These movie people pride themselves on pushing the envelope.
Can the liberal/libertarian/artistic freedom crowd at least acknowledge that a movie like this would not have been allowed years ago? And that the standards keep changing, and going in the direction of more explicit displays?
In 1969, the movie “Midnight Cowboy” got an “X” rating. It would probably be rated PG-13 today. There was nothing explicit in that movie. There was a lot of bad language, and a sympathetic portrayal of a motorcycle bum type character. By today’s standards, that movie wouldn’t have caused controversy. But by the standards of the day, it was considered bad enough to get that X rating. X was not necessarily supposed to be explicit nudity or sex, it was supposed to be anything not suitable for children.
And as this article points out, the whole concept of movie ratings is dissolving in the age of the DVD. Yes many children will see this in their homes when it comes out on DVD. That’s a whole other debate, about how to shield kids from all this stuff that is produced ine name of “artistic freedom”.
They won’t even have to wait for it to come out on DVD, they’ll watch it at home from a pirated website. Of course, they are probably downloading even far worse.
Neither would a black guy drinking from the same water fountain as a white guy. Your point?
Unfortunately, I cannot grant that. If you look to the past, movies like I Spit on Your Grave and Mother’s Day were available at theaters, probably at more theaters than will show this. Antichrist will be a niche product that few will ever see, but almost certainly will not be as offensive as the likes of Cannibal Holocaust and Caligula, both of which were distributed to theaters in this country. That is not to mention Emanuelle in America, which most people would find incredibly offensive given the scene with the horse. Censorship is significantly stronger now than it was at the height of this country’s decadence, the mid to late 70s and very early 80s. The central difference is the change in theaters entirely. While giving a film like Midnight Cowboy an X rating is interesting, it had little to no effect on its distribution. Now, with most theaters belonging to chains (whereas in the 70s most theaters were independent, and drive-ins were still common), it is difficult to get an NC-17 movie screened in many areas, and any film the MPAA would require to have a harsher rating would have zero possibility of release at ninety percent of the theaters in the country.
I agree with your sentiments, but the bottom line is that whatever will make money will be allowed.
It is MY responsibility to insure my kids don’t see it. At least, not at my house.
Innocence doesn’t last nearly long enough.