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"I Didn’t (want to) Know That" #8

Top 10 list of rules and counsel that we didn’t know, or like to pretend we didn’t know.

We aren’t supposed to watch R-Rated movies.

OK – this one is less about ignorance and more about willful disobedience. We have been hearing from the Prophet and church leaders on this since the ’70’s. 
Ezra Taft Benson: “Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive or pornographic.”
H. Burke Peterson: “Now brethren of the priesthod, there should not be any X- or R-rated movies that we participate in viewing or talking about.”
Man, Elder Peterson doesn’t even want us to TALK about them!  My discussions regarding R-rated movies consists of: “Wow, that movie looks great, I can’t wait to see it.  What? Crap!  I didn’t know it was rated R. (grumble, grumble, grumble)”
Please note that President Benson said nothing about M-Rated video games or ClearPlay.  He also said nothing about NetFlix – which offers us a much larger array of movies.  Because we all know – if it is R-rated in the theater, it is a no-no, but if I can get it on my TV, it MUST be edited.

 

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Comments

  1. Worst disappointment along these lines? Some fool’s idea that, because Steve Rogers (Captain America) was a clean-living 1940s guy, he must be a naive innocent. And that he would have to learn to cuss so that Tony Stark wouldn’t make fun of him.

    NO war veteran, much less a World War 2 veteran, is an innocent. It’s just that us non-innocent mortals (100% of mortals) frequently choose to be or become morally clean.

    Hardly anyone in the entertainment industry seems to understand that.

  2. It does become awkward when you have to amend all of your, “I loved that movie” with “I saw an edited version”. Yep, best not to see them at all so you are not tempted to talk about them.

  3. I barely watch movies these days, because I really don’t think the movie ratings board should be the ones steering my moral compass when it comes to the media! Most movies are trash in one form or another.

  4. Sharlene: Gonna agree and disagree. Yes, there are PG-13 movies that are so raunchy that we shouldn’t see them.

    HOWEVER, there are no R-rated movies that are “good” enough that we should disregard the counsel of the prophets. I’m not gonna rationalize it.

  5. This really is an “I didn’t want to know that” moment.
    Although a few months back I was reading an article on LDS Living or on some LDS blog about how there are such discrepancies with movie ratings these days. There are some really good movies that are rated R for like a cuss word or something like that, while there are some PG-13 movies that are disgusting and very raunchy. So I think that we might have to be a little more discerning and not just assume that because its not Rated R its safe or that if its rated R is bad (i.e. The King’s Speech).

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