In the May edition of Focus on Indiana Libraries (the ILF and Indiana State Library newsletter), Doug Archer, the ILF and ALA Intellectual Freedom Chair wrote a short piece highlighting important IF situations in the current national spotlight. The first, which I will discuss below, is a bill in the Utah government that would have enforced by law ratings recommendations established by private ratings systems.
Fortunatly, this bill was recently vetoed by the governor, but before it was the Utah state legislature approved it. This law would have required businesses that advertised private ratings systems to comply with them to an extreme measure. If a theater allowed some 12 year olds to a PG13 movie, they could be sued. Aside from denying free speach from minor, this law would have given too much power to the private/non-governmental organizations that create the ratings recommendations.
Personally, I believe the materials that a minor views or buys is up to the parents to monitor, not a theater or a game seller. Similarly I already think the Movie ratings system is screwed up, and more legitimate power would be a bad thing. If you dont agree, watch "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" or look for the story of Trey Parker and Matt Stone about their ratings testing while making "Team America: World Police".
Find out more at the National Coalition Against Censorship web site:
http://www.ncac.org/
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1 comment:
James,
That is disturbing that a theater could be sued for allowing a twelve year old into a PG-13 movie. I understand that the ratings system was developed just to give parents some idea of the content of the movie. It was not designed as a way to determine if a theater broke the law. Roger Barnes
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