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Home > Blogs > Adventures in Motherhood > Archives > 2009 > August > 27 > Entry
Kids exploring cinema with mom
One of the best parts about your kids getting older is getting to share activities with them that you all enjoy — sports, jokes, music, what have you.
For my sons and me, our latest shared activity is movies. But not just any movies — movies that have a little more substance to them than “Space Chimps” or “Ice Age 3.”
As a result, they are starting to dip their growing toes into the world of PG-13.
This is just another area, by the way, where things are different for our kids than they were for many us. This summer, I just learned, was the 25th anniversary of the PG-13 rating.
The concept reportedly was introduced by Steven Speilberg after his “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Gremlins” offerings scared the short pants off some of his younger fans.
By my count, that would have made me 14 when the new rating was introduced — so I am sure, like many parents today, I saw many offerings just shy of the R rating from the time I could sit still for two hours.
These days, in the age of more information in every aspect of our lives, there is more attention paid to what kids should be exposed to — mostly for good.
Today, I know that there are many parents that won’t let their children younger than 13 watch PG-13 movies, and I know other parents that let their children younger than 13 watch R-rated movies.
I don’t judge either group — the ratings can be a good guideline but, within reason, I think whether a kid is ready to see a certain kind of movie depends more on that individual kid than his or her age.
My kids are 10 and 8, and they are nowhere near ready for R movies, but I think they can handle some of the PG-13 fare.
They have shown increasing interest in these movies of late, and apparently have been exploring what constitutes the various ratings.
As the fifth-grader told me, “If I was a movie, I think I would be rated PG — for crude humor and mild violence.”
Then he added, “You would be PG-13.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Brief, strong language.”
So, I figure they might be ready for a little more maturity in their movies — with a little help.
Because, even though the introduction of the PG-13 rating helped narrow the field, the label still covers a wide range of movies — from the relatively innocuous “Get Smart,” to the real-life genocide of “Hotel Rwanda.”
So, the plan is to watch some of these more edgy movies that the kids want to see before they do (this route is preferred, but less likely due to time constraints) or with them to make sure the themes are not too extreme and to answer any questions they may have.
I also plan to use some quick Internet resources that are designed for parents, such as Kids-in-Mind.com, ParentPreviews.com and the parents’ guide section (listed with each movie) on the IMDb.com movie site.
And, since I will be doing all this research anyway, I will share snippets from those sites as well as some realistic, kid-oriented reviews on our Motherhood blog here at the paper.
The blog can be accessed at 937Moms.com/gomommy, and the reviews will be under the category “Movie reviews for kids.”
This week, with a little help from my sons, I will kick it off with a look at “Knowing,” with Nicolas Cage, which my younger son — my math and numbers guy — has been asking to see.
Some of our other local mom bloggers may offer their reviews of other films as well, geared toward a variety of age groups.
With any luck, this will help all of us choose the kinds of movies that are best (and most fun) for our families.
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