...is NOT inherently kid-friendly. Neither is a 3-D movie. I can understand the mistake, since both genres have been primarily family-oriented for years, but I would like to know exactly what about the advertisements for Coraline convinced the parents of the 200+ kids in the movie theatre this afternoon that it would be child-appropriate.
I saw Coraline today with my mother and grandmother and it was a gorgeous, brilliant movie. I absolutely loved it, and would recommend it to any of my friends. The animation was gorgeous, the story clever, the characters fun and believable, and the 3-D added a lot to it. My mom, gram, and I all agreed we might need to see it again just to catch all of the subtle nuances thrown in there. I teased my mom that the villain uses sewing skills to accomplish the villainy. Truly a foe worthy of recognition!
But I was distracted by the perhaps 8 year-old girl sitting next to me. All through the opening credits she kept saying "This is so weird" (she said it enough that I considered asking her parents when they were going to "shush" her -- they never did). It was quite disturbing in some parts (I can't imagine kids weren't horrified by the opening credits), and some downright naughty (a busty, elderly lady in a thong and pasties... and no, not a fleeting image). That I could tell, my mother and I were the only people who laughed at all during the intelligent film. This is because there weren't many of the pratfalls and hi jinks family-films generally employ to keep the kids entertained.
I am glad that it was at least rated PG. I suppose I wouldn't say it merited a PG-13 rating, but, in my humble opinion no kid under 10 should have been in that theatre, and there were a LOT of little kids there. Even I woke up in the middle of the night, worried that the people with button eyes were going to find me. I can't imagine the impression it had on the children.
Most of the G and PG movies I've seen lately are ones I've thought too scary for many little kids. This experience just reinforces my resolve to screen movies for my kids until they're probably about 10 years old. It really bothers me that not only are adult movies becoming more and more edgy and graphic, but family movies are too.
4 comments:
This doesn't exactly make me want to see it, but hey - it's worth a try, right? I'm glad you had a lovely movie day with wonderful women!!
Thank you for your honest review of this movie. I have wondered about it, and will be able to make a more educated decision on our family's viewing it knowing these things. Thanks! I really appreciate it. :)
Amen Megan! I have a 4-year-old niece who has seen (and loves) all of the Harry Potter movies. I personally can't wait until #6 comes out in theaters, but there's no way I'll be taking my 4-year-old. Can you say desensitized?! We took Evan to see "Bolt" a few weeks ago, and I loved it. It was too cute. But Evan was even scared in that. It's going to be a while before we take him to anymore movies in a theater. It's just too real to him!
I really like this post, Megan! Modern entertainment for children is terrible, over-all! Some parents are so driven to keep their kids entertained in the easiest way, so they see whatever is out there that is rated less than PG-13. Half of the movies are ridiculously silly/dull/inane, and the other half are inappropriate. It's crazy! We very rarely take Kira to the theater. She saw maybe 3 movies in a theater last year--Kung Fu Panda, Horton, and WallE. I remember being scared out of my wits when I saw Sleeping Beauty in the theaters when I was little. (Yes, I'm old.) There are other forms of entertainment that are more appropriate for children. This is why we have such a large DVD collection. It's also why we do theater and go to the library.
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