Parental guidance suggested - how the puritans have set the US apart from the world

[footfootfoot]

In another thread about whether or not to let the inch watch Deadpool I think Dana brought up the point about how in the US we are more worried about kids seeing sex than seeing graphic violence.

I was wanting to show them The Commitments and since it has been years since I saw it I checked the ratings to see if it was inappropriate for them. Well, it all depends on what country you are watching it in.
From IMDB they offer the following info:

Rated R for language
Certification:
Argentina:13 / Australia:M / Canada:PG / Finland:K-8 / Germany:12 / Iceland:L / Peru:14 / Portugal:M/12 / Singapore:PG / Spain:13 / Sweden:11 / UK:15 / USA:R

There are a couple of websites that review movies and weigh in with their own family values to rate a movie's appropriateness for kids. One of them is an evangelical christian site - which is frightening in and of itself, and another is not so religious but very very squeaky clean shunshine and rainbow colored unicorn family sensibility. They do let people comment and you will get a range of opinions that will vary widely, so that is somewhat helpful, but what I found most interesting was IMDB's world-wide ratings comparison.

In the US we were fed the "Settled by pilgrims fleeing religious persecution" narrative all through school. When I visited Holland I was told by my hosts that when "the pilgrims" left England they stayed in Holland until they were kicked out for being too intolerant and persecuting of other religions. So, I guess "fleeing religious persecution" was true and it was only my assumption that they were the persecuted and not the persecutors.

George Carlin did a routine about violence vs sex in films and said something along the lines of how instead of a scene where a guy uses a pillow to smother a woman to death, he rather kids see the same guy put the pillow under a woman's hips so they can get a better angle for love making.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The Pilgrims were persecuted, every group persecuted any and all groups they could, which usually was any group smaller and/or weaker. When they got to MA, they continued to do the same shit until the Governor boxed their ears. Then they just kept to themselves and persecuted each other... and the Indians.

[DanaC]

What needs to be borne in mind about that period is that religion and politics were not separate, therefore religious dissent was also political dissent.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Right, after the first governor in New England was appointed by the king, they were elected locally for a long time by a vote of "landed" men. So the powerful stayed in power. Then England changed Kings a couple times and one of them sent a new Governor AND The Church of England. The shit hit the fan, big time, because the church was the King, even more than the Governor he sent.

[footfootfoot]

...and THAT'S why you can't see a movie with tits.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes you can, you just have to develop the courage to let you kids see a movie with tits. They might find it interesting to compare movie tits to the skank hoes they see on the net. You could watch it together naked to illustrate there's nothing wrong with human bodies, we just wear clothes for protection from nature... and cats.