Today the FTC announced the findings in their new "comprehensive" report that says violent content is still aimed at kids - like unrated DVD releases. They're urging Hollywood to reconsider their ways with tons of statistics that show exactly who is purchasing what - and would you believe that it's mostly kids?! I find research like this HILARIOUS considering we don't see HOW the surveys, polls and statistics were generated. Besides the fact that there's no conclusive evidence that suggests violence in TV, movies and in games create problems in youth. I love the laughable solutions to the "supposed" problem, including warning labels on everything. I remember being told that I should not look at certain objectionable things and that only made it much more desirable. I think the FTC is only aiding in the problem while trying to help - or should I say CENSOR. If a parent lets their kids see an R rated film, buy a violent game or watch WWE on TV that's their own decision to make, not a group of f-cking censors. Read on for their "comprehensive" findings and have a good ol laugh with me. Feel free to comment below as I'm always curious as to what you think. Do you think I am off base? I could easily write an essay on this subject, but let's just leave it at that - I've got some GTA to play.
Despite some effective self-regulation since 2000, the movie, music and videogame industries continue to market violent content in ways that are easily seen by kids, a Federal Trade Commission report concluded, according to Variety.
Vidgame retailers have made "significant" progress in restricting sales of M-rated games to minors, but movie and music retailers have only posted "modest" improvement on similar sales of adult-oriented product, the researchers found.
"Self-regulation, long a critical underpinning of U.S. advertising, is weakened if industry markets products in ways inconsistent with their ratings and parental advisories," said Deborah Platt Majoras, head of the FTC, which released the report Thursday. "This latest FTC report shows improvement, but also indicates that the entertainment industry has more work to do."
Report makes six recommendations, from establishing better target-marketing standards to urging Hollywood to reconsider the marketing and selling of unrated DVD versions of R-rated movies. While the FTC promises to continue monitoring the situation, it also continues to support industry self-regulation.
Report is the fifth in a series the FTC began in 2000, but the agency called the latest "the most comprehensive" of all.
According to the FTC, the new report found that "all three industries generally comply with their own voluntary standards regarding the display of ratings and labels. However, entertainment industries continue to market some R-rated movies, M-rated videogames and explicit-content recordings on television shows and Web sites with substantial teen audiences."
Using unaccompanied minors, federal researchers learned that 39% could buy a ticket to an R-rated movie last year, compared with 46% in 2000; 71% could buy an R-rated or unrated DVD (compared with 81%); 76% could buy an explicit-lyric CD (compared with 85%); and 42% could buy an M-rated vidgame (compared with 85%, marking the greatest decline).
For Hollywood, the positive findings included acknowledgement that most TV advertising for R-rated movies and unrated DVDs did not appear on shows for which the under-17 aud is greater than 35%, a standard the industry voluntarily adopted. "Nevertheless, the report notes that a 35% standard still permits advertising on the vast majority of shows most popular with teens," the FTC stated.
Report also noted that the movie industry has adopted no standard for Internet advertising and pointed out that "violent R-rated movies were routinely advertised on Web sites popular with kids: 18 of the 20 movies studied by the commission were advertised on Web sites where more than a third of the audience was under 17. The increasing prevalence of marketing unrated DVDs containing content that might warrant an NC-17 rating, coupled with the poor performance of retailers in restricting the sales of such DVDs to unaccompanied children, is a particular cause for concern."
However, the MPAA has adopted standards for Internet advertising, specifically calling for no ads for R-rated pics on all-aud Web sites.
Report hailed the recording industry for having significantly cut back ads for explicit-lyric music in magazines popular with teens. Unlike movie studios, the labels have not adopted any percentage-of-audience standard regarding advertising, but the FTC implied they should: "The report notes that ads for explicit-content music routinely aired on cable television shows and Web sites with a teen audience of 40% or more. The industry also needs to do a better job of displaying the explicit-content logo in television advertising."
The vidgame industry voluntarily agreed not to advertise M-rated games on Web sites with an under-17 aud of 45% or more. The FTC said that while ads for these games are diminishing on TV shows teens like, "The report suggests that the (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) is not adequately enforcing even this limited standard" for the Internet. "The videogame industry generally provides clear and prominent disclosure of rating information in advertising; however, the ESRB has not adopted the commission's previous recommendation that content descriptors for games be placed on the front of game packaging." Report also noted that roughly 75% or more of parents find the game rating system useful, but they also feel it could do more.
Industry reps accentuated the positive.
"As today's report affirms, the movie industry is doing a good job overall providing information to consumers and marketing films in an audience-appropriate manner," said MPAA spokeswoman Gayle Osterberg.
"We're pleased that the commission recognized the industry's efforts and progress regarding the use of the Parental Advisory Logo," said Recording Industry Assn. of America spokesman Jonathan Lamy. "Music is a unique art form that is subject to the interpretation of the listener, and so the PAL has worked better than hard and fast rules."But at least one advocacy group was dubious. "The FTC's report on marketing violent entertainment to kids illustrates that the industry has a long ways to go before it can legitimately claim that it's effectively regulating itself," said Jim Steyer, chief exec of the nonpartisan org Common Sense Media. "The data show that underage kids generally have little problem buying or renting violent media titles."
"I could easily write an essay on this subject, but let's just leave it at that"
You should write one. I'm serious. Lots of people like you rant and rave about topics like this and often will say "I can go on forever on this topic" or like you said, "I could easily write an essay...," but you never do. It's really easy, especially on the internet, to make statements like that. But can you, a fanboy who helps run a nerdy internet horror movie site, really write an essay on this? Seriously. Gather your sources, make a thesis, back it up with, say it with me college grads, concrete details, and make a case that these findings are wrong. They make claims and back them up with stats and facts. People like you just rant from the gut, which is what Stephen Colbert dubbed "truthiness." You believe it to be one thing, so it automatically is that way.
I went to school for 22 years, I think I'll pass on your course requirements (have a job to worry about). My research would be just as UNFOUNDED as the FTCs, I'm not projecting my opinion that I know the reality of it all, I'm simply stating that the FTC is making claims THEY can't back up. But your attack was much appreciated.
I agree that this is a load of nonsense. At the end of the day there is no definite scientific research to suggest a link between violence on the screen and violence on the street. What's more, whether or not violence in the horror genre for instance is completely censored, it will not stop or really even reduce the amount of violence we see committed by people in today's world. I mean those who would kill someone based on seeing a horror movie would have to be unstable enough in the first place to commit such an act and therefore whether or not horror or other violent material is censored will not reduce the likelihood of an unstable going out and committing murder. My final point is that it should be the parents that decide whether or not their children watch R rated material as it is them that best know and understand their children, and as Mill says unless something causes direct harm to another entity there should be no excuse for government intervention.
Well if violent movies and video games or anything else called violent makes people violent than lets put on Disney movies for them. If violent stuff makes us violent shouldn't something like a Disney flick makes non-violent?
I used to work in a game store & we'd have parents literally scream at us for carrying GTA or Bulletproof. Even had one granny tell me I "SHOULD be arrested for peddling this smut" and that we all "WILL go to HELL" for it. Than they'd drop off Jr. and go wonder around the store next door. Jr. would, after a few minutes, bring the newest and most violent game to the counter. I'd than inform Jr. that he needed parent and/or overseer there to buy it. Granny would come back and than scream at us for making her get out of the car, to ok Jr's purchase. The same game they just screamed at me about. I guess the point is this is all pointless, no matter what the stores do the kids are gonna see, play, hear it anyway. Parents pay no attention to the rating systems, making it redundant. I have no problem with ratings, as long as their to inform of content rather than used for censorship. These reports are just so the FTC, or who ever can justify their existence. We live in an enabling society, kids are told they can do and have whatever they want. Ratings are just used as an excuse for the rare time mommy tell them no. Sorry, I ramble.
kids will see violence whether in the form of a game/movie or not, if they watch tv with their family they are bound to see murder, domestic violence and war on the news, and that is real and kids know it. if the big deal is kids being able to purchase an unrated dvd, make it so you have to be 17 to buy the unrated edition the same as the rated R edition. i think all of these organizations are digging way to deep into things, NOTHING in this world effects anyone the same psychologically so to say that violent games and movies are causing our youth to do violent things is just absurd.
i have no problems with trying to keep mature images away from young minds, in most cases its not something they are prepared to see, but there are much better ways to go about doing so then to censor everything.
I'm going to agree with Mr. D on this one. I actually did a study on the effects of violent media on people (young and old) in a psychology class last semester and found that only people who are considered mentally unstable by psychiatric standards are susceptible to being influenced by any sort of on-screen violence. So, if you're considered of sound mind, it won't have a significant effect on you. And, while children are at a young age, parents should be monitoring what they are watching and be their own judge of whether their child's mind can take it or not. I can even post an example from a study in one of my textbooks.
It's quite anoying how people try to get into the homes n' minds of everyone. If a child is seeing/listening/playing something she/he shouldn't then it is in no aspect, any concern of anyones except that child and that childs parents.public schools are even getting in on it, offering to delete students myspaces, and forcing them to do comunity service in order to graduate. teaching those kinds of morals in school is fine but when it becomes a requirement it's too far. if a parent thinks their kid should be doing comunity service, fine. but in what way is it the schools place to force it? they need to teach n' then mind their own buisness and this whole censor shit is useless, putting a warning sticker on everything is understandable to a point but afterwords what the fuck can they do except blame people afterwords... your fucking warning sticker is all over my CDs n' shit and my OCD ass just has to get 'em off and then the sticker rips and half of it will never fucking come of the damn thing and i never wanna look at the ugly album cover ever again because of this giant white mark on it. what else could they possibly want?..fucking tools
It's quite anoying how people try to get into the homes n' minds of everyone. If a child is seeing/listening/playing something she/he shouldn't then it is in no aspect, any concern of anyones except that child and that childs parents.public schools are even getting in on it, offering to delete students myspaces, and forcing them to do comunity service in order to graduate. teaching those kinds of morals in school is fine but when it becomes a requirement it's too far. if a parent thinks their kid should be doing comunity service, fine. but in what way is it the schools place to force it? they need to teach n' then mind their own buisness and this whole censor shit is useless, putting a warning sticker on everything is understandable to a point but afterwords what the fuck can they do except blame people afterwords... your fucking warning sticker is all over my CDs n' shit and my OCD ass just has to get 'em off and then the sticker rips and half of it will never fucking come of the damn thing and i never wanna look at the ugly album cover ever again because of this giant white mark on it. what else could they possibly want?..fucking tools
I hate when censors or protest groups or whatever try to interject themselves into a situation that really none of their business to start with let the parents decide and monitor what they want their kids to watch if the kid is mature enough to watch so called violent content so be it me personally i have been watching horror movies since i was too and i've never had problems with nightmares and pretty much nothing scares me in movies anymore i go in wanting more gore and the most violent things you can come up with so keep your statistics to yourself and let the kids have a good horrific time
Hmmm...that's funny, I don't remember anyone with a tally sheet when I bought my TFTC seasons...or when I bought all those cheap unrated movies from Blockbuster...how can they say the majority of those items are purchased by children when they aren't taking account of EVERYONE who buys them, strange.
If a kid sees something he/she "shouldn't" that's not the industries fault. That's the parents' fault. It's time the blame got put where it fucking belongs.
If a parent lets their kids see an R rated film, buy a violent game or watch WWE on TV that's their own decision to make, not a group of f-cking censors.
That is a brilliant quote. I totally agree, its total cr@p that they think they can control what others watch.
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