So where am I going with this? I just read an article on CNN about a group which is recommending that movies which contain smoking should automatically be rated R. WHAT?!?! You have got to be kidding me! My neighbors smoke on their porches, people smoke while they drive all the time, and people smoke on the street--in clear view of our children! Like it or not, smoking is a part of our lives, and I don't really see how eliminating it from movies is going to miraculously cure underage smoking. I am not recommending that smoking be glamorized in film, but an R-rating? Come on. With all the filth in PG-13 movies, you are going to decide smoking is the worst of it?
Since the way to prevent our children from doing something is to make it earn an R rating, I would propose that the following items be removed from any so-called youth film:
- Sticking gum under tables
- Farting
- Earning less than an A- on any school assignment
- Walking on the grass
- Throwing a recyclable bottle in the trash
- Failing to carpool
- Driving an SUV
- Eating fast food
- Crossing the street without looking both ways
I am sure that I am forgetting many other things that are destroying our children's lives, but lets get real. We can't solve the world's problems by changing the movies people watch. Maybe it is a factor, but why don't we try something significant--like actually spending time with our kids instead of just telling them to watch movies all day.
