In confidential memos released to a government commission investigating the practices of the movie industry, an alarming trend emerges. According to a recent report in The New York Times, the studios exposed children as young as nine years old to sex-and violence-laced garbage.
Before the release of the sequel to the slasher flick I Know What You Did Last Summer (complete with a hook-wielding Gordon’s fisherman) Columbia/Tri-Star screened it for a slew of youngsters. Of the 500 people exposed to the blood and gore, 100 were between the ages of 9 and 11. An internal memo from the National Research Group to the studio read as follows: “There is evidence to indicate that attendance in the original movie dipped down to the age of 10. Therefore, it seems to make sense to interview 10- to 11- year-olds.” In the end they decided to go even younger.
There is a moral and ethical lapse here of enormous proportions. Playing this logic out, a teenager who gets his hands on a porn video gives producers a de facto license to include that minor in his consumer base. In other words, a few unmonitored kids ignore the industry’s self-imposed ratings system, view material they should not be seeing, and miraculously turn into a licit audience for the film. This means the current ratings system means nothing, not to the kids and certainly not to the film industry.
And Hollywood continues this racket because they are turning a hefty profit on our children and using the cash to buy their way around the rules in Washington. Look at Senator Joe Lieberman and Tipper Gore. Both of these people were once outspoken advocates for children and a cultural renewal in America. They both fought for parental labeling of explicit materials and often challenged the producers of what they considered cultural sewage. Once Al Gore ascended to the vice presidency, Tipper Gore was suddenly mute on such topics. Mr. Lieberman also did an about-face when he ran for veep. The movie industry is filling the Democratic coffers, and it seems not a single Democratic politician is going to bite the hand that feeds him.
Besides, the government has always paid lip service to the ratings system without taking it seriously. Remember President Clinton’s promise to use federal power to enforce the ratings system a few years ago? Posting “We Check ID’s” on the box office window, while allowing kiddies entry to any film of their choice is not enforcement — it’s permissiveness. And it undermines whatever fleeting credibility the ratings system might have had.
To escape serious federal regulation from leaders in Congress, the film industry says it’s finally willing to play ball. Testifying before the Senate late last year, moguls from Sony, Universal, Paramount, and MGM have pledged to stop marketing R-rated films to minors. Sounds good, except for the fact that films deemed educational (by the studios) such as Amistad or Schindler’s List do not count.
The movie moguls’ pledges are filled with wiggle words. For instance, they promise to not “knowingly” include children in screening groups of R-rated productions (what about unknowingly?). Elsewhere they vow to refrain from “inappropriately” marketing films to those under 17. Can one appropriately market these films to children?
Senator John McCain — the chairman of the Senate inquiry into movie practices — recognizes the inherent contradictions. “We’re in a town where we get into interesting discussions about what is is. I don’t understand this language. I think it’s filled with loopholes,” he said.
It is indeed full of loopholes — loopholes designed by the industry to protect itself while it continues to pump more toxins into the minds of the young. With each dose of explicit sex and violence these youngsters become more course, and the culture becomes ever more crude.
To guard what little innocence remains, parents — not the government — need to engage in serious censorship. Parents must control what their children see, hear and experience. These are not trifling entertainments children are soaking in, but powerful images that can reshape their persons inextricably. The industry and the government have shown their inability to protect the young — parents must be their final defense. Then again, this is a course of action I would not “knowingly” suggest.
