irresponsible advertising

I just saw Ellen's post on "love the way you lie" and I agree that what appears to be the message is upsetting...

My own personal rant, however, happens to be about movie posters - specifically horror ads. As a parent I find it dismaying that these disturbing (and often truly disgusting) images are put up in public spaces with no regulation whatsoever... regardless of the fact that children are seeing them.

If I had to choose for my four-year-old to pass by a billboard with an ad for alcohol or tobacco (the two most highly regulated industries) or an ad for a horror flick, I'd choose the former every time. The first two wouldn't even register for a kid that age - they don't really have a context for it. But you don't need a context to be terrorized by a demonic visage or to have the image of a mutilated, terrified, or tortured individual make an indelible impact.

The other day my daughter stopped in front of one of these posters and looked perplexed. "Is that an elephant?" She asked, trying to make sense of the image in front of her. The picture was of a girl who was broken - bent over backwards with her arms splayed out behind her in a stance so unnatural that the content of the image was initially unrecognizable. "Yep, an elephant," I said, and quickly guided her away before her eyes were able to see it as anything else.

If I object to what's playing in a movie theater I don't have to go, and if I don't like what's on the television or the radio I can change the station or just turn it off. I don't have these options with posters promoting films. It's infuriating, because other than locking my child indoors, I have no way of protecting her from them...