An atrocity that MTRCB should spare moviegoers

Going to the movies is one of the scarce luxuries we try to indulge in whenever we can amid the hustle and bustle of living in Metro Manila. It really is a well-deserved rest and recreation, never mind the infernal traffic. Yes, it totally relaxes—except for one thing: The insufferable insult being foisted on the viewers by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) right before the movies begin! There ought to be a law regulating/banning the obscene inanities being churned out by the MTRCB!

We are referring to the MTRCB’s plug for public information regarding its classification of movies. The viewers are forced to relate to a scene where an entire family of idiots shows total cluelessness as to what the ratings are all about. From the father down to the youngest girl, we are astonished by the sheer stupidity running through that family! Consider this: the father does not understand and has to be told that R18 is for those 18 years old and above (duh!); the teenage daughter, that R16 is for those 16 years old and above (double duh!); the teenage son, that R13 is for those 13 years old and above, etc. Where did that family come from? From deep beneath a rock? That’s how low and contemptuous the MTRCB looks down on the average Filipino family?! All well-groomed pa naman!

Where does the MTRCB get off insulting the intelligence of moviegoers like that? That drawn-out advertisement should be rated “For Imbeciles Only”—to be viewed only within the confines of the MTRCB!

Instead of annoying us with a constant reminder of its existence, the MTRCB would do well to just pretend it did not exist if that ad was the best it could do to prove its usefulness or relevance! For Pete’s sake, take that ridiculous atrocity out of our face already, and let us enjoy the movies the way we set out to do!

—STEPHEN L. MONSANTO,

Loyola Heights, Quezon City,

[email protected]