There is something wrong with kids these days

Written By:
Daniel Myung

Published:
Nov. 06 2009

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.  I find that amusing; it makes me laugh.  If that is true, then fear has been falling really short lately.  Is that a good thing?  Not necessarily.  
I am sure you all remember when the movie “Scream” came out.  It used to be one the scariest thrillers out there.  I remember I couldn’t sleep for nights thinking some crazy masked freak would magically float up my window like a creep, with a machete in his hand, ready to kill a random Asian boy.  But now adays, we have either gotten braver or dumber.  

Nevermind, we are getting dumber; many of us are losing the actual meaning of what a thriller or horror movie is trying to show us.  By watching a scary movie through the perception of special effects and costume designs, of course the movie won’t be scary.  It will turn into a kiddy contest.  The point of scary movies, no matter how bad the effects, costume, acting, or level of gore, is to watch it as if it were really real.  Think about it.  Kind of creepy is it not?  Would it not be creepy if there really was a masked freak in your closet with a knife in his hand right ready to shred you down?

It seems that as long as any child can get his hands on a game like Grand Theft Auto and live the virtual reality of a thug life, it makes it tough enough to kick just about any killer’s butt.  That’s right, not even the threat of a real kidnapper can shake the confidence of a kid’s these days; the kid would probably take out a pair of his Wii controllers and warn him that he knows Kung Fu.

More and more, we are demanding more gore and violence, even sexual content, in our movies.  In fact, did you know that many movies now adays are dropping down a level on their ratings?  Our dream is finally fulfilled such that rated R movies are now rated PG-13.  Fantastic isn’t it?  Not only that, but our video games are turning out the same way.  More killing.  More violence.  More sex.  More gore.  Everything is being done to satisfy the raging hormones of an average teenager.

Consider this: years down the line, I hope you want kids.  I am not implying any affirmative action right now, but wait until your kids start listening to 50 Cent and Soulja Boy at a tender innocent age of four and start demanding Playstation 9000 along with Gears of War 30 and Halo 50.  Oh no, it does not stop there. If you thought getting your kid a cell phone and purse at that age was the end.  Wait until your kids at that same age start asking to go watch Saw 100.  By the way, saying no to them will not work because they will still find a way to secretly watch the movie with their friends and laugh at what is going on in the movie.  Come on, even you know there is something wrong with this picture. They should be watching Barney and playing in sandboxes and play pretend-Power Rangers.  
Basically, everything we do now, they will follow but just 10 times worse, and heaven forbid, it could be worse.  What is my point?  We are crazy and years down the road, our future generations are inevitably going to get crazier.  It’s okay to play games and watch scary things from time to time.  It is not okay to dwell and get lost in virtual reality forever.  That only leads our future to doom.  What every teenager needs is a snippet of reality.  Then maybe, just maybe, we could preserve our future from a legion of psychotic children.