Looking back on our censorship attempts

After talking with Matt and discussing what we have gone through I am going to make a few posts that I think we should discuss. One is Matt had suggested we look at the idea of creating rating boards that are "like" minded in order to prevent certain discrepancies. This is based in the fact that when it came to our discussion on the censorship of the rape scene, primarily on the statement of becoming a man after raping/having sex we had two different ideas behind the censorship of the line. One comes from trying to shape society with censorship while the other seems to be based on purely the obscenity of the statement. Do we think that it is more beneficial for a group to get ALL "like" minded individuals to prevent such occurrences, or that it is worth having such conflicts in a group?

Last house on the left(2009) - Violence

Starters, I think the first scene should be entirely cut, it doesn't really move the story along, is violent, and we don't even see all the main characters in it. I think we should take out the scenes of pot smoking, they don't really add anything to the story, and we don't want to show drugs as being ok. Cursing after the crash and blood on his face is ok, I think we should cut the blood splattering on the window however. The beating after the crash is a bit too much, and when the kill mary's friend, We should only show reaction scenes in this beating. The rape scene lasts too long, and is too graphic, we should cut the lines where he tells his son thats how you become a man, as well as ones that imply its a good thing and that he is bad for doing so. we cant cut the rape scene, because I think the scene with her parents is needed to show how one should react. Mary getting shoti think should be soon, as well as the medical procedure. people should know what happens when someone gets shot. the hand in the disposal, and hammer to head should be cut as well as the fire poker scene. cut the scene with the microwave at the end as well.

Last house on the Left (2009) - Language

I think I found myself missing a few of the languages parts just because I wasn't focusing very well. If you have some I don't say please feel free to add them. There is cursing in the opening scene, that I think could be cut out, he says shit in the stitches scene, but I think the context is worthy of a shit and a 13yr old could handle this. there is some cursing in the final chase scenes as well, and I don't think it needs to be there.

Last House

Before I go to post my thoughts on Last House on the Left, what did everyone think about the older version? Do you all think that there will be enough discussion on what we should take out to make it PG-13 to make it a worthwhile version? We could always watch the newer one which, from what I have gathered, is much more violent and may present some more discussion.

Borat Thoughts

Overall, I thought Borat needed a lot of work. Broken down into categories:

Language

Just from initially watching it, I felt that the language was definitely R. There was a lot of use of the words "fuck" "shit" "ass" etc etc. Also, there was a lot of derogatory conversations regarding Jews. For example, is the entire scene about running with the Jews necessary to the plot line? I think that the language is easily fixed. A lot of language that was used, especially swear words, can be removed and still have the humor and still get the point across. Mainly, for a PG-13 movie I do not think any use of "pussy" "bitch" "ho" "nigger" "fuck" "shit" or "pussy" should be allowed (except for the single "fuck" that is allowed in PG-13 movies today.

Nudity

There was actually a lot of nudity involved directly and indirectly in the movie. I feel like a lot of it was more alluded to than being right in your face. There is a lot of male nudity. I agree with Nadia in that the entire scene of the naked wrestling is completely unnecessary and could be removed. Other scenes show Borat's partner near his nether regions but doesn't actually show anything. I do not see this as being bad necessarily for a PG-13 movie. I honestly think that just removing of the naked wrestling would almost be sufficient to put it in the PG-13 category.

Violence

There really wasn't direct violence in Borat however I do feel like there were violent themes, especially towards Jews. Overall I think it is a PG-13 rating the way it is, but perhaps they could try to not be so derogatory toward jews?

Overall Theme: Definitely an R rating but my thoughts on being lowered are touched on above.

Borat: Violence

I dont believe there were any graphic violence scenes, however there are a lot of hidden messages alluding to the idea of violence. Such as Mrs. Jew holding a large butcher knife and the kids kicking the jew egg that was hatched, the introduction of the town rapist, comments on killing terrorists and hanging gays at the rodeo. As well as Bush should drink the blood of Iraqi, and kill the country. Kids were also holding guns with a big smiles on their faces in the beginning of the movie. I would suggest taking out the scene with the kids holding the guns, remove a number of the occurring themes of violence that are alluded to via comments made on topics such as killing terrorists, hanging gays and even engaging in animal cruelty (at the end of the movie, there are men wiping horses while they are laying down on the ground).

What PG-13 means

PG-13 is thus a sterner warning to parents to determine for themselves the attendance in particular of their younger children as they might consider some material not suited for them. Parents, by the rating, are alerted to be very careful about the attendance of their under-teenage children. A PG-13 film is one which, in the view of the Rating Board, leaps beyond the boundaries of the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, or other contents, but does not quite fit within the restricted R category. Any drug use content will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. In effect, the PG-13 cautions parents with more stringency than usual to give special attention to this film before they allow their 12-year olds and younger to attend. If nudity is sexually oriented, the film will generally not be found in the PG-13 category. If violence is too rough or persistent, the film goes into the R (restricted) rating. A film's single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, shall initially require the Rating Board to issue that film at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive must lead the Rating Board to issue a film an R rating, as must even one of these words used in a sexual context. These films can be rated less severely, however, if by a special vote, the Rating Board feels that a lesser rating would more responsibly reflect the opinion of American parents. PG-13 places larger responsibilities on parents for their children's moviegoing. The voluntary rating system is not a surrogate parent, nor should it be. It cannot, and should not, insert itself in family decisions that only parents can, and should, make. Its purpose is to give prescreening advance informational warnings, so that parents can form their own judgments. PG-13 is designed to make these parental decisions easier for films between PG and R.

Borat: Nudity

Nudity in this movie isn't too crazy, however there are some scenes i would definitely do away with if we are going to rate this move as a PG-13. First, the entire hotel scene has a lot of nudity in it that doesn't really seem necessary. It starts off when his producer, Azamat, is masturbating to Pamela Anderson's picture and Borat takes offense to that. The two end up naked before they engage in a full on brawl. When they fight, they are engaging in sexual positions, however are not actually doing the deed. In the Pg-13 guidelines, "If nudity is sexually oriented, the film will generally not be found in the PG-13 category. " Due to the sexual positions and the extended amount of time the two men are naked, i would recommend that this scene be removed from the film altogether.

Another part that i didn't think was appropriate is when Borat shows the picture of his son and him, where his son is naked. His face is directly next to his penis, with the thumbs up. Although it is very funny when he shows an etiquette coach, but is not appropriate as the age of the boy is still young and can be considered child pornography.