THE R-RATINGS GAME
Lisa Teasley’s article about the movie ratings (“Film Ratings: Who Minds the Door?,” May 19) is the first public discussion I’ve seen of any aspect of this greatest of all PR hypes.
I’ve been looking for years for the responsible movie critics, social critics, PTA and other moral guardian groups to turn their attention to the scandalously scatological movies that are the predominant product of Hollywood and which are produced primarily for the young audience.
The ratings system was launched in 1968 ostensibly to provide guidelines for parents. (And oh, what righteousness Jack Valenti and the movie industry draped themselves in!)
Hollywood produces mostly immoral, amoral, violent, ugly, vulgar and foul fare for young people while the PTA moms and others who do deplore relatively bland and harmless TV blithely turn the other way.
If they could be forced to watch “Porky’s,” “Spring Break” and the “Friday the 13th” series, among others, they would bring down a wrath of the movie industry that’s never been equaled. But no, they leave the moral discretions up to theater managers and teen-age ticket sellers.
ERNIE KREILING
La Canada
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
