Ratings

Last night I went to the video store with the Kids to get a couple of movies to have a fun night of snacking and watching movies. We got pineapple and strawberries and chopped them up and put them on toothpicks. We baked a chocolate cake (Betty Crocker-not as good as Duncan Heinz but the only American mix available). We put Doritos in a bowl and brought out the Coke. I had even bought each Kid a little box of candy. The movies we rented were "The Lion King" (to watch with Guðjón) and "EuroTrip" (for after Guðjón went to bed). I'd seen the first one before and new exactly what kind of syrupy Faux Christian symbolism I had to look forward to. I guess it's a lot better than most Disney movies, but still...why do they ruin them with those damn songs?! Anyway, that movie held no surprises and a good time was had by all.
"EuroTrip" was a different matter altogether. First off, I have to state for the record that I had not seen the movie or any previews for it, not had I heard anything about it from anyone I know. The Girl decided that she wanted that one most of all from the scant selection to be found in our 20 m2 (215 sq. ft.) video shack. She was holding two when she asked for my opinion. One was some typical schmaltzy "love" story, although the story couldn't be further from my idea of true love. (schmaltz er orð sem er stundum notað til að lýsa eitthvað sem er of sætt, eins og til dæmis ljós blá feit kaninaungi með litla loðna eyru og ofstór augu sem heldur á blóm handa þér og er með rauð kin-og eina sem maður vill gera er lemja til dauða með sleggju. Schmaltz er orð úr Þýsku og þýðir það soðin kjúklingafita) The other was a movie called "EuroTrip". Upon looking at the box I thought, "Hmm, it's rated G (leyfd öllum aldurshópum). It'll probably make me at least chuckle here and there. She's seen it and is suggesting it to me so there can't be much that will embarrass her to watch with her father-figure (who LOVES to make fun of any kind of sexual reference while watching a movie with her)." So, I decided to rent it.
We watched the Disney first and that was fine. Then Guðjón went to bed and we refreshed our Doritos bowl and sat down to watch the comedy. I must say that the G rating does NOT hold up to my standards. The movie is a big bowl full of sex smothered in thick prejudice, with some drug references sprinkled on top. Those who know me well know that I am not exactly prudish in my sense of humor. But a in my opinion a movie that features full frontal nudity (albeit a group of 60 year old men), a blow job scene, BDSM hooker scene including a sodomization with a jackhammer like device brandishing 3 dildos, hash brownies, twin siblings (brother and sister) high/drunk on absinthe sucking face, a 10 year old German kid impersonating Hitler, and a group of soccer hooligans as heroes should not be rated G. I just looked it up on the net and found that in the States it's rated R (bönnuð innan 17 ára).
While I thought it was hilarious, I would rather that my daughter didn't watch stuff like that. I mean. I know that sheltering her from the world won't work. But I just think that the ratings systems have gotten a bit lack when my 5 year old could have rented this movie. As the credits started to roll, I sat there wondering at the irony. Here is a movie joking about the misconceptions Americans have for Europe and yet, one of them is explained by the rating on the box. That is, one of the common American misconceptions about Europe (one that was commented on a few days ago by my friend Eyrún) is that everyone over here loves sex and enjoys having it with anyone stems from people's lack of inhibition about nudity. In a way, it's built on truth. But the truth is that Europeans are not that much different from Americans when it comes to sex. There is a bit more freedom here because it's not a taboo to have sex. It's not a taboo to be naked.
It seems to me that some of the people I know in California would agree with the European stance on nudity. But coming from Puritanical New England, I can understand where the prejudice comes from. Normally, I don't count myself as one of those with this opinion that Europeans are a sex-crazed lot with all sorts of unusual desires and such (it seems to me that internet pornography comes from the States). But as I sat watching what was going on in the movie while sitting next to my 12 year old daughter, I became extremely aware of what I was watching. I was suddenly reminded of an article that I saw recently in a newspaper (last week, I think, í DV) where it was reported that movies are offering nothing but bad values. They cited "American Pie" among others as being nothing but a big bowl of sex with drug references and infidelity. When I saw it, I thought, "No kidding!" However, I watched "EuroTrip" with a little kid because the ratings board had told me that, not only was it okay for her, it should be considered a family comedy.

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