Monday, August 6, 2007

Are PG and PG-13 Movies Safe For Your Child?

I think I'm feeling better after last week. I've decided to post something informative that I wrote in the Newsletter that I edit. There's been a lot of buzz about it in my Moms Groups because of that Transformer movie...

It’s often difficult to gauge the Motion Picture Association of America’s movie ratings. Although a movie may be rated, it doesn’t tell you exactly how it got the PG rating as opposed to the G rating. It is also often surprising how much violence or latent sexual innuendo there is in a PG movie. If you’re looking for a great place to get the REAL scoop on the violence, sexual content and profanity in movies try the following very helpful websites. They detail the questionable sections of the movie for your young ones so that you can make better choices for your children:

Kids In Mind: http://www.kids-in-mind.com

Family Media Guide: http://www.familymediaguide.com

MPAA Rating Info: http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp

3 comments:

Stacey said...

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to check these out.

And glad you're feeling better after the scare with the princess.

Book Flame said...

thank you for the links, I can't agree with you more about the movies but even some of the cartoons that are out make me question what is going on with the ratings and what rules they follow

Butrfly Garden said...

I like commonsensemedia.org, too.

We actually took the kids (well, SS, NB suddenly didn't want to go at the last minute) to see the Simpsons movie, which is PG-13. Otherwise, they don't usually get to see the -13's.

But I use those tools (links) and they're really helpful. Some kids could get through Transformers just fine and some would be scared as heck. When they have real parents going in to review the movies, they usually give you recaps that tell you exactly what they were doing. Like, Social Message could be "Boy gets called names like 'butthead'" or "Mom slaps son" - those things are important because each kid reacts differently to situations.

Am I rambling now? Oh, totally.

I will check our your links, too...sometimes CSM doesn't have reviews up as fast as I need them.