That One Darn Scene

Rating: 10/10 (8 August 2007)

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this movie a 10, with 1 stipulation which I will expound on in just a moment.
The movie was very well written. Orci and Kurtzman have proved themselves time and time again while working with J.J. Abrams. These polished writers were able to mix up enough of the traditional Transformers storyline while putting in a horde of exciting scenes and a driving storyline.
The film making was exceptional. The editing made the movie easily viewable and the extravagant special effects added to the "wow" effect of the whole movie.
Now about that stipulation I was talking about. In one scene, when Witwicky's mother was wondering about his delay in opening up his bedroom door, she asked "Were you masturbating?" I submit that this did nothing but drag the movie down. I am from Utah where Mormonism is the most prominent religion, and they, as well as several other religions, believe that any sexual act before marriage (including masturbation) is strictly forbidden by commandment. Therefore the open discussion of masturbation is as much a taboo as talking about any other sexual act.
Friends of mine were so offended at this mention of masturbation that they got up and left the theater. I cannot blame them. At this juncture in the movie, I was uncomfortable, while holding my wife's hand (having been married nearly 3 years). I quickly looked around the theater to notice that most of the seats were filled with pre-adolescent youth. I sympathize with the parents of all those who took their children to the movie and were confronted with this dilemma.
I'm sure there are millions of people who had no problem with the comment, but I believe IT IS NOT HOLLYWOODS PLACE to teach (or incite a discussion about) the birds and the bees to our youth.
At the video rental store, I got into a discussion with one young mother (about this particular movie scene) who informed me that "I won't be taking my children to see Transformers, now that you've told me that." The movie was great, but I'm not going to buy a copy of the movie until I can find a way to edit that phrase out of the movie.