Essay on The MPAA

    The movie ratings system is a system that is owned and operated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). It is intended to inform parents of any objectionable content a particular movie might have. I happen to believe that it does not accomplish its purpose. In this essay I shall explain why I think the ratings system is flawed.

    First off, what are the ratings? They have changed over the years, but the ratings as of today are G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. I believe that the only rating that really accomplish it’s purpose is G, because you know what you get when you see a G-rated movie. The PG rating usually works, the only problem is the PG-13 rating was not invented until 1984, which means that every PG-rated film before that have a lot more objectionable material than PG-rated films now. Besides that even with PG-rated films made after 1984, you’re still not entirely sure about what is in it. Sometimes even with recent PG-rated movies there can be some violent scenes, some rather crude moments and even some foul language. The problem is parents get used to PG movies being as innocent as the Incredibles or Enchanted, that they really don’t realize what you can find in some of these PG movies, especially some of the older ones.

    The PG-13 rating and the R rating have the same problem. They have too much range. Sometimes a PG-13 movie will contain very little objectionable material. Maybe there will be some language, some cartoonish or mild violence, some inappropriate references, or even just contain scenes that would be frightening to young children; but will not have that much else. Other times a PG-13 movie could contain large amounts of brutal violence, pervasive language, obscene and crude talk, or scenes of sexuality. You don’t really know for sure. An R rating can make a parent stop and think, “Is it really a good idea to let my child see this?” However, some parents can get used to PG-13 movies that are fairly harmless and assume all PG-13 movies are like that; and therefore not really pay attention to what they get as long as it isn’t R.

    Which brings me to the R rating. As I said it has the same problem as PG-13. The content of an R starts out as the strong end of PG-13 and morphs from there. In some R-rated movies you can see graphic violence, very strong language, or some very strong sexual content. Sometimes just one of those, sometimes all of those, and sometimes none of those are present in an R-rated movie. The ultimate proof of the ineffectiveness of the R rating is Hostel Part II (just one of many movies like it) In this movie amidst strong pervasive language and graphic torture sequences; This movie has the same rating as Appaloosa, a movie that contains some (PG-13) language and a few people being shot (non-graphically) I think it is obvious that the ratings are not doing the job they are supposed to do.

    And then there is the NC-17 rating. My only real problem with this rating is that they never use it. Think of the movie Hostel Part II and realize there is a rating higher than R, they just didn’t use it. You know why? Because to give a movie an NC-17 rating nowadays is spell out a death sentence for it. Some theaters refuse to show them, some renting stores refuse to rent them to people, and some stores even refuse to sell them. All because of that rating. So studios will do anything (and pay any amount of money) to make sure that doesn’t happen. The meaning that this rating has taken on has completely defeated the purpose of the rating.
 
        Another one of my problems with the ratings PG-13, R, and NC-17 is that they assign an age as mature enough to watch the movie. First of all I already told you about their range. Some of these movies are innocent enough for a 10 year old to watch some of them aren’t even appropriate for the teenagers that they target. Second of all children’s maturity and ability to handle certain things come at different ages for different children. There isn’t a set age for a child to be mature enough to handle a particular movie. And finally, different parents have different standards. While some parents might find Men in Black okay for their 10-year-old, other parents might prefer to wait until the child is 13 or 14. 

    So now you see how truly inefficient and useless this ratings system is. The system is flawed and does not accomplish it’s main purpose, to inform parents of the objectionable material in movies.  Parents should do more research about films instead of just blindly trusting the decisions of the ratings board.          

More Poetry

I'm going to pretend there is deep meaning in this poem I wrote.

Now I must flee as one who is late to a meeting.     
As you sit here in prison, awaiting your death,
remember in the game of life, suicide is cheating.
You must not lose hope, even in your last breath.

Your luck is not good, but you cannot call it bad
It can be neither one since luck does not exist
It is your choice if you want to be happy or sad,
The choice is also yours, whether temptation you resist.

Consider if you will, the words of those who are wise
Do not ignore the teachings of those who have lived long
Neither should you judge their actions according to size
My final wish for you is to recall my wisdom in song.

A conversation with C. S. Lewis

Scene: C. S. Lewis is in the middle of a Barnes and Noble, signing copies of his wildly successful books series, now film franchise, The Chronicles of Narnia. All around him crowd reporters trying to get the latest scoop.

Reporter 1: Mr. Lewis, are you taking questions at this time?
C. S. Lewis: Inquire of me what you will, and I will do my best to satisfy your curiosity.
Reporter 2: What do you think of the films that have been made out of your books.
C. S. Lewis: I believe that as movies they are entertaining, but I believe as adaptations of my novels, each new movie fails even more than the last one to capture the true spirit of my books.
Reporter 3: Mr. Lewis, at this time there is a another immensely popular book series that has also been made into a film franchise out at this time known as the Twilight series. What are your thoughts on this series and it’s various different knock-offs?
C. S. Lewis: The concept is certainly nothing new, taking a creature that has traditionally been considered evil such as a dragon or an ogre, or in this case a vampire, and creating a sympathetic character from it. The story then claims that it only does wicked and evil things because it cannot help itself and really deep down inside it is a lovable creature. This kind of thinking can even be found in the original Frankenstein novel, is a monster that due to neglect and a lack of love commits horrific and gruesome murders. This type of thought arises from people observing their own dark side and the evil nature of the world around them, and attempting to justify and rationalize it. As for the Twilight novels themselves, they provide the subtle romantic notion that is currently delivered to young women everywhere, that even if everyone around you claims that a relationship will not work (Because the man you love has difficulty controlling his primal and violent instincts.) It might work out if you give it a chance. This kind of message is harmful to young women, because it encourages women to stay in abusive and/or unfruitful relationships, because of a false sense of romanticized hope. Hidden in Twilights flowery poetry, and romantic sentiments is a truly awful excuse for a protagonist. When her father and her friends and even the man himself all tell her that their relationship is doomed because of his violent nature and tendencies, and the dangerous group of people that he associates with; She still refuses to accept this and pursues him still. To some it seems romantic, but in reality it is self destructive.  Though there is an abstinence message in the series, it does not excuse the book, for encouraging rebellious, self destructive, and foolish behavior. The fact that the book is well written makes it even more deadly, because it is another way to hide it’s true nature. The film series seem almost humorous in their faithful representation of the book series, but are mostly a sad reflection of our times. It is something of a cultural statement when a man can utter the phrase, “I have never wanted to suck someone’s blood more” and it is viewed as a romantic expression rather than a horrifying statement of homicidal and cannibalistic intent
Reporter 3: So I take it you didn’t like it?
C. S. Lewis: Not particularly

Random poem

Another feeble attempt at poetry. This is what happens when you demand too much of the talent.

Fear not, for I shall save the day indeed.
And you my friend appear to be in need.
Of these words I beg of you to take heed.
Don’t let yourself be overcome by greed.
Even though men may speak of me great ill,
I shall be your fearless leader still.
Some make promises they will never keep.
But I promise to look before I leap.
With me you will never have cause to fear,
I have a never ending supply of beer.
Every single word from me you hear,
will make you want to stand up and cheer.
There are many more things that I could say,
but I shall end with have a pleasant day.

Tech Age

Hmmm, I'd give it a B-. A somewhat coherent collective of thoughts, but spends too much time dwelling on the negative, when there is supposed to be an overall positive message to this essay. I'd tell my past self to rewrite this, but he doesn't listen to me

Tech Age: An Essay on Technology Dependence by Michael Rauser

                Society today has been transformed by the advancement of technology, especially in recent years. From the invention of the computer to creating a music player the size of a quarter, technology has moved in leaps and bounds for the past twenty years. But is technology advancing too quickly? Are new inventions becoming so indispensable that the very idea of several days, let alone weeks, away from them is simply ludicrous to most people? These questions and more we shall explore in today’s essay.

            Convenience and entertainment are the main driving force behind most technology today.  Thanks to the incredible advancements, tasks that used to take hours can be performed in minutes. It is because of this that we expect that kind of speed and efficiency in all areas of our life, even entertainment. Or perhaps I should say especially entertainment.  All the ad campaigns for new computers and internet services always say the same thing: faster. So much time and energy is spent trying to minimize the amount of time and energy spent looking for entertainment.

            Personal privacy is no longer something that is of great importance to people today.  While we can choose which photographs we upload to public web sites like MySpace and what we’ve written on our Twitter and which friend requests we accept on Facebook, it’s impossible to completely safeguard our identity.  Surprisingly, this seems to be something that people are somewhat comfortable with.  People understand the risk of sharing personal information on Facebook or keeping photos that they’d prefer to keep secret on their mobile phone’s camera, but do it regardless.  The freedom that technology permits is more important to them than the potential risk of their secrets becoming common knowledge.  Rational thoughts and common sense seem lost in this age of constant communication.

But despite all this constant connection with other people, kids today are some of the angriest, discontented, and miserable kids in history. Depression, suicide, and shooting sprees are all things that seem to be natural occurrences among today’s youth and yet this generation are the most connected and well off as far as conveniences and entertainment. The reason for this is that electronic connection, despite popular opinion, is no substitute for actual human interaction something becoming more and more rare. In fact it is not uncommon at all to see young children today willingly give up the chance to interact with an actual person in order to text message someone miles away. Even more surprising (but also not rare) is when someone will text message a person who is in the same building as them. However, I am not saying that Technology is solely to blame for this. It does have its part, but the real problem lies with people themselves. As I said before many children today will choose electronic interaction instead of personal face to face interaction all by themselves. With electronic interaction, you cannot create a meaningful and lasting friendship at all; all you can do is find people who have similar interests as yours.

The thing that is most interesting about modern technology is how indispensable it is. Fifteen years ago, there was no such thing as cellphones and now they are considered an essential part of any trip no matter how short. (From five weeks to five minutes) You might tell that I don’t think much of text messaging. First of all it has caused kids to become even lazier in their writing than ever; spelling and grammar are old fashioned things that aren’t necessary anymore. It is also completely pointless. They are holding a phone in their hands! Why not just call their friends instead of sending them indecipherable messages.  It’s the modern equivalent of passing notes. (Just think, only ten years ago kids still used to perform such an old tradition) That's not to say there is no practical application for text messaging, but it is a degrading experience altogether.

Despite the many downsides of modern technology, it is still more useful and convenient than ever. In fact I am even writing this essay on my laptop while I eat lunch. Technology has advanced to a wonderful state and in the future it will continue to become even better than it is today. And just like today new inventions will have their disadvantages. But in the end, life is made much more efficient and enjoyable by the many amazing developments in technology.