RUMOR MILL

Among the findings are that the movie industry advertises for R-rated movies during television shows watched by teenagers, that Mature-rated video games are advertised in magazines aimed at teens and that it’s easy for underage teens to get tickets to R-rated movies.

Monday, August 28, 2000

FTC SAYS VIOLENT ENTERTAINMENT AIMED AT CHILDREN

Senior Citizens Really Like Pokemon, Matlock

A draft report from the Federal Trade Commission based on a year-long study ordered in the wake of several school shootings finds that the entertainment industry markets violent entertainment to youth, according to the Washington Post.

That's an entire year's work, mind you.

Among the findings are that the movie industry advertises for R-rated movies during television shows watched by teenagers (gasp!), that Mature-rated video games are advertised in magazines aimed at teens (the horror!), that it's easy for underage teens to get tickets to R-rated movies (who among you didn't sneak into "Porky's"?) and that kids will try to watch "The Sopranos" when their parents are out of the room.

In a completely unrelated study, the Justice Department reported Sunday that violent crime has dropped to its lowest level since it started keeping track of such things in 1973. The crime rate dropped 10.4% in 1999, to 28.8 million violent and property crimes. To our knowledge, no one has credited the entertainment industry for these improved conditions.

Hey, is it time to build more prisons yet?

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FTC SAYS VIOLENT ENTERTAINMENT AIMED AT CHILDREN

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