I was shocked about the grandparents's decision to sue the school. I mean, I agree no teacher should show an R movie to a 12 years old. But if this was another movie, not about homosexuality, this case wouldn't have gone to court. They would've settled it at the Principal's office. I think they're overreacting because the movie is gay themed. IMO the whole issue is fueled by homophobia. That's what saddens me.
Well-said, Natali. I agree completely. This is precisely why it saddens me (greatly), too.
And Daniel makes an excellent point. Here's the thing - by the time I was 12, I had seen (and been subjected to) some things that would make most people's toenails curl. I'm sure many of us here have, unfortunately. Zefferelli's R&J was in many ways tame to me by comparison. Brokeback would have been the same. And I think it would have given me a deeper understanding of what it's like to be a gay man in many parts of our society at an earlier age. But I was a pretty introspective kid and mature beyond my years just by necessity.
This girl is not "traumatized" by the violence in the movie. She's traumatized by the homosexuality/sexuality in general. If that's really true, she's been living a far too sheltered life and will have a lot of difficulty functioning in society with or without having seen this movie at a young age. That said, the teacher was out of line. I still feel for her because I think she meant well. No, I'm sure she did. But it's one of those "know your audience" things. You can think you're enlightening these kids from here to Tuesday. But anyone who's not capable of hearing the message of this movie is not going to appreciate it in the least little bit - be they 12 or 52.
I swear if an 8th grade teacher showed Zefferelli's R&J today in certain parts of this country, guaranteed there'd be someone publicly bitching about it. But I doubt they'd sue. And if they did, as Natali said, it certainly wouldn't make it to court. This is homophobia and this is the Bush administration. He has taken us so far backwards, it will take several terms of liberal rule to repair the damage. And with the Supreme Court stacked Conservative, it may take more than that. I worry that 2008 isn't going to fix it, either. We'll end up with McCain who isn't much more reasonable than Bush. And we'll be at war for freaking ever. Abroad and amongst ourselves.