We Bought A Zoo movie should NOT be rated PG

[jewellsmommy]

Thank you. I had not yet checked my usual review sights yet. I was expecting a little better than that though.

 

I came out of the movie Cars upset because they threw in h*ll and hillbilly h*ll (such a lovely catchphrase for the 4 yr olds :glare:). So I am admittedly sensitive. We discussed it with dd and curse words have never been a problem with her.

 

Ds is another story though. He came to us already comfortable with hurling certain words, and when he gets mad he likes to have an arsenal ready. We have worked hard to let him know that it is NOT cute, funny, witty, or appropriate to hurl those sorts of words or labels around. Right now we are still trying to get him to stop calling people stupid, idiot, jerks when he deems it necessary. It was a great day when he called dd a d***h bag. Dd had no idea what that was. :001_huh:

 

I cannot see paying that much money to have ds hear a child, in particular, call someone a d*ck or hear people laugh when "the bad guy" gets called out as a fill in the blank knowing that he is keeping track of the words and the responses he thinks it will illicit. I guess it all depends on your children and how they respond to this sort of stimuli.

[fourcatmom]

Yeah, we will be skipping that one. I read that the 7 y/o girl character also calls an adult a d**k and that the topic of the mom's death in the movie can be a bit intense for some kids.

 

Not relevant to me but some of you may also want to know there's also an implication about the Easter bunny not being real during a scene where father and son are having an argument.

 

 

I was shocked when she said that! I can't believe they put that in there and if it were child and I wouldn't have allowed her to say it. Good point about the Easter bunny, I had forgotten about that part. My children were older and they enjoyed the movie. The other swear didn't ruin the movie for me but they weren't necessary and should have been left out.

 

The only real shocked with the d*ck word. I actually gasped at that one.

[Cricket]

I looked it up, and it turns out that PG13 was only introduced in 1984. Before that there was just G and PG, with PG meaning "Parental Guidance Suggested — Some Material May Not be Suitable for Pre-Teenagers", which is essentially what PG-13 means now. I think the problem is that nowadays, a G movie is assumed to be for little kids, so they lose a significant chunk of the potential audience. A 10 year old I saw at a family gathering would not even consider going to Tintin, as he perceived it as being for younger kids. (Tintin is also PG, but less for profanity and more for violence, I'm guessing.)

 

It's sad tjat G movies are seen as only for kids. My ds13 still hasn't figured out that he should only like certain movies. During baseball season I can always be assured he will hear in detail about all kinds of horrid movies. :glare:

 

Along those lines, how is it that some children have never heard those words? My kids have heard them at the grocery store, the university where we go to Swim & Gym, definitely at the post office which ALWAYS has a line out the door, at restaurants, occasionally in the car from their own mother :blush:, and I'm sure other places as well.

 

OP- I, too, am impressed that the movie theatre gave you a refund.

 

I remember at about 4 or 5 proudly reading "eat s***" scratched on a city bench. My dad about had a fit! :lol:

[Jean in Newcastle]

The movie Tangled was PG and I didn't personally see anything wrong with that movie.:001_huh: There are obviously different levels of PG movies out there.

 

I just posted this thread as an FYI for parents who may not want to talk that way in front of their children, or want to go see movies with them that has language like that in it.:)

 

FYI's are good. That's why some of us linked the review sites too - so that you have a source of reviews that are a bit better than "my family enjoyed this";) As you can see even from this thread, there is a huge variation in what different families enjoy or see as appropriate.

[angela in ohio]

You're right to do research, I have seen in two interviews about the movie that it is not intended to be a kids/Disney movie. Just b/c there are kids and animals in it does not mean it's automatically a kid movie.

 

They always say that, but then they market it to kiddos. :001_huh: I've heard them say that about many movies that also had Happy Meal toys.

[luvnlattes]

Did you never see any 80's kid's movies such as "The Goonies"....they were PG and loaded with swear words.

 

This! Dh and I sat down with the boys a couple years ago when the oldest was about 12 to watch this or some other movie from that time frame. I couldn't believe the language in that thing!

 

Is there a movie review website that gives a general review, as in "4 swear words and one booK shot," while not giving the entire plot and ending away? That's what drives me crazy about pluggedin and kids-in-mind. I can't stand to have the movie "ruined" before I even get to the theater.

 

commonsensemedia.org will tell you what words are said and rate on a scale from 1 to 5 whether language, violence, s!x, etc. is an issue. They give a synopsis at the beginning but it's easy to skip over if you just want see what the issues are for a particular film. The synopsis is more brief than Plugged In so it doesn't give nearly as much of the plot away.

[funschooler5]

Hmm..well, I guess that I won't put much stock in the rating system. I don't recall a lot of profanity other than da*n back in the day, and definitely don't remember brief nudity.

 

The rating system is a joke, though it actually does seem to be better now than it was in the 80s...Raiders of the Lost Ark is PG, and that Nazi face-melting scene at the end scared the cr*p out of me when I was a kid.

 

I just try to watch the movies first. At our house, we don't care about swearing, it's the excessive violence we try to avoid. Our older 2 have actually been able to watch some rated R movies that were rated that way for language only, and not some of the PG-13 ones. I just go by the quality and "tone" of the movie.

 

A lot of the new PG and G rated movies are unwatchable, IMO. Now that computerized animation is popular, Hollywood can churn out terrible cartoons at an alarming rate. Sure, the animation looks good, but the stories and characters are poorly written. I can understand film-makers not wanting their movies to be lumped in with Alvin and the Chipmunks and the like.

[lailasmum]

Its a shame you didn't like the film. I want to see it and was thinking of taking my dd but I might not. We live about 20mins from the zoo it is based on, that place has experienced some serious trauma in its years of existance, and the bit since Ben Mee has owned it seemed the most stable so I assumed I would be a very hollywood fluffy type film glossing over it all and just loosely based on real life. I know what has happened to the family in reality and didn't think they would keep all the traumatic parts in a kids film. I am not sure what the rating is here.

[Alicia64]

Thank you! I've been unhappy with many PG movies.

 

Alley

[Leav97]

They always say that, but then they market it to kiddos. :001_huh: I've heard them say that about many movies that also had Happy Meal toys.

 

This drives me nuts. Transformers was rated PG-13 but yet the Burger King kids meals had Transformers toys. It would be nice if they weren't allowed to market pg-13 movies to kids.

[Lolly]

I am sorry you didn't enjoy the movie. I have recently walked out of a movie myself and gotten a refund. The theaters are really good about returning $ when the customer is unhappy. It sounds like you had a good salesperson refunding the money who knew how to make the customer feel good. However, the movie you are describing is well within the PG rating. From your perimeters, it sounds like you are looking for rated G films. PG films are not meant for young children. I think of them as 10 and up. Kids that age are usually pretty well versed in the words you mentioned. They are mild swears. Even the Easter Bunny reference is generally fine in that age group. Pretty much all kids that age know the truth. The ones who do not should have parents who are still checking the reviews closely to see what is in movies before hand.

[MHowell]

As long as you leave before the movie is half over the theater is required to refund your ticket. This way it also doesn't count as money earned for the movie. Dh is awful about walking out of bad movies and not asking for a refund. I always have to do it.

 

My kids both know those words and that they are not okay. I forget what movie we were watching and when someone cursed DS immediately turned and said, "we can't say that words, it's mean." :)

[beaners]

I even get annoyed at some movies that are rated G and throw in inferred swearing. A sound effect will cut off the "bad" part, or half of it will be left unsaid. I'll say that I have seen many adult movies, normally dramas, where a character swearing contributed to characterization or added to the quality in some way. It's the exception rather than the rule though.

 

Also, I think it is completely possible for children to have never heard those words. I came home and repeated a joke to my mother when I was 6 or 7. A boy in my class had told it, and I didn't get why it was funny that I said the word it after shhhhh. I didn't recall ever hearing it before that, and I probably didn't hear it again for a few years.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Also, I think it is completely possible for children to have never heard those words. I came home and repeated a joke to my mother when I was 6 or 7. A boy in my class had told it, and I didn't get why it was funny that I said the word it after shhhhh. I didn't recall ever hearing it before that, and I probably didn't hear it again for a few years.

 

This really surprises me. Maybe I just live in a high-cuss area! :lol:

 

The only time I've been truly appalled enough to say something was at Panera. Some guys in business suits were sitting next to us and the one guy called someone an f---ing c---sucker. Right next to my kids! I told the guy off and pointed out all the kids in the restaurant. He apologized, but looked like he didn't really care.

[goldberry]

The worst thing for me is how the F-word can be in a PG13 movie. (Allowed once and in a non-sexual context). Well, I don't want DD to hear it at all! Our whole family LOVED Super-8, but they had to throw in the ONE F-word that didn't even seem to be necessary. WHY?? WHY???

 

DD is now old enough to watch some PG13, but I HATE-HATE-HATE the F-word.

 

FYI, she JUST watched Raiders of the Lost Ark about a month ago.

[Audrey]

Hi Audrey--quick Tintin hijack--We were wondering if the headlines of the newspapers framed as wall art in Tintin's flat described some adventures/"cases" from the books. We loved the movie, but, not being at all familiar with the print version, thought maybe we were missing some bits and pieces. (We did catch the street artist's drawing of the animated Tintin as being his "comic book" self, that was obvious!)

 

 

Yes, they are! I thought that was so clever to include the original series that way with the headlines, the opening artwork (all those poff, bam, etc bubbles) and the sketch of TinTin.

[deacongirl]

:iagree:

None of this would bother me in the least in an otherwise enjoyable movie and Im certain Im not the only one.

[ErinE]

I will never understand Hollywood. Why take a otherwise good family movie and throw cursing in? What's the benefit vs. the parents that will be disappointed? I don't get it . . .

 

Agreed! So many movies have great plots and characters and then they throw in a few curse words. We watched Back to the Future the other day, and the incremental cussing made it hard to watch.

 

I don't think I should protect my kids from everything, but it's like going to Disney World and hearing the characters start cussing. If it's a movie marketed towards kids and families, why ruin it with bad language?

[scrappyhappymama]

Is there a movie review website that gives a general review, as in "4 swear words and one booK shot," while not giving the entire plot and ending away? That's what drives me crazy about pluggedin and kids-in-mind. I can't stand to have the movie "ruined" before I even get to the theater.

 

 

On Kids-in-Mind, the profanity is listed the way you describe. For this movie for example they disclose "4 scatological terms, 1 not fully enunciated scatological term, 2 anatomical terms (including one used by a young girl), 4 mild obscenities (including one used by a 13 year old boy)" and a bunch of name calling.

 

Also, the violence and sexual content is listed from worst to most benign, not chronologically in the movie. So, I'll usually just read the first few examples in each category and can tell pretty easily whether it's a movie appropriate for our kids or not, without spoiling the entire movie.

[JennifersLost]

I assume that a PG-13 movie will include obscenities, sexual references and possible brief nudity. My ten year old daughter sees plenty of them and seems unharmed - and never swears - but I sit there cringing, LOL.

 

Actually it's the violence in all these movies that gets to me after awhile. Death, death, death, death, death.

 

Oh, and can we get past all the throwing up scenes already. Really? That's entertaining?

 

Bah humbug.

[Guest submarines]

None of this would bother me in the least in an otherwise enjoyable movie and Im certain Im not the only one.

 

:iagree:

[TracyR]

Bummer, and here they were marketing it as a family friendly movie. Ugh

[Dolphin]

I always look at plugged in Online

 

They are WAY more conservative than me, and they tell all things that parents can find objectionable. They say what words, and how many times etc..

 

Their review of Black Swan cracked me up.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Thanks so much for the very detailed review links. I had not idea this was even available. We obviously don't go to the movies very often.:001_huh: Those will be very helpful in the future. The reviews I posted were just from local movie goers that left them on the movie theater website. Definitely can't go by those reviews.

[funschooler5]

I assume that a PG-13 movie will include obscenities, sexual references and possible brief nudity. My ten year old daughter sees plenty of them and seems unharmed - and never swears - but I sit there cringing, LOL.

 

Actually it's the violence in all these movies that gets to me after awhile. Death, death, death, death, death.

 

Oh, and can we get past all the throwing up scenes already. Really? That's entertaining?

 

Bah humbug.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Jenny in Florida]

Actually it's the violence in all these movies that gets to me after awhile.

 

Oh, yes. All of those falls and punches and such played for humor make me ill.

 

Honestly, a couple of "naughty words" in an otherwise family-friendly film doesn't bug me at all. I'm much more concerned about violence played for laughs, gross humor and simplistic story lines. We always said with our daughter that we censored for quality, not content. It doesn't seem to have done her any harm.

[Dana]

I assume that a PG-13 movie will include obscenities, sexual references and possible brief nudity. My ten year old daughter sees plenty of them and seems unharmed - and never swears - but I sit there cringing, LOL.

 

Actually it's the violence in all these movies that gets to me after awhile. Death, death, death, death, death.

 

Oh, and can we get past all the throwing up scenes already. Really? That's entertaining?

 

Bah humbug.

 

 

I'm still amazed that Mr. and Mrs. Smith was PG-13.

 

I'll let my son watch movies with language but I want to avoid the violence as a rule. We rarely go to the theater, so watching on DVD makes this all much easier to monitor.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I only know the original Hergé TinTin books which are in French. We probably have a dozen or more of them that were dh's books when he was little. Ds has loved them his whole life, I think! LOL! I did not know they changed Millou to Snowy for the English versions, so that makes sense now.

 

In German it's Tim and Struppi. Always bugged me that they changed Tintin's name too.