By George H. Tsai
Do parents care about movie-rating classifications? Apparently many don’t.
“A Man Apart,” which is being shown at Multiplex Cinemas in College Point, is an R-rated film full of violence mixed with a little sex, yet it attracts a large young audience under the age of 18.
In the movie, actor Vin Diesel plays DEA agent Sean Vetter, who sets out for revenge after a botched hit results in the death of his wife. While on the hunt, he finds that a drug cartel near the American border with Mexico has taken hold; he targets its leader, who he suspects is the man behind his wife’s death.
The movie shows shootings and killings from beginning to end. I don’t think the movie has any redeeming social value. On the contrary, it will have a tremendously bad influence on some young people, who may some day mimic what they saw in the film.
I am not a movie fan, so I had no idea beforehand about the content of “A Man Apart.’’ I chose it at random because its showing time was close to that of “Chicago,” which my wife and I saw two weeks earlier. She wanted to see this Oscar-winning musical again. But I balked.
It’s baffling that sitting next to me was a young couple with two children about 3 and 4 years old, who were making noises throughout the show. This is not a PG picture. Why would the theater’s gatekeepers allow children at such a young age to see an R-rated movie? Is it a national phenomenon or just an isolated local occurrence?
When the show came to an end and the lights came on, I saw a great number of pre-teens and teenagers leaving theater No. 6 with their parents. To justify the impropriety of their actions, some parents argue that there is no easy way to prevent children from exposing themselves to violence and sex, which are readily available on TV and in cyberspace.
To me, Hollywood is partially to blame for coaching people, old and young, how to use violence to cure social woes. For a while, Congress and the public called on Tinsel Town to exercise restraints in producing such movies after the April 20, 1999, tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which two teens gunned down a dozen people.
It seems the film industry has turned a deaf ear to those appeals, and some parents couldn’t care less because nothing has happened to them yet.
On April 23, a Pennsylvania junior high school student shot and killed his principal and then himself. Who is to blame — the parents, the school or an outside influence? I think parents and society should be held responsible.
From time to time, I read reports that children kill children with guns. They probably learned this terrifying act from TV shows and movies. But parents should share a greater blame for this because in many homes children have easy access to guns their fathers proudly display in glass cabinets.
These barbarian acts pose a great threat to the fabric of our civilization. Parents and filmmakers must take note of the consequences of their ignorance before it’s too late. I am skeptical that this unhealthy phenomenon will dissipate in the near future.
In addition to being in movies, violence and sex also are rampant in professional wrestling, whose popularity is growing in North America, South America and Japan. Every stadium or coliseum where wrestlers perform always is filled to capacity. And children always outnumber adults.
To dramatize the show, the World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling organizations allow their proxies to turn the macho performances into violent and sexy acts.
But to win a contest, pros often resort to violence, using steel chairs and even hammers to submit or hurt their rivals. It’s frightening. Violence runs counter to the game’s goal — entertainment. Contrary to the general belief, wrestling violence is real and reaches an intolerable level these days.
Also, in an effort to create climax, the show often features female wrestlers with big chests. I never thought, though, that some of them would stage stripteases of sorts in the arena. What’s worse, one was recently spotlighted taking off her bra. Regrettably, wrestling officials ignore that a lot of spectators are kids.
Rational aficionados should protest the lewd performances, even if the licentiousness is faked.
Reach columnist George H. Tsai by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 140.
