2008’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno created a major fuss among advocates of media censorship. While the title described the film’s plot in a nutshell, parents were concerned that they would have to explain to their children exactly what a porno was. The MPAA even considered giving the film an ‘X’ rating, although no sexual intercourse was explicitly shown. Perhaps children were spared from learning the birds and the bees, but the premise of the movie remained the same: Zack and Miri do indeed make a porno, and shortening the title to Zack and Miri did not make it any more of a child-friendly movie.This brings us to the latest film under scrutiny for its title, The Baster. I know; it’s horrible. Hundreds of children will be learning about a cooking utensil used to keep turkey moist. Dozens of parents will see the need to go past this basic explanation and educate their tots on the fine art of artificial insemination. Obviously, this can not happen. Perhaps we could find a more appropriate title for a movie about a woman (played by Jennifer Aniston) who uses a baster for insemination that contains not the sample she wanted, but one of a different man.
Although I would like to see an upfront name about such an upfront movie, I understand that since we live in America, the land of upfront sexuality, we must erase every vestige of it from our radio and television. Let the kids figure things out by themselves. While we’re at it, let’s give the movie a cute name like Switcheroo or Oh,Baby! and cut a vague trailer so that all the kids will want to see it. That sounds like a plan.