Age restrictions in the cinema in age of the Internet?

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pawelk1986
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28 Aug 2014, 4:54 pm

remember my first year undergraduate library science, I had a lecture on the history of philosophy, it was just one semester, but all the students liked the professor's lectures.
The professor once raised the issue of age limits in theaters in Poland are age restrictions on films, but this limitation has long since ceased to be enforced, this law exists virtually only on paper. Professor said that once communism age limits were enforced very sharply, the professor told us then even an anecdote that movies from "rotten West", especially those from America, of course, that that got acceptance "of the Central Office for the Control of the Press, Publications and Performances- (Office of Censorship) "is when the film was released in the United States with limited age of 13 years, Poland had a limit of 16 years, and if you had an age limit of 16 years, Poland had a limit of 18 years and above.
The professor said that the cinema at the time of communism in Poland, very adhere to age restrictions.

Communism collapsed in Poland, political censorship was abolished, although age restrictions remained, as much as they existed even in my youth, even though they were respected very selective thanks to VHS video tapes:)
It is now the Polish young people have access to broadband Internet, age restrictions no longer apply, since the cinema owner knows how to refuse to sell a ticket because of age, such teenager will go to a competitive cinema or movie will download it legally from the Internet?

The professor lamented that young people do not see anything wrong with that de facto stealing someone's intellectual property, that after all this can wait a few years and watch a movie legally, when they have the have appropriate age.

Now the theater owners especially those run by private owners turn a blind eye when it comes to their 13 year old wanting to buy a ticket for a movie allowed from 16 years:-)
Unlike Public Cinemas subsided by Polish ministry of Culture, or from Municipal Budget from state or local tax money, they not get public money Soo the just want to earn money :D



RetroGamer87
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28 Aug 2014, 7:53 pm

There are a lot of outdated rules that still exist on paper in the age of the internet. Technology moves faster than law. Culture moves faster than law. This is for the best.

Would it really be so bad if a 13 year old saw a movie meant for 16 year olds? What would he see? Violence? Will seeing acts of violence inspire some kid to acts of violence? Under certain circumstances yes but probably for the 12 and under crowd. For this to happen the violence must be imitable, not sci-fi violence, not fantasy violence, not swords and sandals. Even if its in a present day setting that doesn't mean it's imitable. Should a gore film received a higher rating? No because the stuff in gore films isn't imitable. Kids are actually more likely to imitate low key violence. It's more within their means. It may not be the violence itself but the way low key violence is presented so casually, as though it's "normal". If kids think it's a normal everyday thing that people do casually, they'll think they should do it. I mean kids, not teenagers, not the hypothetical 13 year old.

Some censors say kids or teenagers will not be inspired to violence from seeing violence but will be traumatised by it. Why would they get traumatised by their favourite movie or video game?

What else might the 13 year old see? Nudity? If I saw naked on screen as a child, I didn't get corrupted, I just thought they funny looking. I couldn't get corrupted by something I didn't understand. What if a teenager sees nudity on screen? What if it inspires him to lustful thoughts? Big deal. That wouldn't be the end of the world. The censors would like to think teenagers are totally asexual in both thought and action until the moment they reach 18. That's simply a fantasy.


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TallyMan
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29 Aug 2014, 4:09 am

Even in the age of the internet people don't watch everything that is out there. There are things that once viewed cannot be "unviewed". I speak for example of the video of the Foley journalist being beheaded. I had no desire to go and look at that video or of the many other videos that apparently exist showing various forms of torture and execution. Similarly I have no desire to seek out rape videos or other nasties on the internet. In an age where everyone, children included, have access to view just about anything on the internet, a certain amount of self-regulation is necessary if one is to sleep at night and avoid possible psychological damage possibly even as far as post traumatic stress disorder. Gruesome scenes in movies are one thing, but some of the stuff on the internet is real and I do not want to view it.


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