How do you decide if a movie is appropriate for your kids?
It can be tough to do when there are no hard and fast rules. Not all animated films are kid-friendly. And a movie like Transformers might not be the best choice for the very young kids who love to play with the robot toys. Even movies that appear to be happy go lucky kid flicks in the trailer can turn out to be darker than expected and prompt deep emotional questions (think Up.)
What are the deal breakers for you? Violence? Swearing? Too much sexual inuendo? Poor character development? What about the adult humor that makes movies like Shrek just as fun for adults as they are for kids?
What about movies on darker topics like mortality and a life filled with sadness? Andrew O'Hehir calls out some of these so-called kids' movies in his article, Kids' movies that aren't for kids: The top 10. He says, "These are fairy tales for grown-ups, and especially for parents, with just enough candy coating that kids will tolerate them."
This past weekend, Where the Wild Things Are was released. Much has been said about whether this movie, based on the classic children's book by Maurice Sendak, is a good choice for the young children who are the audience for the book.
While the critics love the movie, they also point out that "The wild things in the movie have been designed and directed toward a distinctly older age group than the book’s original audience. If monsters give you the willies, beware!"
On the other hand, maybe kids can handle the dark side of these movies better than we believe. Problem is, you might not know until it's time for them to go to bed.
