It started when I found out a buddy
of mine was letting her 4th grade
son read the Twilight series. He had already seen the movie and was well into the second book. I also discovered one of my 3rd graders read the book with his parents, which really surprised me. Then, I found out my niece (also in third grade) received a copy of the movie from the Easter Bunny. (Apparently, the Easter Bunny that hippity-hopped down their lane must have been the wild "black sheep" younger bunny brother of the one who brought gummies and nail polish to my girlies.)
I admit openly that I have neither read the books, nor seen the movie. It's not because of any deep, moral or religious opposition to the content - I'm just not into vampires. I've never been into reading or watching things like werewolves, vampires, zombies, and other "undead". Nothing personal, folks. I just prefer a different topic. I'm a bit more of an "Oprah Book Club" type reader.
That said, I also know that the major themes of this book center around romance, love, sensuality...a.k.a. SEX. That has to be true or all the women in America wouldn't be swooning over Edward and talking about vampire crushes, right?
In my desperate attempt to either validate my own thinking or determine if I'm just a prude, I found a great resource for parents on the ever reliable IMDB. I know you all know this already, but I had no idea that Bella is almost raped by four men!? And she's nearly crushed by two cars!? Plus, after reading the list of offenses in the "violence and gore" category, it seems that people and/or vampires are being beaten, burned, broken and bloodied throughout the movie. But, I'm taking all this with a grain of salt. I haven't seen the movie.
I still wouldn't let my child see it, though.
Apparently, not everyone agrees with me. (I know!!! I am amazed, too!!!)
Then, I remembered: this movie is rated PG-13. As a parent who was, aparently, raised in a very "by the book" household, that verifies my thinking. You can't see it until you're 13 and even then, I'm seeing it with you. Right?
Wait a minute. Freeze. I think I'm beginning to understand that not all parents pay attention to those ratings. But, some must, right? I mean, just the other day I was chatting with a few girls in my class about movies and 17 Again came up. I assumed they would rush right out to see it. It looks like a cute romantic comedy. And, hello!, Zac Efron is the star! But, nope. No go. It's PG-13.
Again, WOW. I haven't seen that movie at all, either, so I have no idea why it's PG-13. But these parents aren't letting their kids go see it, and I totally respect that. **Note: I looked it up. "This film has been rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying." I never found that same type of summary for Twilight. I thought it would be interesting to see how they compared in a sentence.**
All this thinking made me wonder. When my girlies get older and the lines between childhood and adulthood begin to blur, how will I decide? Will I base my decisions purely by the rating? Will I make exceptions? How will I know?
And then I wondered, have I already begun to make these decisions without even realizing it?
As a teacher, we are permitted to show only G rated movies in class for special events. Because of this rule, I've become painfully aware of how few G-rated moves are made today. Any of those old classics from our childhood that have been remade, such as Shaggy Dog, apparently lost some wholesomeness in the remaking process....because they went from a G to a PG movie. Even some very popular and seemingly harmless animated moves, such as Happy Feet, are rated PG.
I remember the first movie I had to censor from Big Girl. Brother Bear. We totally trusted Disney - and still do. But, one day she dropped a "shut up" from her precious two year-old mouth. We had no idea where it came from, until we heard the Moose the next time we watched that movie. At the time, we decided to pull the movie after, of course, trying to explain that "shut up" was "not nice". CENSORED!
However, throughout the years I've learned after the fact of her various television viewing with Fire Daddy. He was so proud the night he told me as my jaw dropped to the floor how calmly and maturely she watched to my horror some survivor dude use the carcas of a camel for shelter. Yeah, you're right. That show was NOT on Discovery Kids.
Ultimately, I'm realizing, we all make our own rules. We all use our own judgment...or, however reluctantly, that of our spouses. When I sent out a flare to the twitterverse for feedback, I got very little response I heard that parents are not basing their decisions on the judgment of the Ratings People, but rather, their own judgment.
A thought that makes me wonder why they're even rating movies anymore if people aren't paying attention to the ratings. Should we, as a society, consider modifying this system? But, then again, without those ratings parents would need to watch the movies first and determine if their child can/should see them...
Well, ain't that great. That brings me right back to my original question...How much is too much? Where do you draw the line in the sand?
Yeah.
Gotta love introspection. Always so productive.
Anyone want to copy of Brother Bear? I have the DVD, but my girls aren't allowed to watch it...
PS: You're more than welcome to disagree with me. I respect that completely. I won't even hold it against you! Just be sure to talk to me before you take my child to a movie, OK?
