So, I haven't been to good at this lately, but I'll be better now that it summer. I still watch a ton of movies, its just that none of them have inspired me to write till now. Sure I've watched The Avengers, Pirates! Band of Misfits, Dark Shadows, and a myriad of other films; but none of them blew me away like Take Shelter. It is thoughtful and thought provoking. I'm still thinking about it and its been about a week. The film has many themes that we all can relate to: family values, faith, duty, honor, emergency preparedness, responsibility to our community and friends, and the constant questioning of our existence and sanity. I highly recommend it to anyone.
My first reaction to the film was amazement. First, amazement at how good it was, and second, amazement that it was rated R. I didn't understand at all why it received such a rating. I looked it up and it has six "F" words. That's it. I know many of you think of this as only justification for watching an R rated film, but hear me out. The themes of the film which I mentioned in the previous paragraph are major elements of those with high morals. If you're going to let yourself miss out on such a good movie because of a few cuss words (which, by the way, your kids hear way worse at the schools they attend), then maybe you don't deserve to watch it. I get tired of those who let a rating decide whether or not they'll watch a movie. I would rather look at content than the rating. And there are plenty of websites that will tell you exactly what and why certain content is in the film. People, mostly my own family, accuse me of not properly filtering what I watch. I beg to differ. I am very careful at what I consume, its just that I don't let an R rating hold me back. The way the rating system is set up is very political and corrupt, and unfortunately, some of the better films to watch are given a harsher rating. You can watch a stupid, slutty, poorly filmed and acted movie that is rated PG-13 or you can watch a quality filmed and acted movie that is artistic and contains many relateable and thought provoking themes that is rated R. Overall, its a decision that the individual has to make, but know that the world many times is not black and white. You can easily test your morals with a PG Airplane! (full frontal nudity, anyone?), as you can with an R There Will Be Blood (no cuss words harder than 'damn' or 'hell', but it does get a little violent in one spot, count em, one). The choice is yours.
