Knowing that my latest nerdery is Marvel's "The Avengers" universe, Dennis humoured me by renting Iron Man 2 when he made a run for storm chips tonight. I'm old enough to remember when movie ratings came in three flavours (G, PG, and R)...except that at that time I wasn't old enough to know that there was a fourth rating, if you know what I mean.
Yes, I realise that it's a good thing that PG-13/NC-17 movies itemise their unwholesomeness--e.g. violence, nudity--although I sometimes don't quite grok what's so "adult" about "adult situations" and "adult language." After all, any profanity and sexuality worth bothering about require both timing and savoir-faire. Neither are magically bestowed upon us on our 18th birthday. Nor upon Hollywood, however sizeable the budget.
That being said...precisely since when does "Intense Sci-Fi"make a movie (or any other fiction, for that matter) unsuitable for a pre-teen audience? And what in the smoky name of Grethor's Gates, constitutes "intense" science fiction anyway? This nonsense, btw, lands within a few days of my receiving a two Heinlein novels as a gift. Grrrrrrr....
NOW I'm brassed-off.
Bad enough that the anti-science goons are muzzling research here in Canada. And putting Congress-critters who don't (and, far worse, refuse to) know the difference between photovoltaics and photosynthesis in positions of influence in Washington.
Sure, the petro-barons (among others) and professional God-bothers and any number of other snake-oil peddlers have plenty to fear from a scientifically-literate public. (Even a public mathematically-literate enough for Statistics 101 and the concept of regression to the mean should scare The Powers That Be silly, for that matter.)
But...warning labels for science fiction? Seriously?!?!
Though, in sobriety, I probably shouldn't be so surprised. The American Library Association's list of regularly banned and challenged books (and the objections to the same) is a good demonstration of how intellectual wussification is clearly not being bred out of our species. The usual suspects--sex, blasphemy (real or imagined), sex, vastly outdated gender/racial portrayals, sex, drug use, sex, profanity, sex, etc., and sex--are all represented. (Bonus points for being burned by the Nazis for having a socialist message, btw. #slowclap) My Gentle Reader will of course
note several of the sci-fi heavyweights on that list.
I suppose that if there's any proverbial silver lining, it's that slapping a warning--particularly one that says, "Run along, sport: You're too young for this"--pretty much guarantees the cachet of the forbidden. Who knows? Maybe the bright lights of Hollywood are doing us a backhanded favour by making "Intense Sci-Fi" badass. Maybe the fact that Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury threads through much of the Avengers world isn't actually a coincidence. (Bet'cha didn't think of that angle, huh?)
Frankly, I'm not counting on that. But if Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson happens to be reading, maybe you, Doctor, should consider a PG-13 "Intense Science-Fact" rating for the upcoming season of Cosmos. Just sayin'. Co-opt Samuel Jackson if you have to. ;~)
