Walter Montego: Walter, they DO have cinemas in Iran (and everywhere else around the globe outside the US), as well as TV sets, VCRs, DVDs et cetera. We DO NOT live on trees.

Pedro Martínez: Pedro, I thought you lived in Czech Republic. Have you moved? I know you don't live in trees. Weren't they all cut down?

I was asking this of Reza because of how he told me they censor rock music in Iran a few months back, but I didn't know if they censored movies of this type. I'm well aware that California exports movies around the globe, it is where I live. I'm willing to bet you can buy just about any movie you want to in Czuch Republic at any store that sells them. I doubt if this is the case in Iran, hence my question for Reza. There's probably an underground or blackmarket for the restricted movies and songs. Same thing for China and anywhere else that has people dictating to others what they can watch or listen too. Think about it. China censors the Rolling Stones! What are the "authorities" afraid of? It's just music. I sure don't need someone forcing me as to what to listen to or not listen to. I'm perfectly capable of changing the station or shutting the radio off on my own and I don't have to buy anyone's music if I don't want to. I sure wouldn't want to live in a place that made it against the law for me to buy a Rolling Stones album whether or not I wanted to buy one. I believe I should make the choice for myself.

I've always been amazed that here in the United States you can buy or see just about any movie with a very large amount of torture, violence, and killing in it, but if there's any kind of nudity in it without even sex they slap an R rating on it. Why is it here that parents would rather have their kids see someone put a bullet in someone's head, but get upset if the sex shown goes beyond a kiss?

Reza is using this board to learn about language. Are American made movies that feature violence a good way to learn English? So many movies of all types are made here. I can't say that I've ever heard of a Czech movie being shown in a theater around here. I'm willing to bet you've seen a few movies made in California or other parts of the United States. What about our television shows? Do you guys watch them too? How about satellite service? Do you get HBO and other American content programs there? In English? Maybe this is one more reason that English is so well known. I'm amazed at how many people on this site and elsewhere in the world speak English. I never made the connection until right now that it might be in part because of movies. Is it not something to wonder why so many of the movies in the world that are worldwide known are made in the United States? Why is that? Why don't other countries have a lot of films for me to see here? I think England and Canada are the only other coutries I have seen movies or television shows from. Maybe France too, I can't remember. How many countries besides the United States do not have a government bureaucracy for the approval of print, movies, or music? I wanted to know if he saw it in a theater or at home. Or if it had been shown in the theater at all. Had it not been for the fact that I just happened to be walking past a television showing this Saw II two weeks ago, I would never have made the connection to the words he wrote down. I have to think Reza has seen the movie more than one time to know these words so well, so maybe he has the DVD and played it over a few times in that part of the movie to get the words.

Have you seen the movie? I did not watch it except for that part that he just happens to be quoting. I find movies like that to be a waste of my time to watch. I have little interest in seeing yet another way to kill someone. And it is as graphic as Reza says. I did not realize the key was inside of his head, put there by the guy that put the beartrap contraption on his victim's head and started a clock running. It's hard not to look at such stuff, but it can be done. Just leave the room or change the channel. Obviously my way of thinking on this is a small minority view or there wouldn't be money to be made from the making of movies of this type. Like I said earlier, I can decide for myself to watch a movie or not. So now I'm wanting to hear from Reza about this movie and how he came to see it in Iran. Or even if he liked the movie. I didn't watch it, so I don't know if I would have liked it. One movie of this type that I have seen is "Silence of the Lamb".

How do they advertise movies in Iran, or Czech Republic? Some movies here get plastered in every type of media you can think of.

Walter Montego: I never made the connection until right now that it might be in part because of movies. Is it not something to wonder why so many of the movies in the world that are worldwide known are made in the United States?

Movies, TV shows, etc... Here in Portugal, most of the programs that are shown on TV or in the cinema are subtitled. In Brasil and Spain, for instance they are dubbed. I've always thought that it could be a very strong reason to the fact that, overall, the portuguese have a better understanding and accent of the english language than some other people do - you get to listen it everytime on tv and cinema and you end up making connections from certain words or expressions from what is written in the subtitles to what the actors say.
That's also why, most people will feel more familiar with the american accent rather than the british one - most of the stuff that shows up on TV that comes from abroad, comes from the USA.