Juan_Bottom wrote:Is it just me, or is this a case where the government backed off, and things have gone way down hill? In the mid 80s the government laxed on it's children's programing regulation.
Now ordinaraly I'm against the government regulating things, but since they've stopped things have not improved.
#1 They need to stop advertising geared towards children. Save maybe age appropriate advertising.
#2 They need to control who's being targeted by these programs. IMO it all started with Saved by the Bell.
I actually agree, to a point.
I was not allowed to watch anything but "G" rated movies until I was about 10. My folks were a bit strict, but by no means outlandishly so back then. And, though tame, they were not pure boredom, either. A lot of humor.
Now, you can hardly even FIND "G" rated moves. Even Disney films are almost always rated PG, if not PG-13. The few true "G" movies are boring and dull.
Partly, the rating system is a bit cock-eyed. I mean why is a kiss or a bit of nudity (depending on context) rated so very much higher than violance, even non-contextual violance, which actually does cause issues with kids (the 5 year old who jumps off a roof with an umbrella, or sets a fire cracker off in his brother's bed .. with him still in it, because he saw it on TV ).
Part is also that many producers like to "push the envelope" for creative reasons (as much as anything else).
A big part is definitely that most movies are now geared to the 10-12 year old male. (literally... that is their target audience, for the most part). They are supposedly the ones who buy the most tickets. But, that tends to become a "self-fulfilling prophesy". If they actually made more movies geared toward other groups, others might go more often.
As for the advertising bit ... yes, I think trying to sell fruitloops to 4 year olds when we know that it will endanger their health is, well, a bit unsavory... even if it is "just business". And, say what you want about parental control and critical thinking. A four year old just does not have the thinking capacity to truly say "they are just trying to sell me something, I should not pay attention". And as for the parental control bit .. yes, but it would be nice if the children's shows did not make our job even harder. There are only so many battles you can fight at one time, especially with kids.
i thought this was going to be another story thread, like Hary Potter and the Goblet of Fire or something. Very, very disappointing.
