How depressing!

I read something about this a while back.

Hollywood wins legal fight against sanitized DVDs

(a small exerpt from the article, click the link above to read in it's entirity)

"LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A federal judge in Colorado has handed the entertainment industry a big win in its protracted legal battle against a handful of small companies that offer sanitized versions of theatrical releases on DVD.

The case encompasses two of Hollywood's biggest headaches these days: the culture wars and the disruptive influence of digital technologies.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch came down squarely on the side of the Directors Guild of America and the major studios in his ruling that the companies must immediately cease all production, sale and rentals of edited videos. The summary judgment issued Thursday requires the companies -- Utah-based CleanFlicks, CleanFilms and Play It Clean Video, Arizona-based Family Flix USA and the separate entity CleanFlicks of Colorado -- to turn over all existing copies of their edited movies to lawyers for the studios for destruction within five days of the ruling.

Utah's CleanFlicks, which describes itself as the largest distributor of edited movies, through online sales and rentals and sales to video stores in Utah, Arizona and other states in the region, said it would continue its fight against the guild and the studios. CleanFlicks and the others make copies of official DVD releases and then edit them for sex, nudity, violence and profanity."

The companies that have dared to attempt to edit out smut, foul language and crude behavior so that perhaps FAMILIES coulds sit and watch a PG movie together with thier kids.

I have said it before, I am not a prude, but enough is enough already.

I will be sitting here watching Lifetime in our living room and a pretty graphic and risky love scene will come on while my kids are sitting here with me and I will have to cover my son's eyes and tell my kids to look away or what I usually do is turn the channel. For myself, if I am watching this by myself, I wouldn't even pay much attention but knowing my kids are around to see this, man, not only is it uncomfortable but it just seems down right inappropriate to me.

When I read about these companies, I really thought that they had a great idea and wondered why Hollywood is so obsessed with drugs, murder, sex, affairs and the like. It is truly disturbing.

While driving to the fireworks on the 4th of July, we came upon a billboard. Pat and I both gave an audible breath as if we were punched in the stomach and we both knew exactly what the other was 'hmphing' about. On this billboard, there is a scantilly clad woman...bra, underware, I believe that it was a billboard advertising for a country music act...one in which was to be performed by a MAN!

I remember going to see Motely Crue when I was roughly 16 or 17 and how I just thought it was so disgraceful to see the women dancing in the cages on-stage. My disgust comes not from jealousy but more of a "What ever happened to women having a little self respect?" To use their bodies like that and to wear next to nothing. And yes, I was thinking that at the young age that I was. Flaunting my body just has never really been something that appealed to me.

I am not above wearing tank tops or mini skirts but honestly, that is done on the weekends when I know that I won't be going out in public. Even then, I get a little uncomfortable in front of my kids.

Trying to teach our kids to have some respect for themselves has definately been an uphill battle with the forces that be. I am sad to see that these companies lost the battle. It's really hard to rent movies to watch with our kids these days. Ones that Pat and I haven't seen that are rated PG...we think they will be innocent enough only to realize too late that the movie is laced with sexual inuendos or scantilly clad women, or crude dialogue. So we have simply stopped trying to find a movie that we feel is appropriate.

Even SpongeBob is vulgar. Rugrats was not allowed in this house once I started to see the affect it had on our youngest daughter. I saw her becoming Angelica. And I actually liked watching Rugrats. It's sad though, kids cartoons are becoming more and more of the adult humor aspect.

In looking at the big picture, it begs the question, what ever happened to keeping the family unit as sacred and pure as humanly possible? What ever happened to protecting our kids from such things?

I don't know about others but this is a fight worth fighting, one in which helps parents to parent their kids and teach them at their own pace, not at the pace that the movies like to move. I wonder when rated G will become the next rated R. I don't think it's that far behind...