R Rated Movies
Being raised LDS, viewing R rated movies was discouraged in my family, but not for some of my LDS friends. Recently, several of my friends and their parents have commented on how incredible the movie, American Sniper, was. It posed an interesting debate in my mind of why it is or is not okay to watch rated R movies. I am tempted to see it because of the reviews it has been getting, but I personally don't think I could sit through 100 something f words. I will admit I have seen three R rated movies, the Patriot, Slumdog Millionaire, and Bridesmaids, but I have never seen them all the way through. I would catch edited clips of them on tv and flip back every once in a while to watch them. I believe that there are several moments in R rated movies that can be hilarious, powerful, or uplifting. I've heard people say that they don't look at the rating as much as they do the content of the movie. I personally have never looked up the content of an R rated movie and thought, ya I'll go see that. I also find it interesting that most movies nominated for Academy Awards/ Oscars are usually rated R. I honestly don't know how reliable the rating system is; there are some PG-13 movies I won't even watch. I do believe that people perhaps have different sensitivities to media. I don't think I could sit through more than four or five f words or a lot of violence, but maybe others have different thresholds for certain things. Because it can be a grey area, I think it makes for an interesting thinking exercise. What are the reasons behind our choices, whether we choose to view certain media or not?
Our bishop talked about this very thing today while he was closing the meeting. He talked about the rating system and how the most things on netflix, for adult date night, are rated R. We all agree that we need to have our own rating system. But, I think that we can first judge a movie by the rating system issued by a motion picture committee designed to rate it. Then we can research the PG13 and PG movies for ourselves to see if they are appropriate. I do not watch R rated movies because a prophet said not to. It was quite a while ago. President ET Benson told us in an April 1986 General Conference. That was a big turn at that point. Up until then, there was no official standing on R rated movies. It was so serious that I remember being asked if I viewed R rated movies in a temple recommend interview.
ReplyDeleteI have seen many of my friends post about American Sniper as well, so this issue has been on my mind lately. Just this morning, my husband (who loves technology and doesn't think media affects us too much), said he was re-examining some of the shows that he has watched lately. (Disclaimer: He doesn't watch any awful shows!) He admitted that he felt like he had been somewhat desensitized and that he would not have watched a few of his current shows just last year. No matter the rating, I think it is always important to consider what it makes us think, feel, and do.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I've seen hundreds of R-rated movies. Growing up, it wasn't something I noticed or cared about; watching R-rated movies was normal. Recently, my husband and I had a similar conversation about R-rated movies and decided that we would be firm in avoiding them. While we recognize that some pg-13 movies are also inappropriate to view, we determined that not only would we steer away from R-rated films, but also be smart while watching those rated below an R. Now, don't get me wrong, the movie Imaginary Heroes, rated R, is by far my all-time favorite movie, and there are a lot of other R rated films that I love and miss watching. But, for me, there just came a point where I realized that a strict cut-off would help me personally. Whether others watch rated-R movies is up to them, and I try not to be judgmental, and to recognize that there is typically beauty and filth in most things we watch regardless of the rating.
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