Alicia64 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I admit to being somewhat overprotective. I wasn't protected enough as a kid and saw way more in movies than I was comfortable with. (Pretty sure it interfered w/ me and TeA for those who say it doesn't matter: I think it does.) Oops, just pulled myself off my own topic! My boys are 13 in April and watch Dr. Who, Batman, Ironman, the Avengers, but haven't seen movies with loads of bad language and TeA. I know some of you are rolling your eyes. DH wants to take the kids to see the Martian and I read the other "two thumbs up" thread on TWTM about the movie, but it doesn't speak to which ages are okay for the movie. One mom on Common Sense Media said it was PG-13 bordering on R. Really?! I heard Matt Damon's butt is in there. And there's a lot of bad language, but other than that why is it bordering on R? Any help is appreciated. Thank you!! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I loved that movie. There's a lot of bad language. It's a lot more eff this and this effing sucks and things like that, which frankly I would say myself if I were stranded on Mars :D There's some sex mentioned in the book (I just bought the book because of the movie) but it's pretty much gone from the movie as far as I remember. BTW the book is amazing. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I don't recall any sex -- it's one man alone on Mars, afterall. There is some language, yes. There is a scene of Damon's (or his double's) backside. There is a nasty wound that he gets that he has to take care of himself. I think I'd be most bothered by some of the language, but I think I'd just discuss it with my children (when that age) ahead of time and still take them. The following is a nice site for laying out the specifics in a movie. You might not agree with its spiritual perspective, but it still gives you a pretty good idea of what you'll encounter in any given movie. http://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/the-martian-2015 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipsey Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I have no idea why it would be borderline R, honestly. A naked butt is no big deal in my family, and while there were a few "naughty" words, they were mostly comic, if I recall. And certainly appropriate to the situation. I took my 8, 10, and 12 years olds who are all Who and Sherlock fans, and they loved it. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence1978 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Our kids are 12 and 14 and we are also quite protective. The movies you listed are ones that we do allow. We would let our 14 year old see this movie, but probably not the 12 year old. Yes, you do see a backside, but not in a sexual manner. I didn't think anything of it. It is the language threshold that got passed for us. I know that the standard used to be that you could get away with any number of s***, a**, etc but only one f-bomb to receive a PG-13 rating. That has obviously been changed. There are quite a few spoken and a number implied. Another thing that sort of bothered DH and I about the swearing was something that the above poster mentioned. They were frequently used in a comic manner, which of course had the audience laughing at them. I almost seemed to bring more attention to them than if they had been used otherwise. Overall, I do think it was a great movie though and there were a number of kids there when we went to see it, but we wouldn't take our 12 year old. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 My husband and I saw it on date night, but I wouldn't take any of the kids. I'm usually not oversensitive about language in movies (occasional mild swearing is okay), but I admit the F-word still gets to me and so it's for that reason I say I wouldn't take the kids and that includes even our almost 16 year old boy. As I recall there is some coarse joking/references made as well (not a lot, but some). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*lifeoftheparty* Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I have the same background as you! My parents let is watch anything and everything. I still jave some issues from watching such adult content at an early age. And I also try to keep my kids a bit more protected- mostly with sexual situations- I don't mind the cursing as much. We took our 11 year old to see it. Twice. There are really only some F bombs, not a huge deal, especially in context. I have often told DS, when watching war movies that have cursing- "If you go to war, you can curse all you want." So this time I said, "If you find yourself stranded on Mars, you can curse all you want." LOL! The butt shot was not sexual at all- just to show how much weight he has lost... it was kinda gross. I had no problems with the movie. HOWEVER!! The previews for the movie were AWFUL!!!! There were two horror movie previews that were graphic and extremely loud and scary. In between them was a preview that showed strippers, etc. And then there was a pretty gruesome Leo DiCaprio preview. DS was unphased by them- but I absolutely *hated* them. Skip the previews.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 We took our 12 year old. Language was our only concern, but he has heard the same words in the grocery store lines. We went at 10:00 at night and had the theater to ourselves, literally. We didn't have any previews, either, but that would have been a concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*lifeoftheparty* Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I have no idea why it would be borderline R, honestly. A naked butt is no big deal in my family, and while there were a few "naughty" words, they were mostly comic, if I recall. And certainly appropriate to the situation. I took my 8, 10, and 12 years olds who are all Who and Sherlock fans, and they loved it. Exactly. I *hate* gratuitous cursing in movies, it's usually so uncalled for. But, to be honest, how many people who found themselves in such a predicament wouldn't let out a few F-bombs?? Come on. Most people would... it's realistic. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 Exactly. I *hate* gratuitous cursing in movies, it's usually so uncalled for. But, to be honest, how many people who found themselves in such a predicament wouldn't let out a few F-bombs?? Come on. Most people would... it's realistic. I really appreciate everyone's help: thank you! Especially thank you about the previews. Good to know! Will skip. But, Life, this comment doesn't make sense if you think about it. There are a ton of situations that I would swear in movie-wise. . . that doesn't mean I want to take kids to see it. Honestly, If I were Dr. Who I'd be swearing a lot too! Lots of movies -- like the Godfather or Mad Max are true to their circumstances -- but that doesn't mean anything within the context of taking kids or not. I hope I'm making sense. I'm not trying to be rude. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I asked a friend the same question only regarding my 10 year old and this is what she said: there is a scene where a character is injured and she found it upsetting. Not TOO upsetting, but she did cover her eyes on several occasions. Not a deal breaker, but something that came to her mind as something that could be over the line for some kids. And there is cursing. It is part of the character, it's who he is, and to her that felt different than using curse words to cause another person pain or humiliation. To her it wasn't a big deal. She thought it would be before she saw it, but when it was over she didn't think it was truly that big a deal, unless someone is of the type that doesn't want their kids to hear curse words ever. She felt the situation warranted the language, lol, and that made a difference to her. She didn't even mention the bare bottom, so I am assuming it was not a sexual situation. She would know that I wouldn't mind some contextually appropriate nudity, but would be uncomfortable with ds2 seeing sexual situations. Her kids watch the same movies and so do mine. I have let my kids see some of the superhero movies like Thor and dh watched Avengers and Captain America movies with them on Netflix. I am not a superhero movie fan, so that is his territory. But he also previewed them before letting the boys see them. I haven't seen The Martian myself. I have the book on my kindle though. I decided not to take my almost 11 year old, but I would have taken him if he were twelve. It felt like too much of a stretch for a 10 year old...? I am hearing that some of his friends have seen it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 http://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/the-martian-2015 Plugged In is one of my favorite websites for determining who should see which movies. With kids all 2 years apart, I have to draw firm lines between who can/can't watch. Knowing exactly what words and actions are in a movie helps me to enjoy movies without worrying who is going to have nightmares from something I didn't expect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I'd have no problem taking a normal 12 year old to this movie. It's got a decent chance of inspiring them in both science and an "I can do it" attitude. We loved the movie. The swearing in it didn't bother me at all - and I normally don't like much swearing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 We took our 11 and 13 year olds. I didn't love the f bombs, but they weren't over the top. For the naked butt we had my dd avert her eyes, but really it wasn't bad. I'm very sensitive to sexual content and there was none. I think it comes down to the language. This was right on the edge of my threshold, but the actual movie content was good enough to push past it. I could totally understand other parents not being ok with it for their young teen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Just a side comment - I like using Kids in Mind to scope out movies. I like their explanations and their language/TeA/violence ratings. http://www.kids-in-mind.com/m/martian.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I covered my eyes during the injury-repair scene. DD14 watched the whole thing and thought it was neat. :confused1: Personally, I think that one scene is the only thing that was actually close to being "R". It really is a PG-13 movie. Matt Damon's rear end wasn't portayed "sexy" at all - just sort of a sad medical condition due to the weight loss. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I'm pretty cautious about intensity, sex, and violence, but not about language, so I would have absolutely let my 10 and 12 year olds go see it. Neither of them wanted to, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ofus Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Yes. In fact, I did. An 11 year old too. It was very, very good-although not as good as the book. My 11 yr old then read the book. I didn't even care that there were f-bombs b/c the book is otherwise that good. The science behind all of his survival was so interesting & there was just no time to include all of that in a movie. He's this super-smart, super-cool-under-pressure guy that curses. He's stranded on Mars. He doesn't just give up & lay down & die. He gets busy. It is completely awesome. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slojo Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 We took our 8 and 10 year olds. We watched it first, and deemed it "okay." We are not a super f-bomb sensitive family though our kids are fairly protected from coarse language on a daily basis. As others said, it was in context and done in a manner where that really wasn't the focus of the movie. There were so many other fascinating aspects of the movie to notice. The boys' assignment was to keep note of the science ideas and concepts being portrayed, and we've been slowly working our way through them for further explanation and follow-up. We've taken up the book as well -- with some on-the-spot editing from me (I can read faster than their eyes can keep up with the text, honestly, so they are not reading the words along with me). They are still at an age where I could skip a chunk of the book, if needed, and pick back up with a sentence or two of explanation of why we skipped a part. They aren't saying "wait, you skipped some details" yet, as long as the overall story is gripping. So it depends on your family -- if the mere presence of coarse language and the showing of a bare butt from a distance is troublesome from your parenting perspective, then you should probably skip it. But if your reaction would be "well, he IS 50 million miles away from the nearest help - what can you expect?" then it'll be fine. It really isn't an overriding feature of the movie. The bare butt should have more of the effect of causing you to note the medical side of seeing a minimum-calories-for survival body -- which was more scientifically fascinating than intended to be arousing. We had a 30 minute discussion on what food rations were, and how he calculated how many days of food he had based on minimum calorie levels for survival... and an 8 year old that keeps (sometimes annoyingly) putting together ridiculous combinations of foods and asking theoretically if he could "survive on" that. And we talk through the nutritional issues with those ridiculous combinations, as well as what might happen to the human body if that's all one had to live on (without getting too graphic)! Talk about sparking the science interest -- worth a (very few) f-bombs for us! There was no love interest for the main character - which we really appreciated. When he was wondering if he'd ever make off of Mars alive, we were appreciative that his thoughts turned to thanking his parents "for being his mom and dad" and that those were the most important people to him. What a great scene for a child to see with their parent(s)! We are doing a "science of extreme survival" season long rabbit trail, and the boys are hooked! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 The previews for the movie were AWFUL!!!! There were two horror movie previews that were graphic and extremely loud and scary. In between them was a preview that showed strippers, etc. And then there was a pretty gruesome Leo DiCaprio preview. DS was unphased by them- but I absolutely *hated* them. Skip the previews.... :iagree: The previews we had before the movie took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. and I kept my eyes shut the entire time. Loud and threatening noise. They were worse than the movie, and I didn't even watch them. Ugh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I covered my eyes during the injury-repair scene. Me too. I am very squeamish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ofus Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I agree with the previews being awful. My kids even said, "why are these approved for this audience?" Skip them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Our young teen and pre-teen saw it. They really enjoyed it. But then, we're not Christians and their mom has no problem with exposure to non-Christian themes, though she is a Christian. (She lets them watch way more than we would have, at least when they were younger. Not the censoring type.) I have a lot of issues with previews. In the previews for the modern Cinderella, there was one for a war movie. About a boy who wishes he could get his dad back from the war. And his dad comes back. You just don't do that! I nearly ripped the projector out of the wall. Don't they realize actual soldiers' kids sit through those? We weren't seeing a war movie! It was flipping Cinderella! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 DH took DS8 to see this movie. We're similarly cautious about media, and though our kiddo is younger than yours, the list of movies you provided are still on our black list. But DH had read the book and knew that our science-minded son would like the movie. All language went over DS's head, as he really doesn't know curse words. (Not specifically sheltered, they're just not part of our normal vocabulary, so just he doesn't speak in German, he doesn't know curse words.) DS misheard "eff Mars" as "funky Mars," which is pretty cute. He did NOT like the medical scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkeepswimming Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 We took both boys - wonderful movie. They both loved it! Best movie they've seen all year! :) It has sparked a lot of really interesting discussions since too... Which is always a bonus! I own the book but haven't yet had the time to read it. Going to begin this week - hoping it's half as good as the movie. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I covered my eyes during the injury-repair scene. DD14 watched the whole thing and thought it was neat. I chuckled at this. I'm not fond of gore in movies, so don't pay attention all that much either - including things like arrows, etc, in other movies. My kids don't mind any of it. And now that one of my sons is older, he's been shadowing surgeons doing very invasive surgery brain and spinal surgery. Guess who gets the play by play afterward? :lol: He's so excited. I'm listening and thinking "better you than me!" Fortunately... IRL I'm much better with it than in movies for some reason - probably due to providing medical care to ponies and overseeing school dissections over the years. I could handle doing my own medical care for something like what was in the movie. I just don't care to watch it in a movie - and I'm not so sure I could handle doing it on someone else if that need came about. Maybe. I could do it on a critter. Perhaps I'd just have to imagine the human with a critter image? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 We took our 12 and just turned 10 yo to see it....we had been waiting months for it ! 12 yo has read the book and 10 yo has started it. There are swears and a little nudity. There is no sex or violence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I plan to show it to my five-year-old when it comes out on video. He already knows all the swear words (and knows they are inappropriate in "polite" company) and he has a butt and he knows that all animal poop is good fertilizer. I just can't take him to see it in a theater because he would ask a zillion questions and disturb the other audience members. I wish there were a genuine "morals and good spirit" scale instead of a sex-violence-drugs ratings system. Some movies are quite violent and yet have an honorable spirit, and some movies are proper on the surface but reveal a dark heart. Anyway, I consider The Martian the best sort of film for my kids to see. I like James Fallows' tweet about it: "Jim’s Movie Tips: go see The Martian - Heroes: science. duct tape. diversity. America + China. grit. general spirit of enterprise" 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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