Ask Mick LaSalle: Is American culture getting mean-spirited?

American productions seem to revel in the meanness of their villains, whereas the British bad guys don’t get the same degree of attention.

In “Game of Thrones,” if there’s a character who personifies innocence or integrity, it’s just a (short) matter of time till they’re burnt, hacked to pieces or thrown off a cliff.

If you look at history, you’ll see that 40 percent of the American population has always been borderline crazy, but because we have a two-party system, and because we have a Constitution designed to make sure that almost nothing ever happens, the damage has always been minimal.

The one exception was the Civil War, when the 40 percent all seemed to locate themselves in the same geographical area.

Hi Mick: I’ve never understood the MPAA rating system.

Kissing seems to be prohibited, while stabbing, shooting and other violence seems to be tolerated.

The MPAA, which essentially works for the studios, doesn’t dare tamper with the big money, and so they jump at every chance to prove their virtue by beating up on better, smaller and more virtuous movies.

The prohibition on love scenes, especially in light of the free rein given violence, is only one part of the problem, though I agree with you: I saw lots of movie sex scenes when I was a teenager, and I don’t think they damaged me.

Absolutely no one could be damaged by seeing such a film, but the jury is out on what the endless bombardment of violent Hollywood action movies is doing to us, if not as a society, then as a culture.