Sunday, February 21, 2016

The Merc with the Shut-Your-Mouth

My wife and I went and saw Deadpool at the local theater the other day. First off, that was a great ride of a movie. Lots of action, humor, and visual . . . uh . . stimulation? Okay - it was high on the scale when it came to nudity and violence. In fact, it was what is known in movie parlance as a "hard R".

We walked into the theater knowing it was an R-rated flick. We were ready for it. Though, we were sure there were some who walked OUT of the theater very uncomfortable. You see, there were quite a few small children (along with what looked like parents) in the theater. We did overhear one father tell his kid prior to entering that he was surprised that it was rated R, but since they had already bought the tickets . . .

It's not like the rating for the film was hid from the public. But I think that many brought their kids because of it being a superhero movie. You know, those funny Guardians of the Galaxy, or "got no strings on me" Avengers. Apparently, even though most of us had never even heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy prior to the movie, Deadpool was a known entity in the comic book universe. The alternate title of the movie was "X-Men Origins: Deadpool". And I'm glad that the production studio kept it true to the character's . . . uh . . . character. Deadpool, whose nickname is the "Merc with the Mouth", never took himself too seriously. He KNOWS he's in a movie (like he KNOWS he's in a comic book) - constantly breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience. And he's quite violent - just like the comic.

So I had to wonder, with all of the parents with kids in the theater, what exactly IS the purpose of the movie rating system anyways?

And then I figured it out.

The purpose of the movie rating system is to have a way of keeping adults from accidentally finding themselves in a G-rated flick. The only expected "Thumper" is a topless dancer, and not a fuzzy bunny in "Bambi". Gotta protect our sensitivities, after all!

©Emittravel 2016

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