AUGUST 10th - The Dawn of PG-13

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On this day in 1984, Red Dawn was released. Wolverines! Besides being a classic, albeit far-fetched, movie about Russians and Cubans invading the United States only to be stopped by a rag-tag group of teenagers who refuse to go quietly into the good night, it was also the first movie to be shown with the PG-13 rating. Look, I’m all for more options. A salad bar with just lettuce isn’t so much a salad bar as a display of lettuce, you know what I’m saying? But sometimes options can be a hindrance. I’m not saying that all PG-13 movies are crap, but I think the rating can influence too much. Studios work hard at finding that sweet spot to appeal to the widest audience and make the most money. And nothing is wrong with that. Except that I feel sometimes it damages the product. When a comedy or an action movie comes out with a PG-13, I wince a little, because I’d be willing to bet that an “R” version would be better. But then I have an immature love of curse words and enjoy the gravitas of sex and violence when handled realistically. Realistic and movies are relatively related of course. My point is no one censors real life. Movies can get gratuitous. Which isn’t good either. But if you need to censor, why not release edited versions, like when they play a movie on TBS and some ridiculous dubbed line that makes absolutely no sense plays over what is easily lip read as a “mother fucker.” Parents could take the kids to the monkey-fighting snakes and the rest of could see Sam Jackson cursing in all his glory. Problem solved. This is not to say that a PG-13 is a death stamp of mediocrity. Just look at Red Dawn. (The first one. The second one doesn’t count). Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and C. Thomas Howell protecting their small Colorado town with the skills they learned from their father against the Commies trying to conquer the country. That’s pure cinematic gold. Wolverines! The movie didn’t need an “R” rating. It just need some overstepping Commie’s, Patrick Swayze, and some guns. Wolverines!

This Day has been Marked

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