Yes, but is it worthwhile?

	Stacy Innerst, Post-Gazette Click photo for larger image.

The movie "North Country" stars Charlize Theron as a single mother who takes a job as a miner and leads a battle against sexual harassment. It has been well received. But here's what the critics won't tell you: The movie contains "16 F-words, 2 obscene hand gestures, 17 sexual references, 20 scatological terms, 15 anatomical terms, 32 mild obscenities, 2 derogatory terms for homosexuals, 1 derogatory term for overweight individuals, 4 religious profanities, and 7 religious exclamations." The stats come from Kids In Mind (www.kids-in-mind.com), a Web site for parents who want to keep tabs on their kids' movie-viewing . . . or possibly find out what the really racy movies are. As Ivor Tossell of the Globe and Mail points out, Kids in Mind doesn't stop with counting bad words. It combs through the movie, detailing "every bit of titillation and gore."

Not to be outdone, a competitor, Screen It (www.screenit.com), begins its "Sex and Nudity" analysis of "North Country" by revealing that "we see a nude Barbie doll." And: "A guy acts like he's looking for a light for his cigarette by putting his hand into a woman's shirt pocket, but he's doing so to feel her up." The Morning File can't use the next line, because we have stricter language rules. Anyway, Web sites that scour the movie world for naughty stuff are busting out all over in cyberspace. And while they're praised for raising moral flags, "they do double duty as cut-rate resellers of prurience," Tossell says. His recommendation: Parent Previews at movies.go.com/parentpreviews, which takes a big-picture look at movies' content.

Sin and cinema

Things were simpler for Catholic parents in mid-20th century America. No burdensome stats. No weighing of evidence. No arguing with the kids. They simply checked the Legion of Decency listing. Films not to be seen were also read from the pulpit at Sunday mass, and Catholics had to pledge to avoid them. The Legion's ratings were followed by many non-Catholics as well, in the absence of an industry rating system, which would not come until 1968. Those of us who grew up Catholic in the '50s remember straining to imagine the plots of such forbidden fruit as "The Moon Is Blue" and "Baby Doll," which got the rare "Condemned" or C-rating. A C-rating could make for a box-office dud. To avoid it, films showed, for instance, husbands and wives in separate beds. An "Objectionable in Part" rating pretty much translated to a movie worth seeing -- if you were willing to risk a one-way trip to hell. Example: "Singin' in the Rain," flagged for Cyd Charisse's high-profile dancing tights. Then there were those foreign films creeping ominously across the ocean. In 1950, the Legion considered 53% of them objectionable. The Legion of Decency faded out of existence in the late '60s. But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops does offer less heavy-handed guidance to moviegoers who care about the moral content of a movie.

You may see them now

From the AP
• Man Buys Smoker, Finds Human Leg Inside • Coach Stops Runaway Horse by Biting Ear • Man Allegedly Tries to Use 'Blurry' $100 • Police Break Up Brawl at Chuck E. Cheese • Suggestive Card Ruffles Farmer's Feathers • Nerds to Auction Themselves to Women • Toilet to Tap? San Jose Probes Plan • Seattle to Allow Pygmy Goats As Pets • Yankees Rookies Dress Up in Oz Costumes

Hal Erickson's "All Movie Guide" on "The Moon Is Blue" (1953): "Incredible though it may seem today, this romantic farce was a major cause celebre. Simply put, this is the story of a virginal young TV-commercial actress who is romanced by a playboy architect (William Holden). Despite all sorts of temptations, the girl refuses the architect's invitation to become his mistress, holding out for marriage or nothing. Meanwhile, middle-aged rake David Niven tries to move in on the girl himself, with an equal lack of success. So why was this harmless little comedy so controversial? It seems that director Otto Preminger decided to film the play as written, retaining such words as 'virgin,' 'seduce' and 'mistress' in the script."

"Baby Doll" (1956) is a sex comedy directed by Elia Kazan and based on a Tennessee Williams story. Karl Malden is married to sultry teenager Carroll Baker, who refuses to sleep with her husband until she reaches age 20. "Baby Doll" is her nickname, and she does her best to live up to it by lying in a crib-like bed, sucking her thumb. A crafty Sicilian played by Eli Wallach, who like Rip Torn makes his film debut here, comes in and gums things up. Hal Erickson: "Heavily admonished for its supposed filthiness in 1956, 'Baby Doll' seems a model of decorum today -- so much so that it is regularly shown on the straight-laced American Movie Classics cable service."

A Catholic reminisces

"In summer '53, parochial schools in Brooklyn ran a contest for kids to draw posters denouncing 'The Moon Is Blue.' I began by sketching an exquisitely detailed cut-off view of the interior and exterior sides of the Harbor Theater in Bay Ridge, with a projection of the film's title on the screen, subsequently engulfed by flames from hell. I soon nixed the idea, because the detail I wanted was beyond my ability but mostly because I couldn't abide the idea of incinerating such a nice theater. I wound up sketching a hill with a bunch of people at the top pushing a book named 'The Moon Is Blue' off its sharp cliff. But my heart wasn't in it, and I came nowhere close to getting recognition for my work. Besides, the nuns knew all along that I was a movie-mad subversive who would watch anything projected on a screen, even and especially off-color comedies and musicals with suggestive costuming." From cinematreasures.org, a site devoted to memories of old movie theaters.

'Now, if only shrinks sold Twizzlers'

That's a line from a New York Daily News story on how the movie world, with the Legion of Decency no longer around to guide us, has taken on a therapeutic function. Some examples: the new comedy "Prime" (Meryl Streep as shrink), the psychological thriller "Stay" (Ewan McGregor as troubled analyst) and last summer's hit "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie see a counselor). Nancy Peske, co-author of "Cinematherapy," says, "Previous generations went [to the movies] as a way of indulging themselves. But as our culture became more psychologically minded, people looked at their entertainment for insights into themselves, which makes sense. The great books take a lot of time, but movies only take two hours." They're cheaper than therapy, too.

"If you're honest with yourself, you can say, 'Why did that film upset me?' " says Peske. "Or, 'Why am I so moved by that?'" That's different from television, says Maria Grace, a psychotherapist and author of "Reel Fulfillment: A 12-Step Plan for Transforming Your Life Through Movies." "TV is like our buddy, whereas movies become our mentors. TV characters have a day-to-day effect on us, but in the long run, it's movies that change our lives."