This ain't a PG-13 world

Remember back in the '80s and early '90s when filmmakers rarely shied away from sex and violence? I do. But now, studio suits and hacks are more concerned with the bottom line as opposed to the quality of the flicks they're producing, spurring tepid, sanitized cinematic works to appease the masses in our post-Sept. 11 climate. Gutless filmmaking is currently in vogue, and I for one am dissatisfied.\nNow don't misunderstand me, there's plenty of flicks out there that work perfectly well with a G, PG or even PG-13 rating. Inspirational, slice-of-life dramas such as "Field of Dreams" (one of my schmaltzy PG favorites) work well within these constraints -- I don't really care to see Ray (Kevin "What the hell happened to my career?" Costner) and Anni Kinsella (Amy Madigan) get freaky in a corn field. And more so, Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) needn't tattoo Salinger-esque author Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) with a bat for sounding ominously like Darth Vader. The flick's called "Field of Dreams," not "Field of Screams," and for a very specific reason.\nThe things that really piss me off are movies that, for all practical purposes, should be rated R but sidestep that rating in hopes of churning out higher profits. This is most relevant within the realm of action cinema. In the '80s, action flicks such as "Commando" and "RoboCop" heaped on the sex and violence in order to appease male audiences. Now we've got clean-cut PG-13 action-adventure pics such as "Mission Impossible II" (which, admittedly, I liked, but not nearly as much as John Woo's edgier stuff) and the upcoming shoot-'em-up "The Transporter." The men behind these films, Woo and Luc Besson, were titans of expertly crafted bloodbaths back when they made their seminal works, "The Killer" and "La Femme Nikita," in the late '80s and in their own countries (China and France, respectively).\nSure, these films were made for niche audiences, but what's wrong with that? Studios might not make as much money on flicks like these, but they're bound to be infinitely more entertaining than a pseudo-action movie like "XXX." What we're witnessing is the conglomerization of American cinema -- filmmaking by way of McDonald's, with billions served.\nAnother genre that has suffered under the ridiculous constraints of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and crass commercialization is the comedy, especially the teen comedy. Flicks like "Animal House" and "Caddyshack" wore dick and fart jokes as badges of honor (and they were actually funny!) and weren't afraid of flashing breasts for comedic or somewhat salacious effect. And, remarkably, it wasn't demeaning, just laughable.\nWithin the past few years, only one teen-oriented comedy has truly broken new ground, that being the highly underrated "Road Trip." Sure, breasts are flashed in abundance, but these conventions are ultimately turned on their head and revealed to be nothing more than delusions of the overzealous male libido. What's more offensive? Young adults engaging in consensual sex or someone taking a penis in the ear á la "Scary Movie?"\nSadly, many youths are left with crappy teen pics such as "Ten Things I Hate About You" and "She's All That." Well, nudity or no nudity, I've found more than 10 things I hate about this junk, and these flicks are far from all that. It's as though Freddie Prinze Jr. and MPAA President Jack Valenti are trying to soil everything that's good and pure about cinema from the third ring of hell.\nWe as filmgoers should put a stop to this half-assed school of filmmaking. Action movies should be bloody -- it comes with the turf. Teen and collegiate comedies should, when appropriate, depict kids smoking bud, drinking brew and engaging in sexual acts, because, well, that's what most kids are into.\nHonesty is the key to solid filmmaking, and that doesn't necessarily entail an onslaught of boobs and blood. But let's face it folks: we don't live in a PG-13 world. Issues of violence and sexuality pervade our society, and without third-person introspection, little will change for the better.\nSadly, films are rarely made in this manner any more. Therefore, we should embrace independent films, foreign films and studio films made by directors with enough clout to retain the final cut because this is quickly becoming our only outlet for original, realistic filmmaking with a spine.