Don’t look Ethel!!!
One of the few things I don’t like about movies is trying to find ones that I want to watch. I’m fairly picky because the majority of films made today substitute profanity for actual dialogue. In other words they can’t think of a good line in a given situation, so they just drop an f-bomb in. Or they need to add another 3 minutes to the movie so they add a scene where the lead actress shows off, as the English say, her naughty bits. And if you want that in your movies, fine. I’m not criticizing. No, really. I’m cool. Just know that you won’t see it on the TV in my home. Why? 1 - I don’t need that. Real life gives me enough foul language to hear & my wife is the only woman I need to ’see’. 2 - I don’t want my kids hearing or seeing it. 3 - It’s either laziness or trying to get more box office. Either way, I ain’t biting. 4 - John Wayne never had to curse or hang out with bare beauties. Why do we need it now?
In reality the answer to #4 is that we don’t have any more actors like John Wayne. So I’ll give you that. But because of the other three, it’s almost impossible to walk into a video store blindly & find a movie that I want to watch. The Motion Picture Association of America ratings system is no help because it appears to constantly be in flux & is arbitrarily being bent for certain films. I’ve seen R rated films from the late 80s early 90s that are much cleaner that many of today’s PG-13 films. Luckily, I’m not alone in wanting to avoid these things and I’ve found some resources to help me in my quest for quality, clean movies.
Kids-In-Mind uses a 3 part ratings ratings system to assess the content of each film. Sex & nudity/violence & gore/profanity each given a 0-10 rating. 0 being the least, 10 being the most. So when you find a movie on their website, the rating will look like this…
10,000 B.C. - 3.7.1
3 being the sex & nudity rating, 7 the violence & gore, etc. Clicking on the link for a given film brings you to a more detailed listing of each of the ratings categories as well as other areas that might be a concern. It’s a good overall system, but the ratings can fluctuate some & it’s good to read some details to familiarize yourself with what the levels mean. With a little knowledge of the sight, Kids-In-Mind gives you a quick, easy idea of the content of a movie.
If you are looking for a detailed description of what you might run into with a film, this is the sight to go to. Screen It rates each movie in 15 different areas such as Alcohol/Drugs, Guns/Weapons, Imitative Behavior, & others. The categories are given ratings rating from ‘None’ & ‘Mild’ to ‘Heavy’ & ‘Extreme’. A typical review can be viewed by clicking the link below.
Penelope(PG) (2008) (Christina Ricci, James McAvoy)
Detail relating to each category is given so you can make your own determination on the content. In addition to the ratings, a summary of the plot, listing of the casts & roles they play, and a parental overview is given. Again, the ratings do have a degree of subjectivity to them, but are fairly reliable once you become familiar with them.
Much more in depth than Kids-In-Mind, Screen It! is for people doing full research on what they want to see. But if you’re wanting to make a quick trip to the video store, you can arm yourself in a very short time by clicking over to Kids-In-Mind. I use both & recommend both for anyone who wants to know what you’re looking for when you go looking for a movie & not depend on the kid behind the counter for suggestions.