THINK OF THE CHILDREN

Parody label on Metallica's Master of Puppets

For media art such as music albums, movies, and video games, a rating or Parental Advisory label has been assigned to the above art forms. These ratings are provided to call attention to parents and advise them on whether the piece of art would be suitable for their child. In certain cases, it has become useless or has produced the opposite effect, as in the case of the “Parental Advisory” label which may entice youth to the material there in. Saying to themselves, “Ooh, what could be so bad about this record? They say sex and a bunch of scary words? Ooh… I’m scared.” The Parental Advisory label is such a joke that it goes unnoticed and is freely sold to youth. The practices of the Recording Industry Association of America does such a lax job of rating these albums that some albums will get flagged but others which are just as profanity ridden gets a free pass. The only weight the label carries is in regards to Wal Mart, who refuses to sell albums with the Parental Advisory sticker and will sell only the edited version of the album. In the case that an edited version is not released, Wal Mart will actually request one, however, many artists have rightfully refused to censor themselves. Stealing a page from George Carlin’s famous bit on “The Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say On Television,” they are simply words. There are literally thousands of words in the English language alone and there are more ways to describe profanities than there are actual dirty words.

This becomes more of a problem when talking about the ratings for motion pictures and video games, as they have designated a rating that should never be viewed by children: NC-17 for motion pictures and AO (Adults Only) for video games. Any movie or game designated with this rating has a stigma attached to them that is degenerate and pornographic. In these cases, movie theatres and stores will not carry such media. In this way, these advisory boards are censoring art and setting the standard for acceptable art. Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body. This small group of people has determined what is acceptable to the general public, and will hide behind the sanity and purity of children to support their claim. Conversely, they have perpetuated the values of the country and have desensitized these children. The most prominent of which is the media’s view of violence and sex. These values differ from country to country, and in this particular case, America has an affinity towards violence and is embarrassed with sex. Notice that movies will have a more mature rating with the level of nudity and sexual content in that piece of media, and video games are graded even harder for such displays. As well, homosexual material is graded much more harshly than heterosexual material. Children become confused on what is natural and what society deems acceptable. On the other hand, violence depicted in media will be given a more mature rating the more it imitates life and depicts blood and gore. In this way, all of the consequence and makes violence more attractive as it simplifies it as good vs. evil.

What is the alternative however? These advisory boards have shared the parents’ responsibility of these parents by previewing such media and deeming it what is acceptable for certain age groups. But in so doing, it has denied certain artists from expressing themselves with very mature and real life experiences. This is not to say that everyone needs to watch all material that all artist has to say, however, do not deny them their voice; especially if it’s because children would be scarred for life should they see it. This is an idea that should be abandoned immediately, as children who are determined enough are going to get a hold of the movies, video games, music, and videos that they want to see. After all, they know how to work a computer and the precious V-chip better than most parents do. These rating boards are not going anywhere, but I strongly urge parents to review the media their children are watching and have a conversation with them, rather than allowing these rating boards and artists doing it for them.