Rated R

[ERMD]

The R rating is bestowed often to give a movie more more panache, to make more money for the producers.

I believe it is unwise to allow a group of people who do not share our mores and values to decide what movies are acceptable and which are beyond the pale.

The original counsel was in For the Strength of Youth. This counsel has been revised, and now states something along the lines of "let the Spirit be your guide", while still suggesting that an R rating is a red flag.

When the rating system first came out, it was a fairly reliable means of measuring the morality of the content. It is no longer. Let your conscience be your guide.

Lehi

This is what it states:

Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable.

[volgadon]

<div>

<p> Read a book or 500.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Books can be just as bad, if not worse than films. Have you ever read Du Maurier's "The Birds"? That short story disturbed me far more than Hitchock's corny special effects. The ending of Dumas's "La Dame de Monsoreau" is any bit as gory as a Tarantino film.</p>

<p>Judges 19 is sickening.</p>

</div>

[altersteve]

Ugh. Ok, I was just going to stay out of this one but because you went and said this, I need to speak up. I do not agree with you. I don't think it should be only what the prophet has or has not said regarding rated R movies specifically that guides your decision. There are sooo many scriptures, revelations, etc. that point to the fact that movies with this rating are probably not a great choice IF choosing the right choices and following the commandments and living a Christlike life are among your goals. What about the 13th article of faith? What about a lot of things we know to be right vs wrong. Why deliberately expose yourself to any amount of wrong... for the sake of history? Read a book or 500. History is no excuse. We are talking Hollywood here. Kingdom of Heaven is a historical film (I hesitate to say that for the exact reason I am stating here) but they shoot fire-lit arrows through the night in an attack. Beautiful display- never actually happened! See my point. If you are looking for excuses you WILL find them. Just ask yourself if that is what you really want. I don't. I am not looking to make excuses. I am practicing here and now on the no excuses policy so I am better prepared on judgement day. Here's the deal, God know your heart. This is how he knows what you did right and what you did wrong. What you know in your heart is what you should go with no matter what anyone says because that is what you are judged by. I don't watch rated R movies because I know in my heart I don't need to which means I am only giving into temptation when I do and I will regret my choice. That's me. And now I have said my peace. I just couldn't have you thinking that not a single person out here thinks that rated R movies are a bad idea. I'm kind of sad that I appear to be the only one but doesn't matter, I think rated R movies are a bad idea.

"I will keep my mind and body sacred and pure, and I will not partake of things that are harmful to me."

"I will only read and watch things that are pleasing to Heavenly Father."

Do you really tell yourself that this no longer applies to you because you are an adult? You are a child of God.

Fair enough. But how do you feel about PG-13 movies that should be rated R, or R-rated movies that should be rated PG-13?

[Nominee]

Fair enough. But how do you feel about PG-13 movies that should be rated R, or R-rated movies that should be rated PG-13?

If I put in a PG-13 movie and find that it "vulgar, immoral..." then I take it out. I have never seen a rated R movie that should have been a PG-13. And to be completely honest here, I have seen a lot of rated R movies. I am a convert. I was baptized when I was 28. I had many movies seen before then. I no longer see the good in them, they have no real purpose that I can't live without. And if its all about entertainment, I know what the Lord requires of me. I am thankful for all the guidance He has given. Being serious, I have taken out rated G movies because they used the Lord's name in vain more times in 5 minutes than I can count on one hand. That isn't good for me or my kids.

[altersteve]

If I put in a PG-13 movie and find that it "vulgar, immoral..." then I take it out. I have never seen a rated R movie that should have been a PG-13. And to be completely honest here, I have seen a lot of rated R movies. I am a convert. I was baptized when I was 28. I had many movies seen before then. I no longer see the good in them, they have no real purpose that I can't live without. And if its all about entertainment, I know what the Lord requires of me. I am thankful for all the guidance He has given. Being serious, I have taken out rated G movies because they used the Lord's name in vain more times in 5 minutes than I can count on one hand. That isn't good for me or my kids.

Fair enough again. But what if an R-rated movie actually brings me closer to the Savior, like The Passion of the Christ did? Surely that isn't something God would condemn me for, is it?

[Anijen]

This is what it states:

Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable.

Although I agree with Church leaders and your post, this statement restricts many if not most of all news programs, movies with PG, PG13, some G, ratings and most all Saturday cartoons. Unfortunately one can not avoid violence in media today, and vulgarity is close behind.

Edited to add; I am not against the advice of our church leaders on R rated shows and can count on one hand how many R rated shows I have seen since 1981. Its just sometimes I see them. Calloused by life some of these shows like the Kings Speech even has made me not feel guilt. I do not feel doomed nor fear that a place in the Celestial Kingdom has been taken away. I actually didn't even know the Kings Speech was rated R before I went to it. Schindler's List I had to see as part of a class assignment in college and although I still maintained my agency and could have chose not to see it my grade in that class would have suffered. I know some would accuse me of putting a grade at a higher priority of the advice of the prophet and perhaps I did when I chose to watch it. I only hope that as I work on perfecting myself I can expect a lot of mercy shown to me by the Savior as I go along that journey.

Edited November 29, 2011 by Anijen

[Nominee]

Fair enough again. But what if an R-rated movie actually brings me closer to the Savior, like The Passion of the Christ did? Surely that isn't something God would condemn me for, is it?

Again, this is something only you and God could know. It is not mine to judge so I don't. I do not know your heart. I can only know mine.

[altersteve]

Although I agree with Church leaders and your post, this statement restricts many if not most of all news programs, movies with PG, PG13, some G, ratings and most all Saturday cartoons. Unfortunately one can not avoid violence in media today, and vulgarity is close behind.

It restricts Prophet of the Restoration too. That movie is pretty violent.

[cinepro]

Even though he is fallible, I sustain him.

Do you?

I absolutely sustain everything President Monson has said about Rated R movies.

[Nominee]

Unfortunately one can not avoid violence in media today, and vulgarity is close behind.

Think of the numbing effect that must be having on us. It seems inescapable, but we can always just shut the TV off.

[KevinG]

Glory is another film that I would recommend despite the R rating it received for realistic portrayal of war.

I have a very short list of films I would share with my family that are R rated. Most of them received the rating for war or adult language like The King's Speech.

On the other hand the list of PG-13 and PG films that are too trashy and immoral for me to watch is too long for me to recount.

[cinepro]

But was Braveheart really R rated in your area?

Regards,

Pahoran

Braveheart (1995)

Rated R for brutal medieval warfare

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) / Singapore:M18 (re-rating) / Philippines:R-18 / Malaysia:18SG / Brazil:16 / France:U (with warning) / New Zealand:R16 / Argentina:16 / Australia:MA / Belgium:KT / Canada:18A (DVD rating) / Chile:14 / Finland:K-16 / Germany:16 (w) / Hong Kong:IIB / Iceland:16 / Ireland:15 (cut) / Netherlands:16 / Norway:18 / Peru:14 / Portugal:M/12 / Singapore:PG (cut) / South Korea:15 (original rating) / South Korea:18 (DVD rating) / Spain:18 / Sweden:15 / UK:15 (cut) / USA:R (certificate #33700) / Greece:K-13 / Canada:R (Ontario)

[Nominee]

It restricts Prophet of the Restoration too. That movie is pretty violent.

Oh my goodness! I was just talking about that at church this last Sunday! I think I may have been traumatized by the tar and feathers. I will never get that picture out of my head. Oh wait, maybe that was in Emma: My Story. Either way, some horrible stuff.

[altersteve]

Judges 19 is sickening.

Haha! I agree.

Plus, I think the Old Testament alone has probably more war than Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down combined.

[altersteve]

Oh my goodness! I was just talking about that at church this last Sunday! I think I may have been traumatized by the tar and feathers. I will never get that picture out of my head. Oh wait, maybe that was in Emma: My Story. Either way, some horrible stuff.

The tar and feathers scene is in Prophet of the Restoration. Tough scene to watch, for sure.

[JeremyOrbe-Smith]

I find the entire tempest-in-a-teapot over R-rated movies bizarre. Let's remember that if we're taking Paul's admonition to a fanatical extreme and seeking out only "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, [and] whatsoever things are of good report," then we've ruled out reading the Bible, since when it claims that the genocide of innocent women and children is ordained by God Himself, it is being untruthful, dishonest, unjust, impure, unlovely, and of bad report.

Joseph Smith said that there are "many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand, accord with the revelation of the Holy Ghost to me." He said that he believed in the Bible "as it ought to be, as it came from the pen of the original writers," but that "ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors."

Good thing, 'cuz if we take the Garden of Eden story to be word-for-word literal, then there is some rather extreme incest going on while the earth is being populated. God supposedly drowned every living creature on the face of the earth a few pages into Genesis. Moses was commanded to decapitate people, as was Nephi. God supposedly buries men, women, and children alive in Numbers. A woman hammers a spike through a man's face and fastens it to the ground in Judges. You remember, that's the same book where thumbs and great toes are sliced off of people. In Isaiah, Rabshakeh speaks of men eating their own dung and drinking their own piss. Isaiah himself spent years Prophesying in the nude. II Kings deals with the cannibalism of children. In the Hebrew, Saul basically calls Jonathan a "stupid son of a ****." If II Chronicles is God-breathed truth, then God Himself caused people's bowels to fall out of their bodies. Ezekiel is a veritable pornucopia of graphic descriptions of rape and prostitution, and describes unrighteous men by likening their genitals to donkey penises and their emission to horse semen. Not to mention the literally millions of people brutally slaughtered by blunt preindustrial weapons during various wars throughout the Bible and Book of Mormon.

... scripture, baby!

(Don't, however, watch

, a dramatization of important real-world issues. It's too violent.)

[Anijen]

Think of the numbing effect that must be having on us. It seems inescapable, but we can always just shut the TV off.

Other than my wife insisting that I watch DWTS with her I do not watch it that often. We also have purchased TV guardian and Clear Play in the past (that is how I found out Toy Story was bleeped for an offensive word). I can not turn off life as much as I would like to. I would like to go to class and not hear a swear word, read a news paper that had no war or violence mentioned, the dress code (or lack of one) of teens, not to mention other things that bug me such as piercings, tattoos etc, PDA, there is too much, yet because of two offensive swear words in the Kings Speech it is verboten. I at first enjoyed Glee and now I find it too gratuitously advocating a certain agenda and have stopped watching it. So I do choose to turn off or change the channel but my point is in my perspective of life there is much worse that I am exposed to everyday than me watching approximately 3 rated R shows in the last 30 years.

Having said all that I still feel our church leaders advice is still inspired and I will try and probably fail a few times but will continue try to perfect my self as I grow...

[blackstrap]

I forget,what did the Romans do on an afternoon when there was nothing good on TV and they had seen all the current movies? Oh yah, now I remember!

Edited November 29, 2011 by blackstrap

[mfbukowski]

What does it matter if we drink a little wine occasionally? After all, it's good for you.

Why is it important to be baptized, or repeat it if maybe we don't get all the way under the water? Who really cares?

What does it matter if a few words are missed in the sacrament prayer? After all, the Lord knows what we meant.

A cup of coffee occasionally? What's the big deal?

A little messing around before you get married? After all, you need to know if you are compatible, right?

And what about that endowment stuff? Is all that really necessary?

And most people think that they will be with their families after they die, why do we need to be sealed?

A few R-rated movies? What's the big deal? They are ART after all.

And this tithing stuff? Isn't 5 or 6 percent enough? After all the church is rich anyway, and God doesn't need my paltry salary.

And just in general, what is all this obedience stuff anyway? After all, I am a mature adult, I can make my own decisions can't I?

<sarcasm>

Edited November 29, 2011 by mfbukowski

[Storm Rider]

About 30 years ago my folks-in-law went to education week and attended a class on having a celestial marriage. The speaker provided a list of 20 things, that is followed, would ensure each couple was in a celestial marriage. This "speaker" (I tend to think of him as an idiot of the first order) highlighted such important things as:

1. Does not play with face cards
   
2. Does not go to anything but G rated shows
   
3. the rest were similar to these two, church attendance, scripture study, etc.
   

I can remember my mother-in-law coming home, sharing with us her day, and then using the list to proudly state they had a celestial marriage. These types of things always make queasy and give me the urge to smack someone. This was a pharisee that sought to guide the saints down to hell; they understood the letter of the law and was completely ignorant of the spirit of it.

I listen to the prophet and the apostles. I take their counsel and then I choose for myself what I think is best or right for me. There are numerous shows that I would watch (and do watch) again and again that have been rated R. I will never allow a group in Hollywood to tell me what is appropriate and what is not simply because they don't know how to be consistent in the manner they rate shows.

Further, our leaders guide, but never command. Our leaders are men and have erred before in their counsel and will do so again. Because they are men, I must listen with the Spirit and then I must choose for myself. I do not need them to tell me what to do to live a righteous life. Nor does anyone else need a person commanding them in all things; we are quite capable of choosing righteously all by ourselves.

[altersteve]

I will never allow a group in Hollywood to tell me what is appropriate and what is not simply because they don't know how to be consistent in the manner they rate shows.

THIS. The MPAA is a joke.

[cinepro]

I try to live my life by the 13th Article of Faith, so I only seek after movies that have good cinematography, are well-reviewed, or win awards or other praise.

[Garden Girl]

Being a movie fan, I will be honest here, as when this subject has come up in the past... I will occasionally watch an R-rated movie, but only after I am fairly sure about the content... Two that come to mind:

The Last of the Mohicans

Amistad (like Schlindler's List, reality is portrayed when briefly showing the slaves on ship as the main slave character relates their story in the court trial... powerful and heartwrenching).

Both are wonderful movies.

Overall, I'm very careful...

GG

[thesometimesaint]

GG:

Daniel Day Lewis; the only man that I know of that can load two muskets while running.

[ERayR]

Then Thank You for your Service

And Oorah, Hooyah or Hooah, whichever is appropriate.

You misunderstood what I said. I did not serve in the military, that was my brother who served in the Marines in Viet Nam. I said I lived through it. I was raising a family and although eligible to be drafted I was not. However I am well aware of what that war was about. Please don't tell me I need to watch a Hollywood movie to be able to intelligently discuss that war.

Edited November 29, 2011 by ERayR