Age Ratings/Certificates : A total farce?

[A Raging Emo]

I watched a film called 'True Romance' yesterday. It was by the same man who made Pulp Fiction.

True Romance is an 18, I'm 14 (Turning 15 in september) and I didn't bat an eyelid at some of the horrific violence in that film.

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For those that don't know what it is about, True Romance is about a man called Clearence (Spelling?) who works in a comic book store. His boss hire's a prostitute called Alabama for him as it is his birthday. They fall in love and decide to get married (Yes, after only knowing each other for a night).

Alabama tells Clearance that her Pimp was a complete meanie and was selling one million dollars worth of drugs.

Clearance lies to Alabama and says 'I'm going to get your stuff back from this man'.

Instead of going to get her things back, he kills the man who was cruel towards Alabama, and then steals all fo the drugs to sell to other people.

Alabama and Clearance decide to go on a honey moon to LA, where they can sell the drugs.

Alabama and Clearance slowlyly slip down and down into the dark world of organised crime.

It ends when Clearance and Alabama are about to sell the drugs to a film maker called Lee. They begin the transaction when suddenly a Police SWAT Team breaks down one of the doors and hreatens to shoot Lee's guards if they don't drop their weapons.

While arguing, the Mafia (Who were chasing Clearance and Alabama because they wanted the drugs back) break down anohter door into Lee's apartment. The Police and Mafia start a shoot out.

It ends up with Clearance being shoot and losing his eye.

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Sorry about the Wall 'o' Text.

It was a really good film and a very moving story. I never thought I would see anything as strange as it, though.

I think if somebody can't watch films like that at a younger age (14/15) then they will miss out and lack in certain areas when they become adults.

 

[manaman]

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I think that it's more than fair to say that some 15-year-olds are more mature than some 18 year olds, and, in the absence of any kind of system to test how mature you are, I think the government should just trust people to look after themselves to an extent. Sure, there would be GTA parenting, but there is now.

Good point that the government like rules like these because adults (the voters) like them, whereas kids (no vote) don't. Perhaps under 18s should get the vote? Everyone else has!

No people under 18 should get to vote. I don't even thing people under 22 should get to vote. Two years out living on your own, working, and supporting yourself will mature you more then you probably did the entirety of your life before.

You believe yourself to be mature now, wait until you are ten years out of school, and think back. I can pretty much guarantee you will think you where a dumb shit kid.

*edit*
2. When I began playing games they looked like games, these days they look and feel very realistic, so I question whether a 10 or 12 year old understands that striking someone in the face (as he does in a game) is not going to turn out the same way in the real world. I am sure that there are 10 year olds who grasp the difference but I am equally sure there are those who do not.

Ratings in themselves may be flawed but I also believe that children should be protected from content that they are not ready for, I am sure some parents dont know what their child is ready for or some children and young adults feel they are being strangled by restrictions, but I believe that is a small price to safeguard the sanity and healthy view on life of children not as grounded or mature as you.

I wrote about the same thing, with many more words. This guy said it better, so screw what I wrote, I am stealing his words.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Most parents just ignore the age restrictions anyway. Mine let me see the first X-Men movie when I was 10. Not the most adventurous I'll admit, but what about all those four year olds you see playing Halo?

 

[Akilles79]

Age ratings have always been debated and some simply ignore them, I personally plan to ignore most ratings, since I plan to try out most materials my son gets his hands on (games and movies) I will decide when he is mature enough for what. I guess age ratings are for parents who care and cant do as I will do. As for 4 year olds playing halo, I wont let my son play halo at 4, unless he demonstrates an understanding of what it is about. The only people that anyone can comment on is themselves and their own family, generalising in a broader way will always end up wronging someone.

 

[elitecrewer]

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No people under 18 should get to vote. I don't even thing people under 22 should get to vote. Two years out living on your own, working, and supporting yourself will mature you more then you probably did the entirety of your life before.

You believe yourself to be mature now, wait until you are ten years out of school, and think back. I can pretty much guarantee you will think you where a dumb shit kid.

I wouldn't seriously suggest that under 18s get the vote -> half of us are morons (and I don't plan to vote anyway, but that's a different issue). As for thinking that I'm a dumb shit kid in 10 years, it's undoubtedly true... Though I would suggest a dumb shit kid who *can* handle a few 18s!

 

[cyce3]

Personally i think ratings are kind of stupid, and have been designed as there popular with parents, as it means they don't have to think about whether to allow their kids to play/watch certain things.

 

[manaman]

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nip

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No people under 18 should get to vote. I don't even thing people under 22 should get to vote. Two years out living on your own, working, and supporting yourself will mature you more then you probably did the entirety of your life before.

You believe yourself to be mature now, wait until you are ten years out of school, and think back. I can pretty much guarantee you will think you where a dumb shit kid.

I wouldn't seriously suggest that under 18s get the vote -> half of us are morons (and I don't plan to vote anyway, but that's a different issue). As for thinking that I'm a dumb shit kid in 10 years, it's undoubtedly true... Though I would suggest a dumb shit kid who *can* handle a few 18s!

Sorry I thought about it afterwards and it seemed to imply I was calling you a dumb shit kid. I didn't mean to do that, I was using the explicative to lend weight to my argument.

 

[messy]

And it all falls down when you can buy games over the internet since there's no way of checking your age. Plus you can just go through a parents debit/credit card if you don't have one yourself. I think the age thing should be a choice for parents to decide on, my parents never had much problem with violence etc. I saw pulp fiction at 14 with my dad and I turned out fine. I personally think it should be horror films that should be more restricted because I had a few bad nights seeing a few horror films (wont say which ones unless its common opinion they're not that scary)

 

[Halceon]

Ratings are there for a very good reason - they tell us the basic gist of the content. Although i would love to see a system with an I/A rating for Immature/Adult. That's for stuff that deals with "adult" themes like nudity, violence, drug use and atrocity, but does so in an immature manner. Carmageddon would be the poster child for this.

 

[Kirra]

In Estonia no one cares about age ratings. A six-year old could buy a game for 18+, the same goes for movies.

 

[Lexodus]

I talked to my parents about this a while ago. They were absolutely evil when it comes to ratings. If something is higher than my age (like a 16+ game, which is kinda fuckin' stupid), there was NO way at all of me seeing/playing it. They wouldn't even check things to see if it merited its certificate, which most don't anymore. I've actually managed to get them to screen things before I see it, and sometimes I just don't tell them I've seen/played it, because I know what the reaction would be, no matter what the topic or message contained within was. I mean, my mum still doesn't like me watching/playing 15s even though I'm going to be sixteen (with all that entails) in about 2 months.