MovieChat Forums > The Babysitters (2011) Discussion > moral outrage

moral outrage

posted 10 years ago by alienjesus
5 replies | jump to latest

I see so many people fuming on this forum about how horrible all the people in this film were, how they didn't care about their actions and how disgusting it is that none of them faced any consequences.

But I didn't see all this outrage over Limitless, a film where a man constantly takes drugs, cheats on his girlfriend, and is involved in several murders (possibly one of an innocent woman). In the end he is not punished, but greatly rewarded. In fact a lot of films portray people doing terrible things and never being punished. But sex between adults and 17 year old girls apparently is the thing that just cannot be forgiven. We can't even have a movie about it, unless everyone goes to jail in the end or is emotionally destroyed.

As far as this film goes, I don't agree with the sociopathic appraisal of these characters. I think there are a lot of moments in the film where people realize what they are doing is wrong (the director doesn't beat you over the head with it, but it's there). They know it's wrong but they (mostly) continue because they enjoy it or even need it on some level. Or in the case of the girls they don't yet understand how serious this all is.

Regardless though I actually found it really refreshing to see a film that doesn't moralize you to death and lets you draw your own conclusions. Because I don't need a movie to show horrible repercussions and harp on and on to make sure I know that something is morally wrong. I can make those judgements for myself.

A black pool opened up at my feet. I dived in. It had no bottom.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] MTulliver 10 years ago

That's kind of an oversimplification of why people are upset by this subject matter of this movie.
They're not upset about sex. They're upset b/c these girls are under-aged and having sex with married men for money! Not only that, but the title character is a madam!
I'm surprised you don't get that.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] lazarillo 10 years ago

I agree. All movies are FICTION. I really like movies about slashers and serial killers--it doesn't mean I approve of serial killing or want to start doing it. A lot of Japanese movies take rape about as seriously as many Hollywood movies take murder, but real-life rape statistics are actually far LOWER in Japan than they are in the "politically correct" US. And what seems to be taken most seriously of all in America is statutory rape. Statutory rape is not right and I certainly don't approve of it any more than the greater crime of forcible rape and the ultimate crime of murder, but the inconsistency is ridiculous.

My theory, with men at least, is that a lot of them are more afraid THEY might commit rape than that they might commit murder, and they're REALLY afraid that could be seduced by an attractive, slightly underage girl and commit statutory rape. They also maybe think that if they're attracted to the ridiculously hot twenty-something actresses who play "teenagers" in movies (often rather unconvincingly I might add) that means they're attracted to real teenagers, and that means they're "pedophiles" and are going to start molesting children. That's ridiculous. Alexandra Daddario, Louisa Krauss, and Sam Waterston's daughter would appeal to ANY straight guy of any age, but real teenagers are much more resistible, and true pedophilia (attraction to prepubescent children)is a whole other thing entirely.

It also doesn't matter that characters in movies are "unlikeable". If I had to spend 10 minutes in the presence of any of the people in "Wolf of Wall Street", I'd beat them to death with an aluminum baseball bat. But I still liked the movie.

[–] joana-pedroso15 9 years ago

I also didn't like Limitless. The guy was an ass... Made me lost faith on men. He basically has a pill that unlocks all the brain capacity and chooses to use it to get laid. Says a lot about the character.

I think the movie doesn't worry about moralization because the number of people who have affairs nowadays is so high, that it is pratically normal and it is regarded as no big deal, just a complicated time, but soon things go back to normal.