CNN.Com--Are "G" Rated Films Going Too Far?

[Super Scooter]

And in the last few years I haven't seen any G film come out of anywhere but Pixar. Rat was a surprise G rating. There was nothing objectionable about it, but it really seemed like an adult film.

Not those kinds, of course. The arty, sophisticate ones.

Even the older Disney G rated films were pretty horrifying and violent. Look at Bambi. That would be an automatic PG these days. (unless it was slapped with one). And lemme tell you, horrifying things can warp a kid a lot more than hearing about adult situations.

A lot of people claim to be scarred for life from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory and even the Wizard of Oz.

Kids movies today are SOFT if anything.

I liked Ratatouille because of that. It wasn't a dumbed down G-rated movie. It was a movie, and that's all it had to be. Actually, I wish there were more movies aimed for adults that were rated G, because a G rating doesn't have to mean "this is a kids movie".

Kids movies also don't go to the same level of "scariness" that they used to, as you mentioned. I mean, personally, I was never bothered by either Wizard of Oz or Willy Wonka, but there is some scary stuff in there, especially the latter. Old Disney movies were especially frightening, and I think Disney even got some flack for that. I don't know that I've seen a G-rated movie recently that went to the same places as Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.

You know what did freak me out as a kid, though? Fantasia. I love it now, but when I was little... Freaky!

 

[D'Snowth]

Even the older Disney G rated films were pretty horrifying and violent. Look at Bambi. That would be an automatic PG these days.

I digress. If anything, I think most PG-rated films would be dropped down to a G-rating by today's standards.

Look at Pee-wee's Big Adventure; it was rated PG because some elements were a little too "scary" for little kids, and it has some mild swearing... but hey, what scares little kids these days? And most parents these days seem to think there's nothing wrong with swearing, and that kids should be allowed to after kindergarten, so if you ask me, there's an example of what we think would/should be PG, would be more like a G.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Honestly I wouldn't show my kids have the stuff they're making today. American entertainment, with some exceptions, is really becoming an embarrassment.

 

[Crazy31088]

I think the problem is people making little kids think (and know) that the adult jokes in animated films rated G *are* adult jokes, and therefore they are forbidden to repeat them in the schoolyard. If you ban something, you give it power, and it's that power that lures kids to make dirty jokes that gets them a detention, no matter where they heard them from. My parents cursed around me when I was young, so I wouldn't grow up thinking that there was power attatched to those words, and yet my upbringing from everyone else (teachers, other kids, etc) did the exact opposite. I got in trouble quite a bit in third and fourth grades for cursing, but I attribute this to the fact that I knew I wasn't supposed to. I thought of myself as a rebel, and the way to rebel the most was to use the forbidden words. Had my parents had me entirely to themselves, I doubt I would've learned this.

But I do also think somewhat that if one is immersed in a crowd of people who curse in every other sentence (if not more), they will start cursing more themselves without realizing it. That was what happened to me when I was in a local psychiatric ward. Once I got over that again, I rarely cursed because I usually reserved it for when I was in the heat of emotional turmoil. But I think I'll close this post before I say something even more stupid than what I've already said.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Now isnt everything on this page basically what I said on the last page (only I said it a bit more simply)? I've been saying that G rated movies have some pretty bad things in them for a LONG time, and as always, Disney is notorious for it.

And by that I mean the entire aspect of violence and death that fills disney movies. Seriously, The Lion King made me cry when I was 3! I still cant watch the stampeed scene. Yeah, 10 year olds can handle it better than a 3 year old, but people are under this impresssion Disney movies are cutesy little baby movies. And they're not.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I never minded it when Disney talked about death, or violence or sad issues. That can be the sign of a deeper, more meaningful story, and it's good to expose kids to that.

What's been bothering me is the over use of just plain dirty, mean spirited humor that keeps popping up in kids entertainment. It's not sophisticated grown up jokes (which could be OK), it's one-dimensional filthy (and often sexist) humor.

"I hate a dirty joke I do, unless it's told by someone who know how to tell it."

Honestly, when I have kids, I'll be truly afraid to put them in front of the TV or in a movie theater. Then again, maybe that's a good thing. There are more important things in life!

 

[Sgt Floyd]

but what I'm trying to say is that if a character dies in a movie, a younger kid gets upset. Older kids it wont bother too much, but a 3 or 4 year old it might upset alot. Yeah, its good to expose it to kids, since its a fact of life, but some of way they deal with it is pretty gruesome for a 3 year old to be watching

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well it's just a matter of opinion, but I generally don't mind the idea of kids occasionally getting scared by a story. Life isn't all fun and games, and we're not doing kids any favors by putting them in a safety bubble. Plus kids are a lot tougher (and smarter) than we realize.

And it has to be kept in perspective. I mean kids in other countries have to seen truly terrifying things every day in their real life. They have to grow up very quickly. And we're worried about our kids seeing a scary movie? I think our kids are relatively fine.

I was scared by a lot of book or movies as a kid, but at the same time I eventually learned what amazing stories they were and what important messages they had to give. If my parents had kept me away from all of that, I would have been tragically deprived. And that's worse, in my opinion, than being scared.

Just because a kid doesn't automatically like something, doesn't mean you indulge them everytime and take it away. What lesson does that teach them? If something's hard in life, you don't have to deal with it?

 

[D'Snowth]

I have to admit, whenever a character on a TV show or a movie dies, as a little kid, it never bothered me much, mainly because I didn't think too much back then - these things mainly, and simply entertained me.

It wasn't until a teenager and I started thinking about what I'd watch and then it would effect me, like the first time I saw the M*A*S*H episode "Abyssinia, Henry!", everyone was excited because Henry was being discharged, he was going home to his loved ones, he didn't have to put up with the war anymore... then in the end, here comes Radar with the announcement that the plane Henry was onboard was shot down over the Sea of Japan, and no one survived. That hurt. I mean Henry was one of my favorites, and here he is he's been KILLED! What kind of a slap in the face is that?

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I dunno, maybe its the fact i baby sat and dont like listening to kids crying over something they see on TV I had to listen to a screaming crying kid one time over a cat dying on a tv show. and here I was trying to exsplain that it wasnt real. *sigh* that was not a fun day. and I didnt get to take my morning nap when I got over there either (Ooo, bad me, sleeping when I should be watching this kid but I had to be over there at 6 and the kid was usually alseep until about 9. But she was up and awake that day for some reason. Ok, shutting up)