Movies

[jay&erinn]

How do you gage what your kids are allowed to see? It seems that so many kids movies are now rated PG and I'm not sure she should be allowed to see them. At the same time all of the toys are marketed to her age and older so it's all she talks about. First it was spiderman- that was a no brainer, but still frustrating that there are so many spiderman toys out there for her age, but yet the movie is completely inappropriate for her age group. Other movies like Happy Feet, Shrek, Flushed Away- I have no idea. She really wants to see Shrek. I told her that it might be a movie for older kids, but that DH and I would talk about and see. I worry mostly about violence and overt sexual stuff (stuff that's implied I don't think is a big deal since I'm pretty sure it goes right over her head at this age). I can even handle some mild bad language (stupid, idiot, etc) and just reinforce that it's not language we use in our house. What are you letting your kids watch?

[emschwar]

Personally, at 3, Noah's only allowed to see G (and even that, he doesn't have much interest in it). But, I'm pretty conservative when it comes to this stuff. I don't have any plans on letting him see PG-13 until he's close to 13. Most of the kids in our playgroup are allowed to see animated PG movies, but I'm not comfortable with him seeing them yet.

Here's from MPAA (http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp):
PG:

This is a film which clearly needs to be examined by parents before they let their children attend. The label PG plainly states parents may consider some material unsuitable for their children, but leaves the parent to make the decision. Parents are warned against sending their children, unseen and without inquiry, to PG-rated movies. The theme of a PG-rated film may itself call for parental guidance. There may be some profanity in these films. There may be some violence or brief nudity. However, these elements are not considered so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance. There is no drug use content in a PG-rated film. The PG rating, suggesting parental guidance, is thus an alert for examination of a film by parents before deciding on its viewing by their children. Obviously such a line is difficult to draw. In our pluralistic society it is not easy to make judgments without incurring some disagreement. As long as parents know they must exercise parental responsibility, the rating serves as a meaningful guide and as a warning.
And just for comparison, G:

This is a film which contains nothing in theme, language, nudity and sex, violence, etc. that would, in the view of the Rating Board, be offensive to parents whose younger children view the film. The G rating is not a certificate of approval nor does it signify a children?s film.

Some snippets of language may go beyond polite conversation but they are common everyday expressions. No stronger words are present in G-rated films. The violence is at a minimum. Nudity and sex scenes are not present, nor is there any drug use content.

I think these days, ratings are accompanied by the reason for the rating (violence, language, whatever) so that might help you judge.

ETA - That site also has a handy search (right under the nav bar) so you can type in the movie title, and it'll tell you why it got the rating it did. For Shrek the Third, for example, it says this:
"Rated PG for some crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action."

[Renrel]

I am trying to stick to G movies and tv unless I have seen the show myself and feel comfortable with it. I don't think DS will be ruined by an occassional G(7) show but I think it may force us to deal with some concepts and behaviors earlier than necessary and life as a parent is hard enough without accelerating the "issues."

We did allow DS to watch Shrek and I don't remember having any issues with it, though DS intrest was only OK. The violence was very limited and did not bother me, mostly a very fake fight seen by the princess to show she was not very girly girl. There were actually some good messages in the film about judging people, friendship and communcication.

We also allowed DS to watch the old Disney Peter Pan (I think there is a newer one) and regretted it. Not the biggiest issue but the sword fighing was new to DS and immediately afterward his play incorporated lots of sword fights and increased other play fighting. This was not something we had been having to deal with before the movie but having seen it DS now needs to work though what it is. This was the movie by the way which most caught his intrest. He sat through the whole thing without bouncing up and down to play and run around. But he has to really talked about the characters at all. He just started modeling some of the play violence from the movie.

We have done a few others movies, on video or DVD, but I don't remember which ones. We watch them as a family so DH and I know what he has seen and can interprete for him and make some guesses about why he may be acting out after seeing a movie. We could also turn it off if something really bothered us.

[mamax2]

We stick with G movies, except DH recently surprised DD with 'Happy Feet'. I didn't know it was PG until after we were watching it. I honestly didn't find it to be much different than, say, 'Finding Nemo'. DD does notice the potty-mouth humor and certainly tries to pick up on that. Then again, she also tries to comb her hair w/a fork at the dinner table because "that's how the Little Mermaid does it!".

My SIL lets her kids (3 and 2) watch pretty much anything animated (like Shrek and SpongeBob), but I think we'll hold steady at Happy Feet and save the rest of the PG stuff for a later time.

[AlisonCO]

We stick with G movies too and even those have parts that are too scary for DS - like the boy in Toy Story or the saber tooth in Ice Age.


First it was spiderman- that was a no brainer, but still frustrating that there are so many spiderman toys out there for her age, but yet the movie is completely inappropriate for her age group.

Oh erinn - this is driving me crazy!!! We can't go the the grocery store or pharmacy without some Spideman stuff. As far as Happy Feet etc personally I would preview them first that way there are no surprises if you do end up letting her watch it.

[nettreefrog]

We've had the issue too with my daughter who is 13. She wanted to see rated R movies and we prohibited her from doing so. This year though, we began to let her see specific ones --namely classics. I talk to her in depth about them afterwards though.

Kids end up watching a lot more than we think on regular television than we would like to imagine. Personally, I think a lot depends on the kids, the conversations created between the parents and the kids, and the movie itself.

[Marisa]

We were 'surprised' by Happy Feet's rating as well, though it was pretty obvious to me once we were in there that it was way scarier than I'd have expected from a "G" movie. All the times that Mumbles is chased by the different predators, that was really frightening!

I think we might wind up going to see Shrek, I don't really mind the 'bawdy' stuff as much as I do violence. DS has seen much of the first two Shrek movies (we have them on DVD, since before he was born), and I'm attempting to cultivate his love of going to the movies (I'm crazy about it and I've been waiting for him to be old enough to go with me! :))

[jay&erinn]

Thanks so much for all of your input. I have many moms that look at me like I have 2 heads when they find out I don't let Mia watch certain cartoons on TV- mainly Sponge Bob- sometimes it makes me feel like I'm so overprotective. I'm still not sure about Shrek. We'll see how long she bugs me about it. Sometimes if I delay long enough, she'll kind of forget about it.


attempting to cultivate his love of going to the movies
I always loved going to the movies as a kid and want Mia to go enjoy them too now that she's old enough to sit through them. But it's frustrating how few real "G" rated movies there are.


Personally, I think a lot depends on the kids, the conversations created between the parents and the kids, and the movie itself.
I really like movies for this reason too. We saw Cars in the theater and it was a really good movie to teach kids about not judging a book by it's cover and having to depend on others. Leasons that are sometimes easier to teach when reinforced by a popular character.

Alison: Mia gets more upset by death- when the dad dies in the lion king she gets very upset. Scary parts don't seem to affect her so much- she loves the suspense and cracks up at the beginning of Monsters Inc which I think some kids would find scary.

Renrel: Mia received Peter Pan for Easter from the ILs. I knew the general story, but hadn't seen the movie since I was little. I was a little shocked by some of the content and am glad it's not one of her favorites.

[mamax2]

We were 'surprised' by Happy Feet's rating as well, though it was pretty obvious to me once we were in there that it was way scarier than I'd have expected from a "G" movie. All the times that Mumbles is chased by the different predators, that was really frightening!

That's true, that's why I kind of likened it to Nemo. Of course, all Disney movies (even the G rated classics) usually feature death/predation (Bambi, 101 Dalmations, etc.) I find it a lot easier to explain things like Happy Feet because I talk to DD about the food chain. I loved that this movie made it possible for me to talk about some environmental issues and the very real and perilous impact of humans on our wildlife.

These are definitely the kind of movies we watch WITH our kids. It's not like Little Einsteins or whatever that I can just flip on and go take a shower and not have to worry about what's covered.

So true about knowing your kid and what they can handle though. For instance, my DD is totally fine w/predation & food chain, but I know Monsters Inc. would scare the you-know-what out of her. She already makes us check her closet before bed every night - that movie would send her into therapy! :p