Psychological Munster Family

A friend of mine gets the St. Louis Review. I've never heard of it before, probably because I'm not Catholic and thus completely unfamiliar with the weekly paper of the St. Louis Archdiocese. In this newspaper they review movies. Also learned about the USCCB - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office - which has its own Film & Broadcasting rating system.

I find this fascinating. My friend made a copy of this week's review of "Little Miss Sunshine." The one sentence in the entire review that I agreed with compared the movie's Hoover family to a "pyschological Munster family with the one normal kid." I actually laughed out loud. Great comparison. Very true. To be fair, the review wasn't bad. I can see their points. I wouldn't take an ten-year old to see it. Course, the R rating by the secular film rating system identifies it properly, without the Catholic paper chiming in with their two cents.

Unfortunately "LIttle Miss Sunshine" was not rated by the Bishops, only a film reviewer on staff. However, they did rate other movies ... and their ratings start at "general patronage" for movies like "Cars;" to "adults/adolescents" for "The Devil Wears Prada."

Things get slightly more racy with the label "limited adult audience," which is reserved for films whose content "many adults would find troubling". Current movies that fit this bill include "Accepted," "Night Listener," and "Talladega Nights."

Topping the charts like a category five on the Safir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is drum roll please, "morally offensive." Yes, this is the equivalent of X-rated to ye of little faith. Now showing at a theatre near you, are such morally offensives as: "Miami Vice," "Snakes on a Plane," and "Beerfest" - all tainted by an "O" rating by those wild and crazy bishops.

To check it out yourself, click here. They also have television ratings, top ten movies by year, and the Vatican Top 45 movies list. Who knew?

While I'm not an organized religion type gal and never have been/never will be Catholic, I must confess that if I had kids I just might check out these reviews before allowing a kid loose at the cinema. I am embarrassed to admit this (and hope I'd find something similar that wasn't tied to a faith), but they certainly outline all of the potentially objectionable aspects that a parent might like to know up front ... From advance warning of the "menacing sequence that may be scary for very young children" in "Ant Bully" to "sexual elements including brief footage of an orgy with partial nudity" in "Night Listener."

I remember seeing "Creepshow" and "Down & Out in Beverly Hills" with my parents as a pre-teen/young teen. Both were "R". My Dad had no clue of their rating till we were in the show. I still can't believe that my mom endorsed it. "Creepshow" was my first taste of horror (and enhanced my repugnance of cock roaches and increased the frequency of nightmares). "Down & Out" was my first glimpse of sex ed, front and center, on the big screen. I died a little during the sex scene ... not something you want to see with your parents. Betting my dad died a little too...