MPAA Loves Fake Torture and Censors Realistic Films

Posted by Amanda Marcotte, Pandagon at 3:01 PM on December 28, 2007.

One of the benefits/drawbacks of the holidays is the opportunity to venture out of the blue enclave of Austin into the Rest of Texas, where knee-jerk religiosity and jingoism have a foothold. But even a connoisseur of "Jesus loves a fetus" billboards and crying eagle bumper stickers such as myself was still surprised and impressed by the levels of self-congratulatory immoral war-mongering going on in this ad I witnessed in the pre-movie show before the movie "Walk Hard".

3 Doors Down says gain yourself an insta-manhood by joining the National Guard! Defend the country from foreign invaders, help save people from natural disasters, live the tradition of American self-determination, and take the infinitesimal chance of being deployed to fight in a war overseas. And by "infinitesimal", they mean, "Hope you like the desert weather and the non-stop fear of ambush by guerrilla forces."

The sleaze of it all dripped off the screen. This isn't directly related, but related in spirit. A couple of blogs have noticed the weird standards employed by the MPAA in what posters are acceptable and not. This is terrible and whiny adults who can't stand having their thoughtless nationalism questioned children can't be exposed to it.

The subtle hint of how terrible actual, real life torture is disturbs too many beautiful minds, I guess. However, if the movie's entire purpose is to titillate misogynists that are angry at hot women for not sucking their cocks at the snap of a finger, then the standards get a lot looser:

I don't think this has anything to do with The Children or squeamishness even (I looked at the blood and guts Hostel II poster for like 30 minutes waiting in line at a movie a few months ago, and eventually the queasiness subsided, but it took a minute). By gum, folks, I think the MPAA is making a fairly direct statement about their complicity with the propaganda desires of the Bush administration.

It's worth noting yet again how strange it is that torture porn is more acceptable in the multiplex than the more traditional kind of porn that shows acts that are uncomfortably close to ones that might demonstrate genuine affection towards women in real life.

Tagged as: mpaa, torture, censorship, movies, film

Amanda Marcotte co-writes the popular blog Pandagon.