Little Kids vs. R-Rated Movies

When I was in junior high, my family was visiting some relatives in South Dakota. I don't remember what the occasion was -- I think it was a cousin's high school graduation. Several families were there for it, as has always been the tradition in my extraordinarily large and close extended family.

This trip was important because it was when I saw my first ever R-rated movie: "Conan the Barbarian." I saw it with a couple of my cousins who were old enough to get me in, even though we knew my parents weren't necessarily going to approve. Well, some of us knew -- the oldest of us who went is someone so guileless that it wouldn't surprise me if he'd thought I had permission to go. And this was back in the days before things like VCRs and HBO were widely available, so if you were going to see an R-rated movie, your only option was the theater.

I went into this feeling a combination of exhilaration and fear, and for someone who today makes such an issue about people talking during movies in the theater, I was too energized to possibly keep my mouth shut. The movie, for those of you who've never seen it (which is probably many) wasn't great, but you couldn't tell me this at that age.

But you know, I was in my mid-teens here. I'm not someone who would really describe myself as socially conservative, but as a teacher I have a real problem with parents who let their young kids (I'm going with eleven and younger here) watch R-rated movies. As somebody who knows a little bit about the psychology of the pre-teen mind, I can tell you that being exposed to the stuff that goes on in these movies can have a desensitizing effect on young kids. There are literally thousands of movies PG-13 and down that are great and more appropriate entertainment for kids that won't twist their sensibilities inside out.

I read an interview with Zach Galifinakis in Rolling Stone. He said when little kids tell him how great "The Hangover" was, he tells them they have awful parents and he means it. Sure, there are much bigger mistakes parents can make other than letting kids see R-rated movies, but I respect his point. If I have a kid in class start loudly blabbing away about an R movie they've seen just to show off to everyone else how cool and mature and sophisticated they are, I'll shut it down point blank: "It's an R movie. You're ten. It's ridiculous anyone allowed you to see that. Stop talking about it. I'm not impressed."

Where is all of this coming from today? Well, I just read an article online that reminded me that a remake of "Conan the Barbarian" is about to be released into theaters. We're kind of in the dog days of summer movies now here in late August, so there isn't much to pick from out there that I haven't already seen. So am I planning on going to see the new version of Conan?

Probably not. Because I don't want to run into any of my recent students at the theater.

The Next Logical Step in 140 Characters

Kind of a throwaway post tonight -- granted, that's not the best way to engage the reader, but you can probably see already this isn't very long so perhaps you'll still manage to read all the way to the end.

So anyway. While having a night of "I'm kind of bored" not long ago, I decided to start up a Twitter account. Just kind of dove into the idea without thinking too hard about it; I know, go ahead and pick your jaw up off the floor now. Ever since I started thinking about starting an account, it became about what I was going to do with it. I seriously doubt more than a dozen or so people in my everyday life are on Twitter (maybe I'll be surprised), and I already have three or four ways to get in touch with anyone I'd care to reach.

So then the question was about my platform: Do I want to try and have one of these pages where I just post a bunch of off-kilter one-liners and try to gain a following? Do I use it to network with other deluded aspiring writers? Do I move my Facebook 10-Word Movie Reviews there instead? Does it become a networking tool for my career? So many possibilities. But in the end I just decided to set up the account and see what happened. This blog surely became something different from what I thought it would be in the beginning, and I think that's worked out okay.

So if you're curious, my Twitter name is Tomulroy424. Or is it supposed to be @Tomulroy424? Something else I need to figure out. Anyway, go ahead and follow if you're on there. I'll follow back anyone who follows me.

You're Welcome

We have a new feature here on Summer Vacation, everyone! LABELS!

If you're fluent in the world of blogs, this isn't anything new for you. Labels are just categories of topics that tend come up in the posts. I decided to set some labels up when I was looking over blog features, so hopefully you imaginary readers will take advantage of them, and maybe come across something you'd like to read that you may have missed before; this thing has been going on for well over two years after all, so there I'd say there's a good chance that not everyone to follow a link here has read through all 176 of the older posts.

So what do you want to read about? Music? School? My neurotic observations? The thought processes that go into trying to write? Well, take a gander over at the right side of this window and read through the list of labels. If everything works right, all you have to do is click on a label and it will bring up every post I've written that has something to do with that category. Granted, I may have overlooked a couple when I put them together, but there's always time for corrections later.

So now catching up on things you've missed or revisiting things you've read before or just killing time in the middle of the night when you can't sleep is easier than ever. And hey, if you come across something you like, go ahead and post something about it on my Facebook wall, or leave a comment here. I'm pretty shameless about getting people to read this, which I believe was covered in the last post so I won't beat the point further into the ground.

Enjoy... hopefully....