"The game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is too violent and contains sex; therefore it should not be sold to minors. The movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back contains references to drug use, fellatio, and blasphemy and therefore should not be watched by anyone under eighteen. The movie Natural Born Killers incites youths to kill and maim, and therefore must not be distributed at all..."
I really don't get all these judgement calls about what someone should be allowed to see and what is not. I really value the power of my own judgement, taste and common sense, although I must admit the lack of control, lack of common sense and high degree of stupidity in some other people is quite baffling.
I'm pretty sure 80 percent of the general population is able to discern quite well for themselves what is tasteful and what is tasteless. I'm also sure that they can strike a balance between knowing when to butt out and when to intervene. These are the people that don't need to be treated like a child. These are the people who are able to tell reality from fiction. They don't need to be protected from bad influences, because they already can for themselves. Patronizing them only serves the opposite effect: they rebel.
Being told what to do when you don't feel like it's justified, is mightily insulting. When age rating systems stop being guidelines and start being dogmas, that's when our society is in trouble.
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