A rant about violence in movies marketed to kids

[asscherisme]

OK, I admiit, this is my fault for not reading the review more carefully and just going on the local paper giving it 3 stars (out of 4). My 12 year old son was dying to see the Incredible Hulk. And with my other kids at camp today I figured it would be a fun mom/son thing to do. Especially since I enjoyed the original series as a kid (Ok dating myself here!).

Overall, not a bad movie. I loved how they put Bill Bixby in a scene on a TV screen even though he has passed away they fit him in. And how Lou Farrigno (the original Hulk) was a security guard.

But, it was SO violoent. He liked the movie overall but was a little shaken by so much violence. So violent that my son has told me that he does not want to see anymore PG-13 movies (until the next Harry Potter comes out).

I am pretty careful about avoiding violent content and don't allow violent video games in my house and monitor what my kids watch. I would never dream of letting my younger kids see this movie.

And like I said before, I know I should have read the reviews more carefully.

But I can't help but wonder WHY they put so much violence in these movies.

And for those of you born in the '60's and before is it my imagination or are movies marketed to kids and teens just gettting out of control and more violent each year?

I'm having one of those Oh I'm feeling old days today (espeically since its my birthday tommorow so I'm reflecting on my age!) but it just bugs me that these movies they KNOW kids are going to beg to see are so violent.

I am going to be more careful from now on.

 

[Miranda]

First off, Happy Birthday tomorrow!!!

Second, I''m with ya! Kids have just plain too much violence pushed down their throats these days. I think they begin to see violent behavior as normal because they see so much of it on a daily basis.

What gets me is the advertising. Meaning commercials. When we are watching sports, it fries me to no end when a CSI commercial comes on. Even the 30 second blips are inappropriate for my 5 year old to see...Or her 12 and 14 year old brothers for that matter! And they come on in the middle of the day! It''s not like the kids are up late when things like this SHOULD be on. Grrrrr...This drives me crazy too!

Well, thanks for letting us know that Hulk is a pretty violent film. My boys have been wanting to see it.

 

[somethingshiny]

I completely agree. There is so much that is inappropriate in the media anymore. I have a 2 year old and he likes to watch SpongeBob on occasion. I was irked when Girls Gone Wild was advertised during the commercial break. Come on!! Or when we''re listening to music, a favorite pastime, and inappropriate lyrics come on or advertisements for Gentlemen''s clubs. Even something as seemingly quaint as the Cat in the Hat (the movie). It was hugely inappropriate for a young child.

I have found a great website that I even look at before I go to a movie. It''s called KidsInMind. It lists every movie, or at least all that I''ve looked into, and lists them all for sex, violence, profanity, etc.

 

[mia1181]

I was actually surprised at how many young children were in line to see the movie on opening night. I was like "oh maybe it''s not as violent as I thought it would be." Then there were a few pretty scary previews before the movie. I can''t remember what movie it was for, but I think there was one where someone was shot in the face (they didn''t actually show the act but it was pretty clear: gun pointed at face, camera moves away and bang!). I''m a nanny so I am extremely sensitive to these types of things and I was like "Oh god there are children in here!" It was terrible.

 

[movie zombie]

think the movies are violent?! checkout the video games that most parents let their kids play.......

movie zombie

 

[asscherisme]

Oh, I'm totally aware of the video games. I control it in my house but its when my son is at others homes is the big issue. I won't let violent games in my house period. Furthermore, my computer is in my family room within eyesight of the kitchen and I monitor what they do. When I have caught my son exploring where he was not allowed, I took away his allowance and nintendo dx for a month. Torture for him and hopefully a lesson learned. I do my best to teach my son right from wrong and he knows how I feel about the games. I live in a well off area and it amazes me how parents with money will buy their kids whatever they want and not even investiagate what they are bringing into their homes and what their kids are doing behind closed doors. My son tells me storeis of kids bragging about watching **** on youtube. This is 6th grade! But thats a whole different topic. Money does NOT equal good parenting or good values or class. Where I live is proof of that.

Back to the movie, my son is 12 but looks 14 or 15. He is talller than me! And yes, there were tiny kids in the theater and I was cringing as I watched the movie.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Its a hard line. My parents didn''t let my brother watch anything too violent, but all the other boys parent''s did. When all the other 6 year olds were playing Jarassic Park, my brother was left out because he had neer seen it. It really bothers my that my brother who was raised right suffered because other parents thought the old batmans were ok for 7 year olds.

But then, we weren''t really sheltered either since sex was never taboo in our house, we were very European that way.

I read something once that I think sums it up for this country.
If a beautiful woman walked out in the middle of a field naked during a baseball game, the cameras don''t catch it and the parents prevent their kids from looking.

If a fight breaks out, it makes all the top spots in sports show and is repeatedly played while the parents either ignore it or cheer their team on.
To me, this sends the wrong message.

 

[Circe]

Brazen, I couldn''t agree with you more!

And, on what might be a slight tangent ... I think a lot of the problem comes from genre stereotypes that are no longer appropriate. Material is published as CL or YA fairly arbitrarily; ditto, interpreted in new media in formats that may be aimed at different audiences. Case-in-point: I study fantasy lit and fairy tales, and right now I''m writing a paper about a graphic retelling (I refer to the medium here, since it''s a comic book, but it works equally well as a generic adjective) of Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and The Wizard of Oz. It''s a comic by Alan Moore (of "V for Vendetta," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," and "From Hell," to name a few of his other works), grounded in traditional children''s lit, but, um ... overtly pornographic in nature. A great many comic shops have gotten in trouble for even carrying it, because comics are still seen, broadly, as catering to children. But, the fact of the matter is, that hasn''t been the case since, oh, the late 80s? Early 90s? If as late as that?

These days, that coveted 18-25 male demographic trumps everything, since they seem to have the most in the way of disposable income, and that tends to mean sex/violence. Is it problematic? Yep. Is it part of a spiraling cycle of desensitivation? Yep. Is it a free market economy in action? ... yep. The best solution I can think of for parents is to never assume that something is appropriate for kids just because it used to be wholesome back in the day ....

 

[miraclesrule]

Date: 6/19/2008 12:04:54 AM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy
Its a hard line. My parents didn''t let my brother watch anything too violent, but all the other boys parent''s did. When all the other 6 year olds were playing Jarassic Park, my brother was left out because he had neer seen it. It really bothers my that my brother who was raised right suffered because other parents thought the old batmans were ok for 7 year olds.

But then, we weren''t really sheltered either since sex was never taboo in our house, we were very European that way.

I read something once that I think sums it up for this country.
If a beautiful woman walked out in the middle of a field naked during a baseball game, the cameras don''t catch it and the parents prevent their kids from looking.

If a fight breaks out, it makes all the top spots in sports show and is repeatedly played while the parents either ignore it or cheer their team on.
To me, this sends the wrong message.

For some reason when I read this post an old line from the Bush-Gore campaign kept running through my mind. When they were talking about Hollywood, they said :

"Bush wants less Gore, and Gore wants less Bush" It was a clever play on words...but to me, the violence is worse than the sex, unless it is violent sex and then that''s just the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Lynn B]

Oh, don''t get me started!

I totally, 100% agree. I think the short term (and LONG term) damage being done to our kids is tragic and immeasurable.

The whole time our two kids were growing up, we didn''t have cable TV. Not one single channel. We had a VCR, though, and once a week or so, we would rent a carefully selected movie and that was a real treat for the kids. As a family, we played a lot of games, took walks, hiked, enjoyed hobbies and work together.

And even now, both of our kids are married and on their own, and neither one of them STILL has cable TV. (DH and I do now, just very recent... but all we really watch is (me) the Food Channel and (him) the golf and weather channels.

I think (most) TV is "THE

" !!!

 

[Fancy605]

Date: 6/19/2008 3:05:00 AM
Author: miraclesrule
...but to me, the violence is worse than the sex, unless it is violent sex and then that''s just the bottom of the barrel.

I think for little kids, the violence has more of a negative impact b/c they don''t get the sex references. They also don''t always get the repercussions of violence, which can be problematic if someone doesn''t step in and explain.

But for the age group I deal with on a regular basis (11-16) the sex is worse. By the time they get to middle school, most of them (aside from the ones with severe issues) understand that violence can get you in trouble. But, they don''t tend to associate sex with trouble. The movies they see present it as some activity that everyone should enjoy with as many people as possible. No one stops to use condoms, no one catches STDs (except on lifetime) and people don''t end up getting hurt by it. If someone gets pregnant, it gets resolved in some sunshine-y way (Think Juno and Knocked up--I loved both movies, but not for kids!). They don''t have a good grasp of the consequences.

 

[Shay37]

I so agree. We took my little ones to see Ironman. If we had seen it first, it would not have happened. Violent, more than a little, and a random bedroom scene that was a little offputting. My DH and I were the only ones in the place covering my kids''s eyes. I was a bit shocked. We have taken them to movies in the past with this rating that didn''t seem to push it quite so much.

My kids had been asking to see the Hulk, and my DH and I said no way. Much too violent. I did however come across a marathon on SciFi channel of the old Bill Bixby ones and they thoroughly enjoyed those.

shay

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I hate what they do to kids movies, too. I have rarely ever taken my 12 year old to a PG-13 because those are worse than they used to be. We went to see Kung Fu Panda this week, and while there was fighting, it was animated and not realistic at all. Plus it had a pretty good message.

P.S It's really good to see you around here, my diamond twin! Happy birthday!