the Dragon" Message Boards

questionasker: what kind of nudity is in this movie, i just wanted to know before i buy it.

"Enter the Dragon" is a kung-fu martial arts film known for being somewhat violent and bloody. It was banned in Norway from 1973-2003. In Finland, it was banned in 1973. But, this member doesn't care about the violence, he cares about the nudity. God forbid someone see a woman's breasts, even though they are a natural part of life. A woman and a man having sex is natural. A man is getting slashed across the face and another man getting kicked into a spear are both not.

Also, the same member posts this on the "Straw Dogs" message boards:

"I havent seen this movie yet but i want to. I was just wondering what is bad in it as far as violence and sex and nudity, stuff like that."

Good job. He asks about the violence, what the film is notorious for, next to its rape scenes. But, how come he doesn't care about "Enter the Dragon"'s violence?

"True Romance" Message Boards

questionasker: My parents don't know pretty much anything about this film when I asked them if I was allowed to watch it. Im 15 as of two days ago. When I mentioned that it was rated R, they frowned. (Although I have seen plenty of R flicks) and when I mentioned Patricia Arquette, my dad said no, quote; "Patricia Arquette spends more time with her clothes off than on in her movies.". Okay, so someone tell me..How are the language, violence, and nudity.. compared to... say, From Dusk Till Dawn?

response1: well you should tell your dad that patricia arquette has done very little nudity in movies when compared with such "household" names as Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Heather Graham etc.. as far as nudity is in this movie there is one sex scene but nothing too explicit. the movie *IS* violent but i dont think its as gory as dusk til dawn. lots of swearing in this too.

MY NOTES: It's good that we know the parents' (or at least the father's) input. How come the father will let his son watch a film (From Dusk Til Dawn) that takes place mostly in a strip club with multiple scenes showing frontal nudity for longer than at least 1 1/2 minutes, but he wn't let him see a film with almost 20 seconds of nudity (being True Romance)? I want to say right now that that is not the point of this note, but is a side-note. Now, my real point, he doesn't say a single thing about the violence. If his father let him see the violence in FDTD, surely he could see the film True Romance. While True Romance's violence is realistic and very bloody, there isn't as much as FDTD, granted that in FDTD it is mostly vampires being killed, we still see a fair amount of humans being murdered in multiple grotesque ways with LOTS of bloodshed.

Why do a lot of parents not care about extreme violence, but mind if their children see Janet Jackson's 'slip' on the Super-Bowl?

II. Inappropriate Language on T.V.

In my opinion, I think bad language is not that bad at all. Language was invented for us to use it freely, although we really cannot. Why is it parents don't want their children using words like 'fuck', 'shit', 'cock', and other terms? Many parents let their children say "Darn" as a derivative of "Fuck" or "Shit", or even "weiner" or "thingy" in place of "penis" or "cock". What's the deal with parents and bad language? Parents often use bad language, at stores, on the phone, around friends, even around kids, so telling their children not to use words but then spewing them out like mad is really quite a hypocritical thing. Since when do words like "ass" and "damn" become less subtle than they used to be? Back in 2003-2004, Comedy Central 'bleeped' out the word "God" in the phrase "Goddamn" on the television show "South Park". Now, South Park can say the word multiple times without getting so much as a cringe from the editors. Also, the word "asshole" has gotten less cared about on television. The "hole" used to be edited out, but now the whole word can be used on South Park. The funny thing is that these words are considered inappropriate for using one word and than an expletive, but its the expletive that used to be not 'bleeped'. How come an episode of South Park can say "Shitty" multiple times without censor, but playing a film where someone says it gets the "Shoot" change? Why is "fag" no longer blurred out and bleeped out? Does no one care about the ridicule of homosexuality?
Language is language, but this whole idea of parents being hypocritical over their children's usage of it is insane.

III. Homosexuality

Homosexuality has been often considered taboo, especially by parents. On T.V. shows like "L.A. Law" where two young women exchange a kiss on the cheek as a symbol of their hard work at the office has been censored rapidly, but how come "My Name Is Earl" can make a big poke at homosexuals by calling them "queers"? Why do parents and the media not want homosexuality to exist among our culture? We used to enslave African Americans and call them 'niggers' but then we learned to accept them. In about ten years, will we be able to call homosexuals normal people or will we be calling them "fags", "queers", or "homos"?
So what if two men or two women get together and exchange a relationship? Do some show disgust in the possiblity of sexual favor of a woman and a woman or a man and a man? How come Goerge Bush does not want gay marriage? Could it be some kind of 'pet peeve' like a kid not liking vegetables? The answer is simply this, a lot of parents don't want their children to be lesbians or homosexuals. Why? I don't know.

IV. Prologue

I know I've probably wasted your time, but thank you for reading. Do you agree? What and what not do you want your children to do and why? What is important about bad language that isn't important about violence? Why do parents try to be paranoid for their children? Maybe some day I'll know.