Nothing much happened today as I spent most of the time on buses, but something there made me think about stuff and has become the subject of today's rant.
On the buses today I got to see 2 films: one was The Full Monty (heart-warming comedy) and the other was The Missing (new film with Tommy Lee Jones, where he plays an Indian looking for his missing grand-daughter and dispatching any baddies that happen to get in his way). One of these films was quite heavily censored, and can you guess which one? that's right, The Full Monty. This film about friendship, acceptance and responsibility was deemed far more dangerous for the minds of young Mexicans than a couple of people killing right left and centre to rescue their (grand) daughter (which I admit, is worthy cause).
So what was cut from The Full Monty? well most of the final scene as well as several rehearsal scenes. So according to the Mexican censorship authorities seeing 6 male posteriors (scary as that might be) is more damaging to the moral fabric of society than seeing scores of people being killed in various imaginative ways. And that's the crux of my rant today: we seem to regard sex and the human body as some sort of horrible taboo, whereas in actual fact it is a wonderful thing that we all like doing and are (almost) without exception the products of; and on the other hand the depiction of indiscriminate cold-blooded murder and complete disregard for the value of human life is seen as normal. Why? Are we so sick and twisted that we would rather blow everyone away (in the killing sense that is) than see people enjoy themselves?
Personally (and I think this won't make me many friends) I place the blame squarely at the door of the Abrahamic religions (you know, Judaism, Christianity and Islam) that know that someone, somewhere is having fun, and that it is their job to stop them. You know, the whole covering of one's body, no sex out of wedlock, and masturbation as one of the ultimate carnal sins. And yet none of these things harm anybody else. Ah well, such is life I suppose, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!
On the buses today I got to see 2 films: one was The Full Monty (heart-warming comedy) and the other was The Missing (new film with Tommy Lee Jones, where he plays an Indian looking for his missing grand-daughter and dispatching any baddies that happen to get in his way). One of these films was quite heavily censored, and can you guess which one? that's right, The Full Monty. This film about friendship, acceptance and responsibility was deemed far more dangerous for the minds of young Mexicans than a couple of people killing right left and centre to rescue their (grand) daughter (which I admit, is worthy cause).
So what was cut from The Full Monty? well most of the final scene as well as several rehearsal scenes. So according to the Mexican censorship authorities seeing 6 male posteriors (scary as that might be) is more damaging to the moral fabric of society than seeing scores of people being killed in various imaginative ways. And that's the crux of my rant today: we seem to regard sex and the human body as some sort of horrible taboo, whereas in actual fact it is a wonderful thing that we all like doing and are (almost) without exception the products of; and on the other hand the depiction of indiscriminate cold-blooded murder and complete disregard for the value of human life is seen as normal. Why? Are we so sick and twisted that we would rather blow everyone away (in the killing sense that is) than see people enjoy themselves?
Personally (and I think this won't make me many friends) I place the blame squarely at the door of the Abrahamic religions (you know, Judaism, Christianity and Islam) that know that someone, somewhere is having fun, and that it is their job to stop them. You know, the whole covering of one's body, no sex out of wedlock, and masturbation as one of the ultimate carnal sins. And yet none of these things harm anybody else. Ah well, such is life I suppose, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!
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