Saturday, April 12, 2008

I Hate It When They Do That

My husband showed an interest in I am Legend when we initially saw the trailers for it on TV back when it was in the theater. I was interested as well as I like sci-fi. I was interested in the whole idea of being the only person left alive and how the character would deal with that. So, when I rented a couple of movies yesterday, I picked this one up.

Now, before watching this movie, I knew about the virus-mutated-vampire people. I knew that the main character had run-ins with these mutants. I expected that some parts might be scary because of that. I don't do suspense or scary well. Not at all. However, seeing that the movie was only I rated PG-13, I thought I'd be ok.

Well, I survived the movie...barely. I'm not sure how because that was the scariest movie I have seen in a long time. Throughout most of the movie, I sat there watching the movie terrified. My body tensed. My chest tightened. My hands flew to cover my eyes. I jumped. I even screamed...loudly...twice. I felt like I would suffer a heart attack at any moment.

To rate this movie PG-13 is wrong. It deserves no less than an R rating. The only reason I can think of to explain why it was only rated PG-13 is that there weren't that many violent scenes; however, the suspense was so thick that it gets you worked up so that when those violent scenes do finally show up, it sends you over the edge. Things like that need to be taken in consideration when rating movies so that people like me can be adequately prepared or stay away altogether.

I've noticed this trend of underrating movies. G movies are hard to come by because nearly all children's movies are now PG. PG movies now come with content that is inappropriate for children. PG-13 movies contain content that should only be found in adult movies. Rated R is the old X in some movies. Yet movies that genuinely do fit into the different ratings molds are mixed in with the ones that don't. This means the ratings mean little anymore. If we can't trust the ratings, how are we suppose to know what is safe to watch?

2 comments:

Chickie said...

Joann, have you ever been to www.kids-in-mind.com ? They have very detailed movie ratings. But I do agree with you....they are quite underrated! I think Mr. Magorium is the only G movie that's come out in a long time. (or at least, that I'm aware of.) love your blogs!

K.Stevens

D said...

Dear Joann,

I just checked out Kids-in-Mind and would recommend it also. It is a bit hard (just my opinion) but certainly worth checking out before people view something.

As far as "I am Legend," I saw it in the movies and my friend and I probably made as much noise as you did. Believe me, it was very nerve-racking and, although I enjoyed it, I am not sure if I would be able to see it again.

You are correct, though. It really should have been rated R.

Sincerely,

DC