Getting on my soapbox...

OK, so I usually don't rant and rave or philosophize on here much. So just be warned that I'm about to state some of my own opinions about things and you may not like me so much after discovering what I really think. This post was partly inspired by Edgy's promotion of the website Kids in Mind, as well as a recent article in the New York Times. The article discussed a small town in Missouri that recently ran into trouble because of a production by the high school of the musical Grease. A few people (3) in the community complained about the musical, the superintendent of schools asked them not to show it again, and now the drama teacher is worried that she's going to get fired and doesn't know what else is appropriate to show. For me, the most interesting thing about the whole situation was the fact that the next play the high schoolers were expected to put on was changed from The Crucible to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Now that is weird. Here are some things about this that I find disturbing:

1. Three people, two of whom had not even gone to the play, were able to convince the entire administration of the school district that the students were wrong and that the teacher was corrupting the morals of the students. Now, I don't think that Grease is the best musical ever, and definitely not the most moral one out there, but they were objecting to a few of the characters pretending to smoke and a scene where girls are wearing pajamas. And the majority of people complaining were only acting on what they had heard from other people about the play, not what they themselves had seen. Also, as the drama teacher herself pointed out, there have been no guidelines given on what is "appropriate" or not. Right now the policy seems to be that if one person denounces something, it must be evil and condemned.
2. Of course, I just recommended a website that will help you get a good idea of what is in a movie before you go see it, so you don't have to see it yourself. And I do think that it's OK to decide not to see a movie because you object to things in it. But, what that means is that I choose for myself not to go see something and I don't go running around that no one else should see it too. I also feel annoyed with the school superintendent, because he never saw the play in question and doesn't know what it's about either. Also, he admits that he only canceled The Crucible because someone had told him that it was "about adultery". He hasn't read it or seen it performed and has no idea how the subject matter is treated. Heck, you could even say that the Bible is "about sin" if you wanted to.
3. Also, I find it ridiculous that they were willing to replace The Crucible with A Midsummer Night's Dream and make everyone happy. To me, that just goes along with the fallacy that everything "old" and "classic" is happy and clean and morally upright, and everything "modern" is corrupt. Um, I just read a 16th century novella that had a plot straight out of Melrose Place, where some girl was cheating on her boyfriend, so he started cheating on her with a slave, and then he killed her lover and raped her, so she disguised herself and became his servant, etc...

So, yeah, I guess where this was going is that I think that people should be informed consumers and that we shouldn't assume that because 1 or 2 people are morally opposed to something we should be outraged too. I'd be feeling horrible if I were that poor drama teacher. Especially because all the hysteria over pajama parties feels strangely like something out of The Crucible.

I don't go by movie ratings very much, and I generally try to figure out what is going to be in a movie before I watch it, especially if the rating is R. I don't like graphic violence, and I really don't want to hear tons of profanity either. Also, I feel that while outward content like sex and violence does affect my opinion of a movie, I also want to look at the message as well. I don't usually value one over the other, but I'm usually willing to tolerate a little more heavy content if I feel like it's worth it. On the other hand, if a movie is trying to say something good but does it in an offensive way, I still think that's not something I want to watch.

This also explains why I'm so picky about kids movies and hate most of them. Even if something is rated G, that doesn't mean that it's preaching a good message to our kids. They may not be able to consciously articulate that Jasmine is just a bimbo or that Ariel is just another repressed woman who has to change herself fundamentally and deny her family in order to keep her man, but I don't want them to watch messages like that over and over. It really bothers me when so many parents reflexively buy every kids movie that comes out or pack up their kids to go to the newest release in the theater without investigating what the content and message are. Also, kids really shouldn't have that much screen time. It's not good for them. S-Boogie's brain cells don't need to have 90 minutes of television inflicted upon them every day.

And, I will add the final disclaimer that I am really a hypocrite. I'm not very good at only watching morally uplifting entertainment. S-Boogie sometimes watches The Simpsons with us, and I will admit that the content is way to grown up for her (although some episodes really do have better messages than most Disney movies, and a lot less violence). One of my favorite movies ever is Out of Africa, which makes adultery look very, very nice (mmm, Robert Redford on safari...) But, those are my ideals and I do wish that I lived up to them more. I hope that someday S-Boogie thanks me, and doesn't turn into a nutcase who thinks that high school students shouldn't sing in their pajamas.