I went in to the new Harry Potter movie wary of what I'd find. Not about how good the movie would be, but how young the kids would be. You see, not every movie that is targeted to kids turns out to be fine for all ages of children. The movie rating system helps in some ways, but I find it to still be pretty vague. Sometimes parents need to also rely on knowledge of what the movie is about and on word of mouth, and that combination can often help us decide what ages to take to any given movie. But, sometimes...well that movie rating should'nt be ignored.
I can recall precisely when I had my first head-shaking moment of I-can't-believe-they-brought-a-preschooler-to-this. Pulp Fiction in 1994. Pulp Fiction that was rated R because of, and I quote, "strong graphic violence and drug use, pervasive strong language and some sexuality." Those of you who have seen it might even view that warning as relatively tame! A great movie, but a raw movie overall, and not for many (most?) highschoolers, much less a preschooler.
But, yep, back there in 1994, as I sat there watching Pulp Fiction I noticed out of the corner of my eye, way down the row, a 4-5 year old. Head down, playing with something, but right there plopped in front of the mega-screen. Accompanied by an adult, just like the R rating dictated, but still sitting right there able to see and hear everything.
What did I do back then? Being 15 years younger than I am now, not what I should have done. But, what would you do now in a similar situation? Let's see some Comments on this one!
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We see it all the time. Another thing for parents to remember is that not all animated movies or movies about super heroes are for children. In fact many Disney movies may not be appropriate. The idea of the death of a parent (a la Bambi) is too much for a preschooler to handle. We saw many small children at Pirates of the Caribbean, including a crying toddler. Iron Man was just as bad.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't limited to movies, of course. Small children are regularly parked in front of television shows that are too old for them. My Kindergartener was singing a song one day. A boy from his class asked what he was singing. He replied, "A song from Backyardigans." The boy stated, "Me and my family say that's a baby show." Backyardigans is absolutely appropriate for a 5 year old. People seem to be in a huge hurry for their children to grow up.