Recently, I read in the Times-Union the article, "Movie Ratings: What's A Parent To Do?"
Today, movies aren't fit for kids to look at, or even adults. I used to love motion pictures. For more than 30 years, I practically lived in a movie theater. Back in the '30s and '40s, movies were entertaining, and presented with a great deal of dignity and decency. Then, you could go to the films, and after you had viewed one, you could leave the theater with your head held high. Nowadays, after having seen a motion picture, you often leave the cinema feeling as though you had just crawled through every sewer and swallowed all the swill.
In the old days, sexual situations were handled with great dignity and admonition. For instance, in the film if the plot called for a sexual encounter, there would be a scene where the bedroom door stands open and the bed is exposed. Then, the couple involved would walk into the bedroom and close the door after them, and that would be the end of the scene; therefore, no adult was offended, and no child could realize what was going on. (In former days, children were much more innocent and naive than they are today.)
In this day and age, whenever a bedroom scene is involved in a film, they've got to show you the works, they've got to spell it out down to the last detail. (As the late Lucille Ball once stated: "In the old days, they weren't even allowed to say 'pregnant' on the screen. Now, they show you how it's done.")
In 1940, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a beautiful love story titled "Waterloo Bridge," starring Vivian Leigh and Robert Taylor. In the movie, Leigh plays the part of Myra Lester, a girl who thinks she has lost her beloved in the war; furthermore, she becomes poverty stricken, and with no job and nothing to eat, she resorts to prostitution. A scene in the film shows Myra walking through the railroad station wearing a tightfitting dress while she rolls her eyes provocatively at prospective males. Not one bedroom scene is shown, and at the same time, every movie viewer realizes what type of character the girl represents. Still, no one feels offended. Now, that's what I call movie making accomplished with dignity and good taste.
In these times, it seems as though Hollywood can't stoop too low to present something objectionable on the screen. The only subject the Hollywood script writers have yet to cover is "necrophilia." And eventually, they will probably get around to that. (Now, dear reader, if you don't know the meaning of the word "necrophilia," I'm certainly not going to tell you. You will have to look it up.)
Movie critics claim that today's films represent "art" and "realism." Well, who needs it? Don't we get enough "art" and "realism" in real life? Why waste time watching all types of corruption and depravity being enacted on the screen, when most of we fans (especially the elderly), would truly appreciate films that are honorable, respectable and, yes, even a little spiritual.
