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The King's Speech - Would you take your teens?


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I took my 14 YO. I was surprised that it was rated R. It was very tame by ratings' standards. There were some bad words, and there was some s*xual innuendo but nothing visual.

 

It was VERY good. No regrets here, and I'm fairly conservative about movies as DD is a visual learner.

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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Yes, but when we get to that era in history. My 14 year old is a WWII buff and when we get to modern history in his high school studies, that is when we will have him watch it along with, gasp because I'm sure that many will disagree with me, Schindler's List. I want my children to truly understand that horrors of that war.

 

I think that the King's Speech is so moving and it accurately portrays the deep tension, dread, and yet resolution of Great Britain going into the war, knowing it couldn't be avoided and that it would cost dearly. Their king felt this to the core of his being and it cost to him personally just to make that speech, to energize and lead his people. It's profound. No documentary could tell the story better. It's an insight we Americans would otherwise not likely have because we were an ocean away from the danger and already united under a very popular, strong leader.

 

It's a language only issue and the language is not remotely gratuitious...ask any psychologist or speech therapist. It has to do with how language is processed and what part of the brain language is stored in. Profanity is retrieved from a different spot in the brain, thus no stuttering. I think my kid is a strong enough individual to see how it was used in a utilitarian, goal oriented manner, while still understanding that outside of the walls of that therapist's office, it would been a horribly offensive, reputation altering, spray of words for the king to spew in a general conversation. He would also understand that we are not sanctioning that language for its own sake and would "whap him on the back of the head" (LOL) if he burst forth!

 

Faith

Edited by FaithManor
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It is a brilliant movie and my 15yo ds loved it. Good story, excellent acting, historically interesting and enlightening. Good characters too -- good as in interesting to watch but also morally decent and good. The ONLY reason it got an R rating was because of the language -- a stream of "f" bombs in one but there was a reason for them in the story and it was very funny. KarenAnne from this board took her 14yo dd and she loved it too.

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We took our 8 1/2 year old. I gave him a sort of family tree going back to King George. (He knows who William/Queen Elizabeth is). I also explained how it worked with David and why he was king then wasn't, along with Albert's problem with the stuttering and how that was affecting how he was looked at by the people and how the radio was affected that as well. He also knew about the friend ship between Albert and Lough. We also explained how stuttering worked and how curse words come from a different part of the brain and all.

 

So basically I had explained the entire story to him, but as an 8 1/2 year old, he would have been lost without the explanation. But he was able to follow it and enjoyed it.

Edited by Renthead Mommy
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I took my 9 and 11yos, after carefully reading reviews for content. There *is* some bad language, but *no* other reason for it to have a rating above PG. There's no violence, nothing explicit sexually (simply some discussion of the older brother's dalliances, and most of that flew over my kids' heads)... My 9yo got a little bored, but said later that she enjoyed the movie. The 11yo (a bit more thoughtful kind of kiddo anyway) was fascinated.

 

I would be okay with taking any child old enough and thoughtful enough to sit through a rather slow movie and to discuss various aspects of it (including the scene of bad language).

 

Oh, there's also cigarette smoking. Again, a point to discuss in terms of historical perspective and the fact that it lead directly to the king's (relatively) early death (after the scope of the movie).

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I'm planning to rent it as soon as it comes for the kids to see, even my 12yo. Yes, there is a scene with language, but it isn't bad in the context. I really think it should have been rated PG-13. I have NO problem with my 12yo seeing it and am actually going to require all of the kids to watch it. I'm not going to pay for all of us to see it in the theater (except maybe the dollar theater).

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I took my 14 YO. I was surprised that it was rated R. It was very tame by ratings' standards. Their were some bad words, and there was some s*xual innuendo but nothing visual.

 

It was VERY good. No regrets here, and I'm fairly conservative about movies as DD is a visual learner.

 

The director of Gosford Park said he put in the exact number of bad words he needed to to get an R. He didn't want a bunch of giggling teenyboppers, who wouldn't like the movie anyway, ruining it for the grown-ups.

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The director of Gosford Park said he put in the exact number of bad words he needed to to get an R.

 

Funny you should mention this, as that was our exact theory on the way out of the movie theater. We assumed that this increased their likelihood of being taken seriously enough to be nominated for an Oscar.

 

DD DID notice the innuendo. She was embarrassed by the idea that the whole world knew why the king abdicated. Yes, honey, they DID know, and in fact, Lady Di's older sister was taken out of the running as a possible wife for Prince Charles when someone revealed that he had slept with her. Royals are much more public than you might think. It's unfortunate.

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My 14yo ds has a stutter and his therapist told us about the film coming out before anyone even knew about it. It was shown in a private preview for speech therapists.

 

I took my ds and dd(12), dh and inlaws to see it. Told them there was going to be a bunch of bad words and the reason behind it. I also taped and showed them a wonderful biography of Queen Elizabeth's life that showed old footage of her father and the whole "brother abdication" story. The movie was something that I would not have wanted them to miss.

 

The acting was incredible!

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Great, Ladies! We'll get tickets for the five of us and then go out for coffee afterwards to discuss.

 

Discussion is always great. You could explain ahead of time that many people who stutter supposedly can say swear words without difficulty which is the whole premise of the R-rated words.

Best movie I have seen in a while!

Tell us what you think.

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We have it at home already (my husband gets early releases of lots of movies) and have watched it with our kids (9 &11). We all loved it! My kids were on the edge of their seats during The Speech.

 

I had no problem whatsoever with the 'profanity.' I hesitate to even call it profanity due to the context.

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