Home Politics & Debate
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

Do YOU think there should be age ratings?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I think that age ratings are pointless, because everbody watches films, plays games etc. over there age ratings. I'm only 13 and my Mum doesn't know it but I've seen more films than she can imagine. Hallowe'en 2,3,4,H20, Idle hands, (rent it, it's this cool gory comedy about a man with a killer hand. It's also got Seth Green in it.) Nightmare on Elm street all of em', Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, the list goes on and on. Even my Dad lets me watch 18s! It's also pointless because films come on late at night that you could easily stay up to watch. I don't love violence, but you have to admit it makes films much better!

White men can't rap

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    you have a point, if a film contains strong sexual content then it's an 18, but the age for consent of sex is 16. You can do it, but you can't watch it. Porn films have huge restrictions as well, yet it's not illegal to go out and bonk every bloke or bird till you're shagged out.
    And as for violence, it's like saying "this looks very real and you aren't old enough to watch it because you haven't matured enough yet".
    The truth is that todays kids are harder and more streetwise than ever.

    IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE WORD...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by ~*LADY LIBERTY*~:
    you have a point, if a film contains strong sexual content then it's an 18, but the age for consent of sex is 16. You can do it, but you can't watch it. Porn films have huge restrictions as well, yet it's not illegal to go out and bonk every bloke or bird till you're shagged out.
    And as for violence, it's like saying "this looks very real and you aren't old enough to watch it because you haven't matured enough yet".
    The truth is that todays kids are harder and more streetwise than ever.



    This is my point, im havin sex at da mo (im 17) but for sum reason im not aloud to watch porn movies. Point?

    And I train in Tae KwonDo but im not aloud to see some of the very stuff i use.....d'uh?

    <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/confused.gif"&gt;


  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You're having sex and typing a post? Skilful man. IMNVS of U,

    Work that one out.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hqate to say but I agree with age limits, not soo much saying that young ppl shouldn't watch it, but it's more a restriciton, making it more difficult..
    Some kids r sensitive n movies like the Exorcist n other shit could fuck em up..

    As I c age limits, they're put in place for real young ppl... 18's should be allowed for ppl 14+ 15 for 11+ n 12 for 8+...
    Some kids fair enuff should b allowed to watch stuff but other kids really could b affected bad by it
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think there should be a guide NOT a restriction. If you don't put ages on films then it would make it more difficult to find a suitable film for your child! A grandparent may pick up a cartoon porno type film for the grandchild not knowing the content is pornograpic.

    Having an age on the box makes it easier. But I think it should just be a guide!

    I don't think under 16's should be allowed to watch porn.

    Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think in effect what we have at the moment _does_ amount to a guide - you don't see virtually anyone even in certain insane tabloids trying to campaign for a crackdown on late night TV watching by children or similar, do you? Many parents use the way the system works to try and protect their children; everyone interprets it though according to their own values.

    I think the fact that the age ratings make it difficult for children / young teenagers to buy or see potentially dangerous material (to their subconcious or their unformed opinions) is a good thing because most people, despite feeling they know what's good for them by the time they're 10 or 11 (I did), generally don't.

    The system just helps moderate things, it's not like it's some big brother thing persecuting you if you break the rules.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by JB:


    I think the fact that the age ratings make it difficult for children / young teenagers to buy or see potentially dangerous material (to their subconcious or their unformed opinions) is a good thing because most people, despite feeling they know what's good for them by the time they're 10 or 11 (I did), generally don't.


    I agree with you. When I was young and I used to have sleepovers we always used to get my mum to get us scary films like childsplay (they were scary at the time anyway) and then for days afterwards I would shit myself (not literally) when I was going to sleep just in case one of my teccys came to life and tried killing me.

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Spirit:
    ... for days afterwards I would shit myself (not literally) when I was going to sleep just in case one of my teccys came to life and tried killing me.

    I know lots of other people that sort of thing's happened to (my sister saw Psycho at someone else's house when she was 10 or 11 and she had nightmares for weeks/months).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by JB:
    I know lots of other people that sort of thing's happened to (my sister saw Psycho at someone else's house when she was 10 or 11 and she had nightmares for weeks/months).

    My dad put a Nightmare on Elm dtreet on when I was about 5. I had nightmares for months and couldn't sleep properly for a month or so cause I thought Freddy would get me if I slept.

    My dad told my mum that he thought I was too young to understand what was going on and I wouldn't get upset by it. B****cks



    The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I am strongly against censorship, but firmly beleive that classification is a good thing.

    I think the Uc, U and PG ratings are good,
    but the 12, 15 & 18 are a very poor system

    The problem is quite complicated though. At what point does one become "responsible"

    perhaps there should be termly tests for maturity (every 3 years for people outside the education system?), the results being recorded on your govenrment Identity card, and this being used to govern which films you can see, what drugs you can buy, who you can sleep with, if you can miss a dentist appointment
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hey folks =]

    Well, I tried to watch Chucky(Don't remember if there was something more, I've always referred to it as the horror-doll %£ ) when I was 5, it was enough, I can't count the days I couldn't sleep properly because of it.

    But it's true that kids are more and more seeing through this, they could possibly lover the ages, but somewhere the lines got to be drawn. I'm not sure where but it's got to be there imo =]
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well most people seem to agree that kids get to see movies that are too scary for them. Some people find that scary movies stop scaring them so much and that they get used to / enjoy the violence etc. (Fine up to a point, but anyone who enjoys seeing someone stabbed to death / cut in half etc worries me a bit!) but surely making children 'hard' like this is a bad thing because it stops them minding so much when horrific things happen in real life.

    Do you all think this means that parents are failing to protect their children properly?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    GUess what peeps, now dont take the piss out of me for this, but, I took my cousins who are 4 to go and see tarzan at the pictures (the disney one) I cried my eyes out at parts of it and I cry my eyes out if I watch my girl so maybe I shouldnt watch anything at all, even Us and PGs upset me, or maybe when it comes down to it Im just a big softy at heart.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Spirit:
    GUess what peeps, now dont take the piss out of me for this, but, I took my cousins who are 4 to go and see tarzan at the pictures (the disney one) I cried my eyes out at parts of it and I cry my eyes out if I watch my girl so maybe I shouldnt watch anything at all, even Us and PGs upset me, or maybe when it comes down to it Im just a big softy at heart.

    I went see Bambi at the cinemas a long time ago and cried in that he he. I got tearful when I watched Schindlers list!



    The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The certification of films can be a bit odd at times. American Beauty was an 18 simply because it poortrayed cannabis use without the usual moralising anit-drugs bullshit.

    I agree that the age-limits shouldn't be cast in stone, but more for guidance. What is realy scary and disturbing to one person won't affect another person at all. (Tho I think the parent who showed their 5 year old A Nightmare On Elm Street is a moron. That's tantamount to child abuse in my book.)
    I started watching horror films when I was about 10 and very few caused any distress. But I think I am quite capable of telling fantasy from reality. In horror films I've seen really gross sfx moments, head splatters etc. but I know they aren't real. The ones that (should) really make you think are things like Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, The Killing Fields (a fantastic film by the way). Personally the images I find most disturbing tend to be in news programmes. That footage of the kid in Ramallah getting shot by the Isrealis is the stuff of real nightmares - because it's REAL. No-one shouted 'Cut!' Our view is sanitised, we see fictional death all the time but it's very rare to see a real death (thankfully). It's the inability of people to differentiate which is the most worrying.
    I grew up watching war films, Saving Private Ryan was the first one I saw which gave an inkling of how truly terrifying, bloody and unpleasant combat must actually be.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by grinreaper:
    The certification of films can be a bit odd at times...

    Yeah, anyone seen Bullworth? The only reason to make that an 18 is that it criticises American politics and portrays it as corrupt and morally bankrupt.
    ...
    But I think I am quite capable of telling fantasy from reality. In horror films I've seen really gross sfx moments, head splatters etc. but I know they aren't real.

    <snip/>

    It's the inability of people to differentiate which is the most worrying.

    You just pointed out the problem I worry about - I'm not sure everyone subconciously has that distinction in there.

    The ones that (should) really make you think are things like Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, The Killing Fields (a fantastic film by the way).

    I actually thought SPR and SL were a bit over commercialised and over dramatised, playing a to a mass audience wanting simplicity and a bit too much. I thought Thin Red Line was better than SPR, and I find that some of the Vietnam films affect me far more (Deerhunter is pretty depressing).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Strangely enuff just of the point a bit But i smoked crack b4 watching an 18 movie. kinda weid system. smoked crack b 4 I got drunk for the first time as well thinking bout it... kinda stupid really
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The point is not so much the force of the age ratings, but the lack of enforcement to prevent the wrong things getting into the hands of a minor. Remember Jamie Bulger ? he was killed by 2 10 year olds who thought it'd be cool to copy what we saw.

    As Some of you know following my time in the priory I spent a couple of days in my nhs hospital, the only bed availble was in the secure ward (lock up) I met this guy who was the same age as me, since he was 16 he'd been in secure units because he went schizo having seen a snuff movie no -one should ever have been subjected to shit like that, but let alone a minor.

    the ratings work in theory, just the enforcement nedds to be reviewed

    Luka
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by LUKA:
    ...
    he went schizo having seen a snuff movie no -one should ever have been subjected to shit like that, but let alone a minor.

    the ratings work in theory, just the enforcement nedds to be reviewed

    How did he manage to see it? The problem is, most of the time the children are only too eager to watch new, 'adult' things, and the parents often don't protect them sufficiently.

    How do you think the system should be enforced? Snuff movies are 100% illegal already, and the police would investigate AFAIK if they found one. Apart from that, do you think people who buy / hire / allow minors to watch videos they shouldn't should recieve sentences and be prosecuted more aggressively? This takes money that isn't really available... I can't see any government ever diverting money away from other public services to prosecute people who let their children watch 18 films.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by grinreaper:
    The certification of films can be a bit odd at times. American Beauty was an 18 simply because it poortrayed cannabis use without the usual moralising anit-drugs bullshit.

    I checked this out on imdb and it is an 18 (i always thought it was a 15) but anyway, the same film in france is rated at a U. Now, i dunno much about french film ratings but a U there is the same as a U here. Has anyone seen the french version? Is it the same? I just cant get how the same film can be 18 here and a U across the channel.


    Respect
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by city_boy:
    I just cant get how the same film can be 18 here and a U across the channel.

    In some parts of America "Life of Brian" got an equivalent of an 18
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think that there should be age restrictions but definately not censorship, i hate the fact that parts how to be cut out of films just because those boring old bastards up at the BBFC think there's something 'untasteful' about a man having his teeth cleaned for him with a chainsaw.

    Films should be uncut but still have an age rating, there are a lot of kids who are hardened up to this type of thing now but technology makes a difference too. Lets face it no one's really hardcore any more if they say 'i watched hellraiser last night' because it's all just too out of date, but when i first watched saving private ryan that definately had a big effect on me (yeah maybe i'm just a wuss <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/smile.gif"&gt; ) because it makes you think that you're actually there, i mean that was pretty gruesome stuff, but again it got cut, missed out on a few severed heads and things like that. i hate that!!

    So just in order to cut it short, censorship can bugger off, age restriction is a good idea but the BBFC need to see that we are mature enough to see a lot more nowadays

    This Is A Public Warning: Monkeys can be harmful if swallowed in large quantities
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i dont think there should be age ratings coz there is no point coz most parents buy older videos 4 there kids which aint there age rate.
    my brother is only 8 and has seen most the horrors and my dad buys him videos which r like 15-18.
    age rate 4 smoking aint working 2 much either.
    there never gonna be able 2 stop uderaged kids buying fags, i think it should be aloud coz wen kids get cancer it will be there own fault 4 not listening 2 grown ups!
    i sound like a twat my self!

    basicly age limits and co r all a loada bollocks!
Sign In or Register to comment.