For Adults Only

When I was on holiday in Berlin I went to see two films. The first one made me feel sick and angry. The other made me feel good.

In Kill Bill the blood was running all over the place and people's limbs were literally flying around. A man from Germany sitting next to me gave a loud Beavis and Butthead -guffaw every time Uma Thurman in her yellow leather outfit cut off a Japanese's head. If you have seen the film, you know that the film is pretty much all about that. I cannot tell whether the film was meant to be a comedy, but I think it was supposed to entertain the audience in any case. However, I was not entertained. Nor did I find any particular message that would have justified the unpleasant scenes in the film, unless the message was the justification of blood vengeance on the basis of Oriental philosophy.

Next time I was wiser: I bought a ticket for the computer animation Finding Nemo. In this film, the only thing that was running was water. The heroes of the film, the clownfish, had enemies indeed, but those were not so dangerous after all. Even the threatening-looking sharks were trying to give up hunting other fish and to become vegetarians. I was relieved.

When I came back to Finland, I was ready to go to cinema again. I thought a Finnish film is a safe choice, since even if the film was not excellent, it would hardly be distressing enough to ruin my evening. However, I was wrong. Hymypoika reached its climax in rape and suicide. Although in principle I give my support to films that criticise our society that is full of sex and distorted images of male and female ideals, that night all I wanted was to enjoy my life.

As an adult that has gone beyond all the age limits, I think it is wisest for me to stick with children's films. I wonder if Piglet's Big Movie is still running in Tampere?

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