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PG-13 movies you wouldn't show to kids/R-rated movies you would?

posted 4 months ago by filmgeek99 (657)
23 replies | jump to latest

What are some instances of you disagreeing with the MPAA, when there's either a PG-13 (or lower) film that exists that you wouldn't comfortable showing to kids, or when there's an R-rated film that would? Here's mine.

PG-13:

Casino Royale
The Social Network
Daredevil
Juno
Easy A

R:

Face/Off
The Matrix
Panic Room
The Happening
Kung Fu Hustle

What's yours? I'm especially curious for those either are parents or are planning to become parents soon (I'm neither, FYI).

[–] samoanjoes (56640) 4 months ago

"Lost in Translation" is PG in Canada, but there is a scene with a topless dancer in a fancy strip club that I wouldn't show a kid. "Schindler's" List is 14A in Canada, but that rating isn't harsh enough.

[–] Kowalski (75520) 4 months ago

BELIEVE IT OR NOT...KIDS DON'T FIND TITS NEARLY AS INTERESTING AS WE DO.

[–] capuchin (3182) 4 months ago

Depends on the age and personality of the kid, I suppose.

In my own upbringing, I was subject to fairly tight parental controls until the age of ten -- after which they were rapidly removed until I was eleven and was explicitly told that I could watch whatever I liked. Which I did. This was not particularly unusual when and where I grew up.

Consequently, I've always been of the opinion that older children can often handle rather more than some parents imagine they can. And indeed I think some parents hold their children back in this regard, which might explain why the world has so many adult Star Wars fans. I'm kidding. Sort of.

But I'm fully aware that not all children are the same.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

I’ve been criticised in the past for letting my daughter watch certain films, but when Pop Culture is referenced, she gets it because she’s seen so much stuff.

[–] capuchin (3182) 4 months ago

Yeah. It's down to the individual child, isn't it? And obviously their parents know them best. I've got two nieces around the same age. My brother's girl could probably handle most things (up to 15 certificate, anyway). My sister's girl absolutely couldn't. Totally different dispositions. And their parents treat them both accordingly.

But broadly-speaking, I'm in favour of introducing older children to stuff as soon as possible. I bet you're giving your daughter a very fine movie education.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

There’s absolutely no way I’d subject her to anything that I didn’t think she could handle and we’ve seen hundreds of films together.

I notice that it affects her circle of friends at school because they’ll all be discussing things like Stranger Things, Dr Who or Wednesday and some of the girls will be left out because their parents won’t allow them to watch these shows.

[–] capuchin (3182) 4 months ago

Won't let them watch Doctor Who? How is the kid supposed to learn how to hide behind a couch?

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

There’s one parent I know who forbids her 10 year old daughter to watch anything other than the likes of Peppa Pig, Doc McStuffins and Sophia the First, which my daughter stopped watching when she was about 4 🤷‍♂️

[–] capuchin (3182) 4 months ago

Yeah. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say some parents hold their children back. That's absurd to me. At eleven and certainly by twelve, I was pretty much exclusively watching stuff aimed at grown-ups. So were most of the people I went to school with. I'm not advocating for that -- it's a different world now and a different media environment -- but ten year olds watching Peppa Pig? People criticising you for showing your daughter Star Wars films? Madness.

Someone needs to do a study (if they haven't already) to see if that kind of thing leads to developmental issues.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

I’m glad to say that my daughter appears to be a happy, funny, smart, cool kid. She hasn’t been exposed to anything that has left any emotional scars so far.

[–] samoanjoes (56640) 4 months ago

I’ve been criticised in the past for letting my daughter watch certain films

By who? It's none of their business.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

By people on this site for things as innocuous as The Star Wars Franchise, The Indiana Jones franchise, Marvel films, The Jurassic Park franchise, even Flash Gordon 🤷‍♂️

[–] samoanjoes (56640) 4 months ago

I laugh when Marvel fans talk about the Marvel movies like they're some violent cinematic gorefests because there are mediocre CGI decapitations.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

When we were at Universal Studios they had a talk about how film makeup and effects were done in horror films and ever since then if my daughter sees anything that could be construed as scary, she just shrugs her shoulders and goes, “it’s just makeup and effects; it’s not real.”

[–] samoanjoes (56640) 4 months ago

In an era of bad CGI, I don't think any kids will be fooled. As a kid in the 90s, practical effects are what really scared me. That scene in "The Witches" was a pure nightmare... and it's a damn kids movie.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

The scene where the witches were sat in the classroom and tore their masks off completely freaked my daughter out (I instantly turned the film off). I think she was about 5 or 6, but we’ve never revisited it.

[–] samoanjoes (56640) 4 months ago

I saw it by myself when it first came out on VHS. I was terrified. I was about 8 years old.

[–] Tam87 (1173) 4 months ago

PG-13: Titanic - awkward long scene with hooters and sweaty hand hump mobile.

R-rating: Rambo: First Blood II - cartoon videogame violence

[–] [deleted] 4 months ago

R;
RoboCop
The Terminator
Predator
Alien
Conan the Barbarian

They may be quite graphic and intense for some kids but I watched them as a kid and loved them, they're the sort of movie an 8 year old boy watches and thinks is the most awesome thing ever. They're practically a rite of passage for boys.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38065) 4 months ago

I have promised to show my 10 year old daughter her first horror film. Because she’s a huge sci-fi fan, I’m going to go for Alien. I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 4 months ago

Personally I don't have kids but until they are teens they probably won't care for films like Forrest Gump, Driving Miss Daisy, Shawshank Redemption, and other dramas. My parents made me and my 3 older siblings watch Driving Miss Daisy and Places in the heart when I was 6 years old. None of us liked them and we all rather would have watched an animated or action movie. I like them both now (though Places in the heart is a hard watch for me still for obvious reasons) 6-10 year olds shouldn't be made to watch movies like that just cause our parents wanted to watch them.

[–] GrimDawn (166) 4 months ago

[deleted]

[–] filmgeek99 (657) 4 months ago

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