The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints about the film posters used to promote one of this year’s many comics-based movies, Wanted. Apparently, so the complainants allege, the use of the highly stylised guns and their poses with attractive actors such as James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie ‘glamorised’ the use of weapons and were especially inappropriate when there were concerns about a growth of gun crime in the UK. Universal pictures said they had not been made aware of any concerns by those handling their promotional media and that because of the weapons on show the movie posters had already been restricted and not posted up at locations too close to schools. Is there anyone else here who wants to shake these people and point out that most people – including younger folks – can differentiate between the worlds of fantasy and reality and the few who can’t are likely to be triggered by almost any stimulus, including parts of holy books? Given that every single night sees a firefight between British squaddies and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan on national news beamed right into our homes, its hard to credit that anyone thinks a fantastical, highly posed movie poster image is going to give kids the idea that violence is acceptable. Surely there are bigger issues to be concerned about? Once upon a time cowboys and Indians was a popular game for school kids to play but most of us didn’t grow up to run around on a horse with a six-shooter stealing native land.

I dunno, next they will be telling us that films, comics, rock and hip-hop music and video games are all corrupting youth and that’s why the kids are all running rampant in the street with guns in one hand, knives in the other and a syringe clamped between their teeth, couldn’t possibly be anything to do with personal parenting responsibility, must be the movies/comics/TV/music/games… (via the BBC)