The Teen Choice Awards airs this
Sunday on Fox. I can't think of a show less appropriately titled than
this one. Almost every one of the movie nominations are rated "R".
I understand the whole "pushing the envelope" thing in
the entertainment industry, but I really don't know why Nickelodeon
(parent company: Viacom) keeps forcing adult content down
the throats of kids.
Oh wait, yes I do. Advertising
revenue. Instead of an awards
show with commercials and product placement geared
towards pre-teens and teens, we now have a show that's akin to a porn
flick packaged in Toys R Us wrapping paper. It's actually quite smart. Sick,
but smart.
The
Teen Choice Awards are the brain child of Nickelodeon. When parents
see that bright orange paint splat they automatically think
the show is ok for all children
in their house to watch. Nickelodeon's own
website promotes the show as a family-friendly,
with nominees like iCarly and Justin Beiber, and page ads for Trix Cereal, The Smurfs movie and McDonald's. But let’s look at little closer
at the nominees:
No Strings Attached (R) –
Nominated for Choice Movie: Romantic Comedy
Bad Teacher (R) –
Nominated for Choice Movie: Comedy
Wonder why aren’t any of the above nominees listed on Nick’s
website? Could it be the 'R' ratings, the consequence-free
sex, drunken hook-ups, drug use, prostitution, and full frontal nudity of men and women? The
horror movie nominees are so raw and twisted that they’re actually referred to
as "torture
porn” in the critic arena.
But let me be clear: If you're an adult, I could care
less where your amusement center is. For most, it seems to be in their crotch
area. But it's a free world-- laugh it up. If you get off
watching people being shredded to ribbons like in the Saw franchises, go for it. Just leave the kids out of it.
And let’s talk
about the giant purple dinosaur in the room: If "R" rated movies are
for 17 and up, is Nickelodeon saying the awards are only meant for that age range? This is from the MPAA's own website:
"...Children under 17 are not allowed to attend R-rated motion pictures unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Parents are strongly urged to find out more about R-rated motion pictures in determining their suitability for their children. Generally, it is not appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them to R-rated motion pictures."
My niece Emily is ten years old. She's not allowed to
watch Teen Nick (and I heartily agree with that ruling). She told me she rarely
watches the Teen Choice Awards, like many of her friends. "Why not?"
I asked her. "Well, maybe if they had some more choices [nominees] for
like, stuff I could see, I'd vote and watch it. But everything is PG-13 and R
rated so I don't even know what to vote for." Maybe she should write to
Nickelodeon and demand more from a network her parents pay big bucks to have in
their home. She is after all, the client.
I’ll save her the stamp. Viacom is making sure they have enough
viewers to spare. Sure, if the awards were geared towards kid-centered content,
I'm sure only kids would watch. But throw in movies with rampant drug use, drunk
driving, rules-free sex and sadistic torture, and you have a show the whole
family, from kid to adult, can identify with.
| No Strings Attached: Best Rom Com Nominee |
 |
| Saw 3D: Best Horror Nominee |
| The Hangover: Part 2. Best Comedy Nominee |
| Let Me In: Best Horror Nominee |
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing this info. But I don't understand why in reporting/blogging on such obviously disturbing actions and intentions of Nickelodeon, a formally family friendly brand, you and others always need to soften your words and pamper to critics with statements like 'I understand the whole "pushing the envelope"' Is it really necessary to allude to acceptable business practices or artistic license (or for whatever reason you made that statement), when there is really nothing understandable about how the media is bombarding our children with filth and porn and violence?
Is it really necessary to always remind people that you don't care what adults do... blah, blah, blah... but just leave the kids out? You say "let me be clear", but then you just muddy your opinion by having to compare adults to children. The message would be much clearer and come with more convincing force if you just state it how it is without the extra padding. Does it really help anyway? If some adult is so caught up in themselves and there own habits that they are offended by your defense of our children... if they are so worried that you are trying to strip away their "adult" rights... then your brief disclaimers will not really appease them anyway.
I couldn't agree more. Teen choice should be movies should be movies appropriate for TEENS. I know plenty of kids not allowed to watch PG-13 until they are 13 and R until they are adult since that's what the ratings are designed to do... give us an age appropriate guess at which movies to let our kids (and ourselves) watch.
Ugh. Hollywood must have a thing against letting kids be kids.
I agree, I don't let my son watch 3/4 of the stuff on Nick and 'Teen Choice Awards' are no exception. There is enough garbage on without adding to it. If we compare entertainment from just 20 no, 30 years ago with today and compare statistics we can watch crime rise and education fall in unison with the trash which is now deemed as acceptable teen and child entertainment. This angers me to no end. Thank you for blogging and I will share on Facebook.
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