Adult or Mature?

[Sabre]

I often here the argument that games, films ect. that are rated 18 or 'for mature audences only' should be rated 12 or 'imature teens' because what is considered adult is acctually nothing more then rediculous, imature teenage fantasy that only teens are interested in.

On the one hand, games like postal and films like jackass prove this point very well.

On the other, we have stuff like Halo, Bioshock and District 9 that have themes and messages that go way over the head of any child and even most grown ups.

Then there is stuff like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=yrqOX0NHIcc

At first, it just seems to be a 2D platform game with unusually detailed death animations. However, I'm told that it is a game designed to please people with a vore (being eaten alive) fetish.

This begs the question of whether anything could, or even should be considered mature under the premise of adult = teen crap, or should stuff be kept locked away from the eyes of children?

[Steve]

The ratings don't matter that much if there are kids still playing those games, and you can easily realize that if you look around the forum, instead of looking at the bright side of games with a strong sense of story and deep strategy, they tend to get "ololol I kill everything"

6-10 year old kids should not be playing stuff like gta, and I have seen that with my own eyes. Games like that are designed for people that know what's really going on in the game.

I don't know about the teenager crap, I usually avoid/don't care for it when it comes around the gaming section. But if we are talking about movies, I just go "oh god, kill it with fire, this is dumb"

[Guest Julius Quasar]

This begs the question of whether anything could, or even should be considered mature under the premise of adult = teen crap, or should stuff be kept locked away from the eyes of children?

Europe has porn on TV all the time, as does Brazil, Russia, etc., and the parents don't care if their kids see it.  Americans, however, are so "squeaky clean" Puritan, they scream at the very sight of it....it's our "Eek, you're going to the bathroom!  That's a sin!" uptight Puritan roots that make Americans scared of R and X Rated stuff.  :roll:

["User"]

Europe has porn on TV all the time, as does Brazil, Russia, etc., and the parents don't care if their kids see it.  Americans, however, are so "squeaky clean" Puritan, they scream at the very sight of it....it's our "Eek, you're going to the bathroom!  That's a sin!" uptight Puritan roots that make Americans scared of R and X Rated stuff. 

While that may be true, Americans have a higher tolerance for things like extreme violence, language...basically anything non-sexual than other countries.

[Vy'drach]

While that may be true, Americans have a higher tolerance for things like extreme violence, language...basically anything non-sexual than other countries.

Don't think that's such a good thing, though. Those countries don't seem to have such a high level of teen pregnancy and such caused by the "forbidden fruit" effect of sex over here. Also, they seem to be less desensitized to violence and gore. Here, sex is a "no-no" type thing to children and teenagers, which causes the teens to want it more because of the rebellious nature teens get. It's one more rule to violate (the rampaging hormones don't help, of course). It becomes some mystical thing, rather than a fact of life, which it should be viewed as.

As for the rest of the topic, I've noticed as graphic quality raised, the level they took it to lowered. Back in the original DOOMs, there would be half-eaten human torsos still lying on the ground, quivering, or people impaled on spikes, quite gruesomely. Now though, they cut back on things. Aliens vs. Predator, a game that Rebellion said, "We're not making it for anything but adults" had it's violence level cut back. And not the gore though, you still see the human spine, esophagus, and arteries dangling from the severed human head, swaying ever so nicely with the Predator's movements, but the psychological things they were to have were removed, such as the human head still moving its eyes and the mouth quivering, hinting at the brain still being alive and functioning. Those things are still there with some of the executions you do to the Aliens, such as punching their faces off. They still reach for the gaping hole that was their face for a moment before finally dying.

[Fana McCloud]

I think our entire notion of when someone is an "adult" is skewed to begin with. We are adults when we've gone through puberty, period. 18, or whatever the age of majority is in the place one resides, tends to be an artificial and arbitrary age to call someone an adult, it's just ridiculous. If you're a teen, you're most likely an adult and can handle that stuff. Younger children most certainly should not be exposed to it, as their brains and basic notions about the world are still developing. So I absolutely think that R and M ratings are pretty much a useless distinction.

[Sabre]

Sounds like you are teen. I was a dumb teenager, but you think you are mature and worldly wise at that age.

The american rating system makes no sence to anyone outside of it. In Britain it's simple. You have to => the age on the box. In the US it's R, M, X, A, D, C, ect.

[Vy'drach]

For movies, things are pretty much X = adult only, R = 18+ without adult supervision, PG-13 = 13+ without adult supervision, and E and whatnot is just fine and dandy for all.

Games, it's more a matter of a warning the adults (at least that's what it's supposed to be) what the content of the game is like. M might mean, "This game has people swearing like a sailor, shooting up heroin, flirting with skimpy dressed girls, and brains being splattered on walls." Parents can see that and think, "I don't mind if my son plays a game like this," or, "Oh, I don't want little Timmy playing this, let's go for Carebear Adventures instead."

[Sarita]

For movies, things are pretty much X = adult only, R = 18+ without adult supervision, PG-13 = 13+ without adult supervision, and E and whatnot is just fine and dandy for all.

Games, it's more a matter of a warning the adults (at least that's what it's supposed to be) what the content of the game is like. M might mean, "This game has people swearing like a sailor, shooting up heroin, flirting with skimpy dressed girls, and brains being splattered on walls." Parents can see that and think, "I don't mind if my son plays a game like this," or, "Oh, I don't want little Timmy playing this, let's go for Carebear Adventures instead."

A minor correction, you can see rated R movies at 17. <:

I also agree with you. In the end, I really think it's up to the parents to decide what their kids play, and if they read the description and decide "hey, this doesn't seem like that bad a game, I don't mind if my kid plays this." That's their prerogative.

["User"]

A minor correction, you can see rated R movies at 17. <:

You can see R rated movies at any age if a parent or legal guardian accompany you.  Maybe that's why when I went to see Kickass a bunch of kids were asking me if they could give me money so I could buy them tickets and be their "guardian".  Sheesh.  :roll:

[Sarita]

You can see R rated movies at any age if a parent or legal guardian accompany you.  Maybe that's why when I went to see Kickass a bunch of kids were asking me if they could give me money so I could buy them tickets and be their "guardian".  Sheesh. 

Of course. xD I know that, I was just correcting the age.

I've never had a kid come up to ask me to be their guardian, that's really funny. xD Most kids I know that are interested in seeing a rated R movie just buy tickets to some other movie and go see the rated R one instead.

[Fana McCloud]

Sounds like you are teen. I was a dumb teenager, but you think you are mature and worldly wise at that age.

People think that of themselves at ANY age - we're all learning ALL the time yet we always feel like we're so awesome for what we DO know to the point of getting cocky over it at times. Unless we want to start testing people to see if they're "ready" for adulthood (which plenty of cultures DO have rituals for, and many others used to), I don't see the point in holding everyone back because some teenagers haven't quite gotten it straight yet.

[Sabre]

People think that of themselves at ANY age - we're all learning ALL the time yet we always feel like we're so awesome for what we DO know to the point of getting cocky over it at times. Unless we want to start testing people to see if they're "ready" for adulthood (which plenty of cultures DO have rituals for, and many others used to), I don't see the point in holding everyone back because some teenagers haven't quite gotten it straight yet.

But then again, what's the hurry? Im 24 and I dont drink, drive, gamble or have sex. Given that you are going to be spending your life doing those things anyway, what's the big hurry?