Had an Ex-mormon ask me a question about R movies.. Hopefully i answered right??

[Eleven]

One of my friends dad left the church completely out of the blue and it was a bit of a shock.. But looking back on some of the things i believed led to his exodus, i was wondering about something he said to me and my friend when i was staying at their house.

His proposed that we watch a certain rated R movie because it was rated R back in the 90's. This, to him, meant that it really wasnt that bad, because back in those days, everything was taken too seriously, and a rated R movie back then would be the equivalent of a PG-13 today.

Me and my friend were 15-16 around that time. He watched it because obviously he had faith in his father, but me in the other hand decided to leave respectfully. I said even though i agreed that the world has changed its explicit ratings to allow more and more, to me, its more of a obedience thing than it is a rating issue. The Law of obedience is only second to the commandment to love the Lord thy God.

anyways, would anyone have taken that differently, have same or opposing takes on it.. just wanted to see the disscussion on R movies nowadays.

Ive heard some people say the advice to not watch R movies is similar to the advice to not single date when your 16. Its not a commandment, just a word of warning as long as nothing sexual is in the movie. Now obviously "nothing sexual" can be taken many ways as to whether someone interprets that as full nudity or a silhouetted sex scene, but i digress.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Eleven
spelling

[Dravin]

These days the advice isn't about rating but about content, which makes sense in a world wide Church. The best description, I'm familiar with, about Church standards for media is found in For The Strength of Youth.

Linky: https://www.lds.org/youth/for-the-strength-of-youth/entertainment-and-media?lang=eng

[Vort]

You did well.

[skippy740]

Violence and language in movies may be similar to what is on the news today (or even said in high school), but we should be careful to watch what we indulge in for our entertainment. Our thoughts are the beginnings of our actions. Living by a certain 'code of morality' only helps us to build strong defenses against a world that would seek to destroy those defenses.

You did well. :)

[applepansy]

I agree. You did well.

[Eleven]

It is just strange to look back at all the things that led to his decision of leaving the church recently and this was distinctly one of them. It completely devastated my friend and his siblings. his father said he wouldnt pay any part of his mission and told my friends sister that he wouldnt pay for or have anything to do with her marriage if it had anything to do with the temple. My friend took second jobs and worked his way to his mission and just barely got back.

Its just tough times... His dad is a stubborn nut though. One of those guys that you could be speaking complete logic, and if he doesnt agree with it, you might as week be speaking greek.

[friedmann]

You're fine, brother.

I will just leave my thoughts and my personal experiences. Germany does not have any system equivalent to R and PG-13, just mere recommendations. Everyone can purchase any movie they like, unless it's streight out porn. There is no agency doing the rating, only the film companies giving suggestions for the minimum age of the people watching their movies.

There are two reasons why a movie could be rated R: Sexual content or violence. From my own expierence, the latter does not matter at all. We once watched 300 (which is essentially 90 minutes of mass murder) as an official YSA activity. It didn't really bother anyone I guess.

Sexual content is something different, and it's really hard to draw the line. Take Ghostbusters 1 for example; There is one pretty obvious sexual scene in there, but in my personal opinion it doesn't really hurt because sexuality is not idealized. Neither is it problematic to show married couples having sex, because sex is a good and encouraged thing under these circumstances. Until sexuality outside of marriage is idealized and becomes the movie's focus and the contents directly oppose to Church doctrine (NOT individual member comfort zone, but real Church doctrine!), there is no reason why watching these kinds of movies is bad and should be discouraged.

Individual members may treat this as they wish to, but please remember that it's not a commandment until it can be found in the scriptures, or is added there onto as an official declaration, decided on by all 15 Keyholders.

[alucarD1975]

What movie was it? An R rating is not an indication of the quality or type of movie. I would say content is more important as other members have pointed out.

Does watching an "R" rated movie condemn you to hell?

Whatever you see or do based on the content of said movie are you decision ultimately

[Anddenex]

5 stars for this decision.

[Echo2002]

I think you made the right choice.

I remember a discussion between a member and a local church leader about how bad the PG-13 movies were getting. She asked if the Presidency were going to make a change and say that PG-13 movies were inappropriate. He said no, that is something you need to decide for yourself.

I'll admit, I will watch a PG-13 movie regardless of what I think the content is going to be just because it is not rated R. Sometimes I regret that decision. I've seen R rated movies if it is based on an actual event, but it's rare. I know some members who have no problems watching R rated movies and others who have never seen a R rated movie in their life.