Darguz

In the movie "Dragonfly", Kevin Costner's character says the "F" word once. At that point in the director's commentary, Tom Shadyac says, "...You can shoot a guy 3,000 times and get a 'PG-13', but if you say the 'F' word *twice* it's automatically an 'R'. I'll let that be its own comment." This was when I first started really thinking about the movie rating system as such, though the subject of our society's (by which I mean primarily America) bizarre, obsessive, unhealthy attitude toward nudity and sex is something which I have thought about for a long time. We are obsessed with nudity and sex -- as the old saying goes, "Sex sells," (which is understood to mean nudity, which of course is *not* the same as sex) -- and at the same time, apparently utterly terrified of it. This split has led us, as a society, to a point of hysterical insanity on the subject, and given us the highest incidence of teen pregnancy in the world, and by FAR the highest incidence of rape -- close to 10 times higher than the next-highest country.

This film offers a greatly detailed perspective on one major manifestation of the issue, the movie censorship system -- sorry, I mean "rating" system. The side-by-side comparison of R and NC-17 scenes was particularly revealing. It just boggles my mind that people get so twisted up on this subject.

I love the irony that the very ratings board scrutinized in this film was required to watch it. If there are any honest members on that board, perhaps it got them to think a little more about what they do and how they operate.

(P.S. the explanation of the ratings near the beginning is hilarious!)

The show up to this point had its flaws, but overall was enjoyable and, importantly, *consistent*. Listen, writers: you establish a character by showing how they behave in various situations. And while this show is still new and the characters are still being developed, Mary sleeping with the witness is *so* out of character with what's been established so far. As soon as I saw that in the promos, I had a bad feeling. If you had at least built it up a little, but instead you fall back on a cliché. And from there it goes from cliché to cliché to cliché. Five squad cars pulling up, sirens blazing, guns drawn, full Kevlar and handcuffs...to pick someone up for *questioning*? Not even an arrest? With absolutely zero evidence? The lawyers would be lining up to try that lawsuit.

Hopefully you'll get back on track next week. The preview looks interesting. Learn your lesson from this, and don't do anything like it again.