1271578693 Can Roger Ebert's 'Kick Ass' Movie Review Protect America's Youth ...As ‘Kick-Ass’ opens in theaters, critic Roger Ebert warns movie fans in his one star review that the action flick is “morally reprehensible.” Despite the film’s R rating, the famed movie critic is fixated on the effect its 11-year-old main character Hit Girl will have on younger audiences.

In the film, Mindy (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her father (Nicolas Cage) try to become superheroes. during one scene, the young girl kills a gangster mob by shooting, stabbing and kicking them all to death. The knife-carrying child has quite a dirty mouth, too, uttering words even adults would be embarrassed to say. While the satire likely won’t birth a new group of gun-slingers in America, Ebert stands by his review. “Say what you will about her character, but Chloe Grace Moretz has presence and appeal. Then the movie moved into dark, dark territory, and I grew sad,” he wrote.

It’s no secret Ebert has been an outspoken opponent of the Motion Picture Association of America’s film rating system when it comes to which movies are “suitable for children.” Ebert often attacks films featuring a diluted message that bad behavior can bring happiness — especially when young characters are involved in the controversial, adult-themed plots.

(Warning mature audiences only: watch the red band trailer.)

Earlier this year, Ebert gave ‘The Lovely Bones’ a scathing review and pondered the psychological effects the film may have on young female audiences. “It is a deplorable film with this message: If you’re a 14-year-old girl who has been brutally raped and murdered by a serial killer, you have a lot to look forward to,” he wrote. “Sure, you miss your friends, but your fellow fatalities come dancing to greet you in a meadow of wildflowers, and how cool is that?”

“The murder of a young person is a tragedy, the murderer is a monster, and making the victim a sweet, poetic narrator is creepy. this movie sells the philosophy that even evil things are God’s will, and their victims are happier now. Isn’t it nice to think so. I think it’s best if they don’t happen at all. But if they do, why pretend they don’t hurt? those girls are dead,” he wrote.

In the past, Ebert has challenged the MPAA Code and Ratings Administration claiming, “The bottom line is not much of a surprise: The board is much more lenient towards violence than toward sex,” he said. “In turn, America’s youth has more exposure to violence in these PG-13 rated films and are becoming desensitized to the lasting effects of crime and violence.”

In 1998, Ebert called out ‘Small Soldiers,’ saying it was “a family picture on the outside, and a mean, violent action picture on the inside… It’s rated PG-13, but if the characters were human, the movie would be a hard ‘R.’”

Interestingly, Ebert urged that PG-13 films like ‘School of Rock,’ ‘Whale Rider’ and ‘Bend it like Beckham’ were actually perfect for the family with inspiring messages and appropriate story lines. “There is a vast difference between movies for 12-year-old girls and movies about 12-year-old girls, and ‘Whale Rider’ proves it,” Ebert wrote in his 2003 review. “So many films by and about teenagers are mired in vulgarity and stupidity; this one, like its heroine, dares to dream.”

On the flip-side, Ebert gladly applauded Dakota Fanning’s role in ‘Hounddog,’ a controversial, independent film in which Fanning, then 14, played a troubled 12-year-old who is sexually abused by her father. although Fanning’s character is raped by an older teenager, she eventually learns how to make people treat her with respect. Ebert admits Fanning’s “impressive step forward in her career” reminded him of Jodie Foster in ‘Taxi Driver,’ who played a twelve-year-old prostitute. perhaps it is all about the final message (and it’s effect on youth) that can make or break a film for Ebert.

While some critics say Ebert needs to lighten up on ‘Kick-Ass,’ it’s obvious he has an agenda against violence and doesn’t want movies to sensationalize an onslaught’s “cool” factor. All moral stances aside, Ebert is passionate about his message — even if it comes in the form of a ‘Kick-Ass’ movie review.

Video: PopEater asked new Yorkers — generally of the parental persuasion — for their reactions to the red-band trailer featuring Hit Girl. Check it out:

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