Young Writers Society

Im 15, If I draw gore and violence equal to an M rated movie, should I be allowed to watch that movie?

Not necisarily. Depends on what your parents think. Just because you know about that stuff, doesnt mean they should play it into your hands.

And I think you mean R rated movie- not M. M is for games.

If your mature and understand the content that is being splayed, why not? I've been watching horror flicks since I was a wee little one, and my parents didn't do much, just my mom discouraged it, but didn't enforce her views-I turned out ok(except I don't watch em much these days; hardly at all). Whats wrong with seeing a guys head being smashed inwards and his teeth coming out of the back, embedded in his brains?

I saw my first R rated movie when I was 16. My dad took me to see The Matrix for my birthday. Just because you think you're mature doesn't make it so. There are effects violent and sexual content can have upon you that are unforseen and often dangerous.

Galatea wrote:I saw my first R rated movie when I was 16. My dad took me to see The Matrix for my birthday. Just because you think you're mature doesn't make it so. There are effects violent and sexual content can have upon you that are unforseen and often dangerous.

and if you know your mature enough?
Dont go an say "you dont know until its too late" or "you never know your ready until someone else tells you..." blah blah blah.
If I draw gore at the same volume as an R rated movie, wouldnt the gore that I have drawn have an unforseen and dangerous impact on me?

Its like saying your in 8th grade, and you really have the brains to be in 12th, but you gotta wait all the way till your in 12th grade to be in 12th grade.

. There are effects violent and sexual content can have upon you that are unforseen and often dangerous.

Aka "GTA made me do it".
No, Ive played GTA, and it was an alright game, but it didnt make me think one bit about killing someone.
Neither did mercenary, or Warhammer 40k, or star craft (now that was a nice game, played it when I was like 8 )
None of them made me want to kill something, and from 8 years old, it still has no effect on me.
I dont really understand the "unforseen and often dangerous" area of it. Will I suddenly turn into a raving madman? Rapist?

Keep in mind this is all hypothetical.

Unforseen effects?

I'm not really supposed to watch R-rated movies...and yet, read some of my stuff and realize it's not exactly butterflies and rainbows. (Just ask Misty. )

The movie's not to blame. It's your own imagination that'll do it.

My opinion in this case (and please no one jump on me for this) is that if you know enough to be able to draw that kind of picture, then the images/ideas are already in your head and whatever damage that is going to occur has already been done.

The question I would raise here, is who you would then show a picture like that to. I've written stories that involved murders (and pretty graphic ones) that I then decided not to show anyone else because I didn't want to put those images into thier heads.

So, I guess what I'm saying, is that you can draw it, but you should think before you show it to other people your age.

Dude, relax. There will be plently of time for R movies. Believe me.

Drawing pictures and watching movies are two completely different things, seeing as the images you are drawing come from your own imagination, and you know what to expect. It's a bit like writing your own horror stories, they don't freak you out because you wrote them. So The idea that you draw violent images shouldn't effect whether or not you can watch R rated movies.

However, I'm very strongly against censorship, and think that if you're mature enough to handle the material in R rated movies, you should be able to watch them. You seem to me like the type of person who would be perfectly fine watching R rated movies. However, your parents may not like you watching that type of movie, not only because of the gore, but also for language and sexuality. Whether or not this bothers you doesn't matter in the case as much as you seeing it bothers your parents, seeing as ultimately they get to make the decisions as to whether or not you can watch those movies. (Unless, of course, you're at a friend's house and they aren't around to tell you not to watch it. But I won't o into that.)

Either way, like Qi said, you'll have plenty of time to watch R rated movies, so don't sweat it. If you can't watch them now, you'll be able to in a few years.

*is puzzled* Aren't M movies usually rated for 15+? ... oh no, wait. There's probably a different rating system here.

M is ESRB for video games and television. Television it denotes 14 + video games it denotes 17+

R is for movies. 17+.


Bottom line, what your parents say goes. R movies aren't that great. Aside from the swearing, and an occasional boob every now and then, you aren't missing anything.

*I happen to be a hardcore violence/war movie junkie, so my veiws on this might be less than accurate *
Personally, I say screw the ratings. Of course, my parents decide what I can watch/play, but nonetheless my entertainment library contains many "M" rated games and "R" movies.

In your case...
If you are already exposed to "lifelike violence" via your drawings , then you shoud have the right to see similar content, just as bad if not milder than your drawings, in movies and/or games.

But,unfortunately, laws are laws, whether they're "R=18+" laws or rules imposed by parents

As I said earlier, screw the laws.
They do NOTHING to prevent your innocent little eyes from "mature content";like you said, you can draw all you want but not see the stuff in movies.

Another example of how the rating system does nothing is sexual content.

*I DO NOT draw/read porn...the following example is just that...an EXAMPLE *
...at AGE 14, I can draw or buy a sexually explict piece of art and nothing will happen; or buy an erotica book and the cashier can do nothing about it;but if I wanted to veiw a sexualy explict R-movie, I'd have to be 17.Proves my point again.
In conclusion, the ratings do nothing to protect you anyways, so the reader should have the right to play/whatch whatever they choose.

[Sorry if I strayed off topic too much.]

I've seen R films since I can remember. Yes, even when I was 4, I remember some very grisly ones. Look what it did to me. Look what it did to Grif.

So... um... do you want to be like us?

It doesn't really make you want to do that though. Since we grew up around it, there was nothing really special about sex or violence. So it doesn't matter now. Perhaps it has made us apathetic?

Now, if you're talking about X-rated, that's a completely different boat...

and if you know your mature enough?
Dont go an say "you dont know until its too late" or "you never know your ready until someone else tells you..." blah blah blah.
If I draw gore at the same volume as an R rated movie, wouldnt the gore that I have drawn have an unforseen and dangerous impact on me?

Its like saying your in 8th grade, and you really have the brains to be in 12th, but you gotta wait all the way till your in 12th grade to be in 12th grade.

You know, when I was 15 I thought I knew everything. Then I turned 16. When I was 16 I knew everything. Then I turned 17. Do you see a pattern?

Drawing gore and watching gore are completely different things. You might be able to draw a shark biting a person's leg off, but that doesn't guarentee that you are ready for movies like "Jaws." That movie scares the bejeesuz out of me even today.

Movies are thousands upon thousands of times more intense than an art work will ever be or can ever be. Paint a picture of the Battle of Helm's deep, then watch "The Two Towers" and tell me which is more intense. 2D artwork isn't even close, sculpture is a bit closer, but even that can't compete with the added expressional value of movement and sound.

Sorry, but if your parents don't think you are ready, then you probably aren't.

I'm going to bed.

Seeing a drawing, even creating it yourself, of blood and guts is not quite the same as seeing a mans endtrails ripped out of him and poured onto the concrete, after a 50 foot drop, followed by a sudden stop.