FARK.com: (4874926) "There is a common misconception that sex, violence, and obscenity sell, but nearly 80 years of research prove that this is not true," says man who has apparently misread the results of nearly 80 years of research

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		"There is a common misconception that sex, violence, and obscenity sell, but nearly 80 years of research prove that this is not true," says man who has apparently misread the results of nearly 80 years of research (bighollywood.breitbart.com)		46
		More: Dumbass, common misconceptions, movie industry, Motion Picture Association of America, moviegoers, family films, lowest common denominator, Parents Television Council, Brigham Young University

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46 Comments (+0 »)

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SnakeLee

2009-12-21 11:09:53 AM

FTFA

For example, for nearly 30 years, when Hollywood was run according to the Motion Picture Code of Decency, enforced by the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Film Office, the movie industry saw an unprecedented economic boom. That fiscal prosperity only began to wane when Christian churches pulled away from Hollywood in the 1960s and movies reached increasingly new levels of immorality featuring more and more graphic sex, violence, and obscene language.

What sells is CONTROVERSY over sex, violence and obscenity. If "moralists" would shut up and not make a big deal out of such things, the work would have to stand up on it's own merit and probably wouldn't do as well. Also, 2009 was the most profitable year for movies ever, grossing over $10 Billion, which sort of plays with the theory that they were more profitable when churches were backing them (as well as the one that says "piracy" is cutting into their profits).

GAT_00

2009-12-21 11:15:57 AM

SnakeLee: What sells is CONTROVERSY over sex, violence and obscenity.

This is the big thing. It isn't the sex, violence and obsecenity that sell, but the fact that people made a controversy over the sex, violence and obscenity. If the religious right would just shut the fark up and stop biatching at every little "offensive" thing they see, the offensive things would stop appearing so much. Of course, the religious right just needs to shut the fark up period.

patrick767

2009-12-21 11:16:27 AM

I for one refuse to go to a film unless it has a plethora of sex, violence, and obscenity!

/not exactly
//but the family films they trumpet bore me
///"Family film" means "kiddie movie" almost every time

St_Francis_P

2009-12-21 11:24:53 AM

Also, nearly two decades of research by Movieguide, a non-profit family guide to movies and entertainment supported by Christian donors and general subscriptions, shows that family friendly movies with no graphic sex, violence, and obscene language earn more than two to six times as much money at the box office, on average, as movies with such graphic content.

LOL. How amazing that this group of people responded that way.

/Next up: water is wet!

Barbigazi

2009-12-21 11:25:41 AM

patrick767: I for one refuse to go to a film unless it has a plethora of sex, violence, and obscenity!

/not exactly
//but the family films they trumpet bore me
///"Family film" means "kiddie movie" almost every time

Jefe, what is a plethora?

EvilEgg

2009-12-21 11:31:55 AM

Barbigazi: Jefe, what is a plethora?

Fancy talk for a bunch

Barbigazi

2009-12-21 11:36:31 AM

EvilEgg: Barbigazi: Jefe, what is a plethora?

Fancy talk for a bunch

Well, he told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if he knows what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

sigdiamond2000

2009-12-21 11:40:18 AM

Being a social conservative religious square must be so exhausting in this day and age. Shielding themselves and their children from reality has got to be a 24/7/365 job. For their sake, I certainly hope the payoff is good in the end.

SnakeLee

2009-12-21 11:43:15 AM

Barbigazi: Well, he told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if he knows what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

Forgive him, El Barbigazi. He does not have your superior intellect and education.

impaler

2009-12-21 11:55:43 AM

FTFA:
For example, for nearly 30 years, when Hollywood was run according to the Motion Picture Code of Decency, enforced by the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Film Office, the movie industry saw an unprecedented economic boom. That fiscal prosperity only began to wane when ~~Christian churches pulled away from Hollywood in the~~ TVs became ubiquitous in U.S. households in the 1960s

FTFY

yogaFLAME

2009-12-21 12:22:43 PM

/Ironically, a movie that had little of the three.

ne2d

2009-12-21 12:38:15 PM

sigdiamond2000: Being a social conservative religious square must be so exhausting in this day and age. Shielding themselves and their children from reality has got to be a 24/7/365 job. For their sake, I certainly hope the payoff is good in the end.

Culture warriors are like those Japanese soldiers you hear about--they don't realize the war ended 30 years ago and their side lost.

littlett's

2009-12-21 01:17:06 PM

Since the writers have ran out of ideas, they have no choice but using sex and violence to sell movies.

Just look at Micheal Bay.

Rapmaster2000

2009-12-21 01:17:43 PM

For example, for nearly 30 years, when Hollywood was run according to the Motion Picture Code of Decency, enforced by the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Film Office, the movie industry saw an unprecedented economic boom. That fiscal prosperity only began to wane when Christian churches pulled away from Hollywood in the 1960s and movies reached increasingly new levels of immorality featuring more and more graphic sex, violence, and obscene language.

www.tltgroup.org

So here's the question - does the author know that he is doing this? Basically, is he stupid or dishonest?

The All-Powerful Atheismo

2009-12-21 01:21:22 PM

Rapmaster2000:
So here's the question - does the author know that he is doing this? Basically, is he stupid or dishonest?

Yes

Babwa Wawa

2009-12-21 01:22:06 PM

The only time I go to the movies is with my kids. I get precious little time with my wife - I'm not going to waste it in a movie theater.

However, I do spend money on adult-oriented entertainment. Not Adult Entertainment, but the other kind. Between cable, netflix, xbox, etc, I spend far more on stuff that I don't let my kids see than I do on the theater.

So yeah subby's right.

fookin eejit

2009-12-21 01:25:06 PM

Never trust anyone in a bow tie

oldebayer

2009-12-21 01:25:40 PM

Barbigazi: patrick767: I for one refuse to go to a film unless it has a plethora of sex, violence, and obscenity!

/not exactly
//but the family films they trumpet bore me
///"Family film" means "kiddie movie" almost every time

Jefe, what is a plethora?

A plethora is sexy, violent and obscene all at once. They are banned in Boston.

Kyosuke

2009-12-21 01:30:13 PM

Rapmaster2000: Basically, is he stupid or dishonest?

Maybe one caused the other.

dittybopper

2009-12-21 01:31:26 PM

SnakeLee:
What sells is CONTROVERSY over sex, violence and obscenity. If "moralists" would shut up and not make a big deal out of such things, the work would have to stand up on it's own merit and probably wouldn't do as well. Also, 2009 was the most profitable year for movies ever, grossing over $10 Billion, which sort of plays with the theory that they were more profitable when churches were backing them (as well as the one that says "piracy" is cutting into their profits).

1. Gross != Profit. Gross is what you take in before you subtract out your costs. Profit is gross minus costs.

2. Look at the chart with that article:

www.thewrap.com

Note how the gross tracks with the increase in ticket price, with the number of tickets sold effecting the final number.

In essence, in inflation adjusted dollars, it looks fairly flat.

Barbigazi

2009-12-21 01:34:52 PM

oldebayer: Barbigazi: patrick767: I for one refuse to go to a film unless it has a plethora of sex, violence, and obscenity!

/not exactly
//but the family films they trumpet bore me
///"Family film" means "kiddie movie" almost every time

Jefe, what is a plethora?

A plethora is sexy, violent and obscene all at once. They are banned in Boston.

But you can get them in Rhode Island!

dalovindj

2009-12-21 01:38:20 PM

Peggy Olson: Sex sells.

Don Draper: Says who? Just so you know, the people who talk that way think that monkeys can do this. They take all this monkey crap and stick it in a briefcase, completely unaware that their success depends on something more than shoeshine. You are the product. You feeling something. That's what sells. Not them. Not sex. They can't do what we do and they hate us for it.

graphics8.nytimes.com

/hot like what sells

Thwack

2009-12-21 01:39:37 PM

I personally don't a have a problem with sex, violence and obscenities in a movie, but I'm not taking my 9 year old to see "The Hangover". So yes, there is a greater chance of me seeing a movie in the theaters if I can take my kids to see it. That does not mean "kiddie" or "family" films only though. I had no problem taking my 9 year old (8 at the time) to see Iron Man. We also enjoyed Up and Monsters vs. Aliens.

Marley'sGirl

2009-12-21 01:40:08 PM

FTA:...shows that family friendly movies with no graphic sex, violence, and obscene language earn more than two to six times as much money at the box office, on average, as movies with such graphic content.

So a movie more suitable to a greater number of viewers actually has a greater number of viewers. Wow, that's some kind of twisted, parallel universe logic I'll just never understand.

Pro Zack

2009-12-21 01:42:40 PM

fookin eejit: Never trust anyone in a bow tie

brewpublic.com

_{(shhhh it's the SAME popcorn.)}

zunkus

2009-12-21 01:46:16 PM

I don't know if they necessarily sell but sex, violence and obscenity are damn fun. Oh, and don't forget the drugs.

/I keed, I keed
//no I don't

shabu

2009-12-21 01:47:51 PM

Let's talk about the difference between poorly done sex, violence and obscenity (average porn, average slasher pic) and really well done sex, violence and obscenity (Fatal Attraction, Body Double, Body Heat, Eastern Promises, Lassie, etc).

palelizard

2009-12-21 01:49:33 PM

Rapmaster2000: For example, for nearly 30 years, when Hollywood was run according to the Motion Picture Code of Decency, enforced by the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Film Office, the movie industry saw an unprecedented economic boom. That fiscal prosperity only began to wane when Christian churches pulled away from Hollywood in the 1960s and movies reached increasingly new levels of immorality featuring more and more graphic sex, violence, and obscene language.

So here's the question - does the author know that he is doing this? Basically, is he stupid or dishonest?

I blame the Christian churches for pulling away. Why would they abandon us to the heathen wiles of pornographers?

farkeruk

2009-12-21 01:55:52 PM

According to those statistics, in the last five years, movies with no foul language averaged nearly $51.48 million at the box office, but movies with 26 or more obscenities or profanities averaged less than $24.20 million.

That's more than twice as much money!

Is it any wonder, then, that the movie industry, despite the decline in movie attendance in the past 40 years since the end of the movie production code of decency, still seems to be economically sound, while the major television networks have noticed a significant decrease in viewers in the last 10 to 15 years?

Wow. Way to work the numbers.

It tells you nothing about obscenity in movies. Sure, if Pixar suddenly had Woody telling Buzz to "go fark yourself", they'd lose a lot of viewers, but it doesn't tell you anything about whether a Scorsese movie would make less money if he cut that out.

Nor does it tell you about profitability. P T Anderson makes a lot less money than Pixar, but he made There Will Be Blood for 1/7th of the price of Up.

bravian

2009-12-21 02:05:19 PM

Also, nearly two decades of research by Movieguide, a non-profit family guide to movies and entertainment supported by Christian donors and general subscriptions, shows that family friendly movies with no graphic sex, violence, and obscene language earn more than two to six times as much money at the box office, on average, as movies with such graphic content.

Ignoring the obvious bias that Movieguide has - perhaps the reason that "family friendly" movies make two to six times as much money is because there are less of them and they are of generally higher quality?

This is no surprise to Movieguide®, which reported a 2006 poll by The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg that most teenagers are offended by depictions of foul language and sex in movies and television.

Ok now he is just outright lying.

Fano

2009-12-21 02:09:35 PM

AaronSynn

2009-12-21 02:14:22 PM

The fact that while quickly scanning down the Fark homepage, the words 'sex' and 'violence' are what made me stop and read the headline kind of disprove that in my mind...

gshepnyc

2009-12-21 02:21:28 PM

I suppose all these flimsy people approve of "The Passion of the Christ" which was the most violent movie I ever say, definitely obscene in ways these morons can't fathom, and as for sex, well you know as well as I do that Mel Gibson was getting wood when the hunky Romans bound and whipped Jesus.

Yeah, it gave me wood too but I'm not a hypocrite about it.

madgordy

2009-12-21 02:31:42 PM

Porn is free on the internet.

MonkeyAngst

2009-12-21 02:31:48 PM

One thing I've wondered, since reading some articles from this site on Fark -- the "Breit" in "Breitbart" is pronounced "brate," right? Because otherwise, it's a homophone for a word that means entirely the opposite of what the site contains. I don't think the fabric of spacetime can withstand an irony that intense.

Dead-Guy

2009-12-21 02:34:25 PM

cuteness sells.. just ask geico.

Sex attracts attention, but it's not the "be all end all" anymore with it being so easily availible online, and saturating the market.

I don't think profanity affects anything.

Fictional violence sells to the target demographic though.

gshepnyc

2009-12-21 02:42:53 PM

Nothing sells a product (including entertainment products) that isn't already appealing on its own. So, who are these idiots trying to convince that sex, violence and dirty language aren't appealing to people they are in for a rough road.

Leave it to a conservative to argue against all evidence and all good sense.

eddiesocket

2009-12-21 03:26:55 PM

the saddest, weakest "argument" I have ever read. Wow. Oh, and movies still have more profanity, sex, and violence, than TV. So not only is the argument incredibly stupid, it's also false.

/Why am I not surprised he doesn't even bring up the magic pornocopia known as the internet?

sirrerun

2009-12-21 03:28:36 PM

This "Hollywood" overrun with "Christians" and their morality he speaks of.
When in history did this take place again?

In the time of Louis B. Mayer, and David Selnick?
Chapman and Zukor, Goldwyn and Laemmele?

That Hollywood?

narcolepticjim

2009-12-21 05:27:46 PM

Rapmaster2000:

Yeah, it must have been really hard for him to come up with an alternative hypothesis. Like, say, movie attendance began to decline when everyone started buying televisions.

dogette

2009-12-21 05:34:51 PM

Blah. I've become sick of vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity. If it's not funny, why?

/just cos we can of course

Fano

2009-12-21 07:20:42 PM

Dead-Guy: cuteness sells.. just ask geico.

Sex attracts attention, but it's not the "be all end all" anymore with it being so easily availible online, and saturating the market.

I don't think profanity affects anything.

Fictional violence sells to the target demographic though.

Kawaii? (new window)

Gyrfalcon

2009-12-21 07:47:34 PM

This must be true.

Nobody ever goes to see "Oedipus Rex," "Macbeth," or "Madame Butterfly" anymore. Sex, violence and obscenity are just so passe.

DeadZone

2009-12-21 07:48:41 PM

I'd buy that for a dollar.

RemyDuron

2009-12-22 12:04:53 AM

To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson: I'd hate to advocate sex, violence, and obscenity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

Boobiesontheside

2009-12-22 07:29:06 AM

PG-13