European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse By Laura m Answerus new York times Hon people who now have children were children. There was no t criminal or and no dead Kennedy no mention of condoms on n looms and no video Casselles on the a Sullivan show the rolling Slones had la change the lyrics or lets spend he mrja together. Roman catholics Mot 30 can remember when the legion of decency could rate a movie condemned Lor the Cul of a neckline. Now thai raunch iness is everywhere parents arc seeking ways to Monitor the flow in mini Jorj and videotapes on television and Rinard albums. But aside from Chr Lill Industry s rulings a d gleanings irom reviews they have Little guidance More and morn parents around a United slates Laid in Recert interviews. Hey screen wms themselves Ollen seeing and hearing More than they want. It hero s a movie that s questionable. I watch in 1irs said Edward a Butler an artist in new York who spends most Friday nights wakening videotapes with his Ifa his 14-year-old son and 13-year old daughter it s very embarrassing to watch a movie trial s supposed to be an action movie and turns out to have a nude love scene. I d rather sit twice through a Chuck Nonis movie than go through som bling the problem is compounded by children s Al traction Lothe repellent. Butler said thai when his daughter went to the video Filore alone she brought Home a Apo about Santa Claus slicing people Sally Mcelroy of Washington mentioned some local radio disk jockeys they la inc Islic and sexist and some of them arc she said. The kids like to hear kind of evilness As my child says " 01 course what is merely tasteless to some is unspeakable to others. Bui wherever they draw their lines parents said that explicit sex is worrisome that violence is More worrisome and that any combination of 1h� two is worse than he sum of is parts. The Ino Tensive they added is hard la find you re just looking far something that in t going to Hurt so you re coming a from the wrong direction said Susan Cooke Kil Tredgo of Middlesex it who has live children the 12-year-old generation has grown up with movies that accomplish Little More than insuring them to violence and insensitivity it s a violent whodunit special Elleris the Resul i she said is that kids Are much More Tough shelled than i Aquila Kasny a Secretary who lives in Manhattan win her is year old son. Agreed. Thea ene Ratton has seen so much violence that it lakes a great Deal to move she said. I wish our kids were still soft but our kids Are not Richard d. Helfner chairman of the Board thai Mes films for the motion picture association of America said violence has eclipsed sex As a parental concern. Parents arc not As a copling of violence As i hey were 20 years ago he said violence is a greater threat to a family than a glance at a the eight member Board screens More than 350 films a year watching each for violence nudity and sexual explicitness. For parents concerned about what children see and hear drug use and offensive language. Members Down from outside the Industry Are parents who Are asked to make a Parent s judgment on what they see. They then assign a rating from g for everybody to x no one under 17 admitted. According to a nationwide poll Laken last summer by the opinion research corp of Princeton n j., 95 percent of parents with children under 16 Aie aware of the rating system. Seventy three pc cell said they Lound the ratings very useful or fairly the rest said they were not very the pg-13 rating is meant to advise parents that the film May nol be appropriate Tor youngsters in the pc teen cars. It was introduced in 19b4 to help Chart the oceans Between pm parental guidance suggested and r those under 17 nol admitted unless accompanied by 3 Parent. Bui Many parents express puzzlement Over Trie ambiguous Al which applies to More than 60 percent of All rated films. From the breakfast club to a c dorm tic of dripped blood. They could devise a system to of pain to parents what is involved said Kasey is it violence profanity sexual encounters or just nudity my Sot does no care about a single naked body and neither do i but i gel worried about two naked bodies mating love to each by Usa Proa Jack Valenti president of lha association said he had received suggestions or More specific ratings but planned to retain the five tier system. The More you try to get the Sysler to do. The More you Burden it he said and after a while in begins 10 stagger most parents said the used the ratings As a starting Point and then applied their own criteria. Penny Clark a Philadelphia Ravel agent said she permitted her son to watch some a rated movies and not others. I know his 10-year-old mind could t possibly understand a movie Lika River s Edge or kiss of the spider she said. But at the video store Many cassette jackets do no list ratings. A few films lose their ratings when producers restore footage that was sacrificed to gain an r rating. More olten the producer never obtained a rating which is necessary As a practical Mailer Lor distribution in mainstream Heaters but is not compulsory. Or the my was made just Lor the Home video Market. Illinois Georgia Maryland and Tennessee require that video cassette packages carry ratings. Similar legislation has been inked used in at Leas 10 other slates including new York and new Jersey the Laws do nol apply to films thai never went Bette the ratings Board however those films. Consisting largely of horror dims alarm parents the most. Ii you re going to make a Quick Fie. Rip Oft movie you Don l have to get a rating because you Don l have Hal much Money invested in said Jenny Pomeroy of 8ronvjlle. N.y., who Heads an Efton by Iho Junior league to have such films clearly labelled All you need is a thousand people to rent ii in a video Industry on Tho number of unrated videos Are scarce. John Gallrey editor of video business Magazine in new York estimated thai Only 30 to 40 percent of the Tillea distributed carry ratings on Ihei Jackels. More of them he said have ratings printed on posters and Olhorn promotional material. The video business right now is very hit oriented a said adding thai the unrated horror movies have got Lobo under s Porcen of local Tamer fare is often reviewed in video magazines. Bui in the absence of More Complete sources pain is apply obvious criteria you can Tell irom the i Ciurej on the Box said Butler of Trie tapes thai his children choose it it s got a bloody a on the Iro Rrt. They can t bring in parents use similar guidelines with record albums. Two years ago in response to a Campaign by he parents music resource Center of Washington the major record companies agreed to affix explicit lyrics labels or print lyrics on jackals in cases they deem appropriate. They rarely a but the Center s executive director Jennifer Norwood said thai on the whole we re pleased that More than a dozen albums have been issued Wilh labels or lyrics Tipper Gore no founder of the lobbying group and the wife Olsen. Alburl Gore ., a Tenn. Has also pressed the Musk television network. Mtg to play the most explicit videos Only ale in he evening. Mtg appears on Cable television which makes parents particularly nervous because Many offerings Are unfamiliar the movies Are nol edited Tor a general audience and some channels carry soft pornography. Some Cable guides give one or two word dues such As violence or sexually Olhorn than that parents have Little guidance said Peggy Chan in. The president of action Lor children s television an advocacy group in Boston. The networks meanwhile have codified standards. An occasional movie or docudrama carries a warning that parents might Lind in unsuitable Lor Young children and most movies thai received r ratings Are re edited to conform to network standards. But the most common complaints to the networks Are about Ordinary Tare violent cartoons and police shows and sitcoms and soap operas Replete with sexual innuendo. In the last year of year and a Hall a number of shows have gotten said Joe Kulz of Lake Hopatcong. N whose our children Aro 8 to 17. I used to be easier when the hour the show was on gave you an indication o1 what was appropriate now he and his wife Monitor new series. And that is what Charren recommended. We suggest Hal parents not watch everything Hal s on to that s impossible these Days but with a series watch one she said. Unfortunately All the others will be the pag14 the stars and stripes saturday
