Dad, What's A Porno?

[joreth]

http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Movies\20081015\Film-Porno-Ads.xml&cat=entertainment&subcat=movies&pageid=1

There's something just so frightening about sex.  Kevin Smith has made a movie called "Zack And Miri Make A Porno".  It's about a couple of platonic friends who are so deep in debt, they decide to make a porn film to make money.  Now, we all know Kevin Smith's movies.  This is an outrageous comedy, not to be taken seriously, although it probably has some good commentary on our society between the fake tits and queef jokes.

It's a rated-R movie (Kevin Smith must be a big-enough name now, he was actually able to appeal and knock down his NC-17 rating!), so it's not like kids are gonna see it.  They are, however, gonna see the ads if they have any interaction with the world outside.  Controversey is raging over these ads.  They're banned at bus stops and on certain television spots.  Why?  Because kids will notice them and then parents will have to do their job of explaining to kids what it means and what their own moral structures says about it.

One guy was watching a Dodgers game with his son and explaining something to do with baseball that I really don't understand, nor care about, when the game went to commercial and the name of the movie was said.  His son interrupted, asking, "Dad, what's a porno?"  The dad is furious with the network for playing an ad that would make his son aware of the word.

Why is it so difficult for parents to take that opportunity to teach their kids an important lesson?  A simple "it's a movie for grown-ups" would suffice.  A more complex "It's a movie that grown-ups make and the industry that supports it is fraught with drug abuse, harassment, and low self-esteem and mom and I believe it is immoral to participate in this kind of movie" would be even better (whether that's the truth about movies or not, at least the parents can take back some of the control they think they've lost and interject their own moral imperatives while it's still early enough to indoctrinate the kiddies).

Apparently, the original designs for the posters included images of the actors from the film in "suggestive" poses that most places will not accept.  So Smith's new idea was to make stick figures, because he figured no one would find anything "racy" about those.  What happened is that now everyone is up in arms because stick figures apparently attract kids' attention and now they're actually looking at these posters with the word "porno" in them.  Some "experts" are even claiming that the movie encourages kids to think of porn as an "acceptable career choice".

First of all, no it doesn't.  That's just stupid.  It's a comedy and all sorts of calamity will probably befall the actors because other people's pain and humiliation is funny.  The title doesn't tell what happens to them, ultimately, that would give away the ending, so there is no implication that making a porn is the way out of trouble.  It probably causes a fair amount of it in the movie.  It's also rated for adults, not kids, and the kids aren't supposed to ever see it, regardless of how their activities turn out.  The movie isn't "encouraing" or discouraging kids at all since the kids aren't supposed to be watching it.  I suppose American Pie encourages kids to masturbate with their musical instruments and make bets to lose their virginity before graduation?  I suppose Knocked Up "encouraged" kids to make relationships out of one-night stands simply because the girl got, well, knocked up?  Oh, wait, no, the movies don't encourage that, right-wing conservatives do.

Second, it's no less of an "acceptable" career choice than many other degrading, humiliating, and much lower-paying jobs.  Of course, porn has a universal social stigma that other jobs don't, but there are lots of jobs that each individual family looks down upon as "not acceptable".  The porn industry needs regulation and there are lots of flaws with it, to be sure.  But I just don't see how that's really much worse than working for minimum wage when minimum wage is below the poverty level, in hot, stinky, no-respect jobs with no hope of advancement and no medical benefits, other than the attached social stigma.  I'll take porn star over garbage man and McD's employee any day. 

Many people view any entertainment job as "unworthy".  John Denver is a classic case.  His father thought musician was a "sissy" job and refused to speak to him until right up at the end of Denver's life, when, in a desperate attempt to woo the respect of his father, he started doing "manly" things, like flying a plane (his dad was an old military pilot, I think).  My own mother despairs of my choice of careers.  It's not stable and it's "blue collar".  My mother didn't give up her own college education to become a secretary for her entire life to save enough money to put me through private school only to have me take a manual labor job!  Plenty of far-left hippie liberals, when faced with their children confessing dubious jobs or alternate sexualities, have been quoted as saying "as long as you're not a Republican, dear!" 

There are LOTS of jobs that people do not think are worthy for their children, and that's fine.  So talk to you kids to make them understand your own value system. 

Third, banning the ads on the basis of a word that has previously not been legally accepted as a "bad word" (remember the 7 Dirty Words?) is censorship.  It hurts the potential profits of this movie because they cannot advertise their product.  This is exactly what the MPAA rating system does.  I'm not opposed to a method of notifying people of the content before they are exposed to it, but the current rating system has such close ties with the movie industry, that an NC-17 rating will actually hurt profits because certain places will not carry it or advertise for it.  Which is just ridiculous.  If you don't like the movie, don't go see it, but don't prevent others from seeing it if they want to by keeping it hidden so they don't know it's there!  This is flat-out censorship.  The MPAA and the FCC have managed to white-wash our entire society so that no one can express themselves in non-violent manners simply because a handful of people think their own comfort is more important than our freedom of speech.  It is there to protect uncomfortable speech, not comfortable speech.  If you don't like it, change the station.  The posters do not depict activity or words that has been legislated to be outside the realm of "free speech".  There are no pink parts showing and no cussing.  The uproar is over a word that is a legitimate name of an object that is prevalent (and legal) in our society.  That's fucking bullshit.

I hate to break it to ya'll, but there is a big, wide world out there, filled with all sorts of people who have different value systems than yours.  Our own country specifically legislates the protection of other people's value systems (in theory).  So your kids are gonna bump into these other people sooner or later.  Keeping them in the dark about their existence is not the way to protect them.  It leaves them wide open and vulnerable to whatever value system you disagree with because the kids have absolutely no tools with which to deal with exposure to alternate viewpoints.

A graphic, play-by-play description is not necessary to explay what porn is (or gay people, or hookers, or sex shops).  These things can be explained simply, appropriately, and without embarassment, in such a manner as to impart your own value system and to give your children the tools they need to survive interacting with the outside world.

"Dad, what's a porno?"
"It's a movie for grown-ups that some adults like and some adults don't, like your mom and me.  We do not approve of the morals found in those kinds of movies.  Now, back to baseball..."

Comments

[corpsefairy.livejournal.com]

Have you seen "This Movie Is Not Yet Rated"?

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

Yep. Sad story.

[joreth]

Yep, love that movie. Frightening

[terriaminute.livejournal.com]

I have an eleven year old son. I answer his questions. I consider this important! I am giving him tools and weapons for when he faces the world without me (or his dad). I have answered a few embarrassing questions. So? I don't let him watch or play stuff that I think he is too young to understand enough of. Lucky for me, we have a bright, logical child who accepts that what we say no to is for his best interests.

I know, teen-hood is coming. I remain ready, whatever he needs next.