The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Christian groups and children’s advocates are calling for an overhaul of children’s film content as well as R-rated material.
Questions about the content of Finding Nemo and the Cat in the Hat and R-rated movies have prompted the Australian Christian Lobby to approach every state government in an attempt to put film classification guidelines on the agenda when the attorneys-general meet in March.
The groups have condemmed Nemo for its scary violence. Young Media Australia’s, a non-denominational community organisation, vice-president, Elizabeth Handsley said that unacceptable levels of violence and product placement were finding their way into G-rated movies.
Here is an excerpt from what YMA said about some G-Rated films.
The Cat in the Hat Rated G: Some violence and one sexual reference when the Cat is looking at a picture of the children’s mother, who is quite attractive and wears revealing outfits. His tail and his hat stand up straight. In one scene the Cat bends over, with a split in his fur revealing naked buttocks.
Finding Nemo Rated G: Disturbing scenes for under-fives, including shark attacks.Cars Rated G: Some violence with little regard for consequences, including race crashes. Some mild coarse language.
Over the Hedge Rated G: Scary scenes, bear threatens to kill racoon, nasty pet traps.
I’d like to add, on my copy of Finding Nemo on DVD, It has the G rating and then after it, “Some Scenes May Frighten Young Viewers”. I think parents can read and can judge for themselves if their child is up to watching Nemo or any other film really. And also, I can’t think off the top of my head any mild coarse language in Cars. I would LOVE to hear all of your opinions on this topic.
NOTE: Film ratings discussed in this post are Australian Film Ratings.
Last modified: September 27, 2006
That is just wrong on so many levels. I agree with you, Luxo. Jr. , Cars having coarse language ? And if you have a film about cars, what can you expect but there to be crashes ?
Definitley Bill. If anything, ratings have become stricter over the years.
Apparently with the Cat in the Hat one, he fancies the kids’ mother and at one point his hat and tail stand out like he is horny. But I mean if you watch the old looney tunes and stuff, Pepe Le Pew was a horny little skunk really.
That’s the problem with some people . . . they just don’t want to see what the ACTUAL film, book, show is about. Actually read/watch the thing in question. Such acts/scenes seen as “inappropriate” are most likely used for appropriate reasons.
Best Example: Gargoyles’ Deadly Force episode. Elisa actually gets shot by a real gun and almost dies, but the epiosde DEALS with Gun Safety!
I am a christian and i know a ton of christians. My christian freinds and I do not agree with these obserd asumtions. Those people think thta every movie is evil. Only a handful christian believe that cars and finding nemo is evil.
I Hate Tipos!
Some of these folks just really operate in a fantasy land themselves.
After all certainly it is not the content (which in relationship to the actual world their children have to live in is rather tame!) but our reactions and actions when faced with the content that is of real consquence.
Any experience children have (including the things their adults allow them to watch)needs to be founded with discussion and appropriate reactions from the important adults in their world. Thsi is how children learn the values and morals their adults wnat them to have.
To many adults leave children to find their own path thinking they will magically turn out liek the parents holding the same values and ethical code.
Parents and caregivers need to model the kinds of decisionmakingand values they want their offspring to have when put in situatiosn they will face inthe world in which they actually live. Banning things doesn’t solve anything – it just removes opportunities to practise real life decisionmaking skills the children need to learn to utilise while they are still in an environment safe to practise rather than being suddenly hit with a whole lot of new situations when they do leave the protective umbrella of their families.
All to often these days parents don’t remember they are meant to be raising effective adults, not big adult sized babies who don’t knwo how to do things for themselves.
err.. i think I got off topic.
*blushes*
In light of Christian Man,
I’m a Catholic myself, and I do beleive that this is just some small faction of the Christian community. But still, I beleive this isn’t just located in Australia.
It is a shame that they would bring up censor issues in the name of Christianity.
That is the most STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD !!!WOW , the sharks attack little fishies and a fishy dies from being eaten by a barracuda .Oh , and Mcqueen flirts with Sally and says he’s in Hillbilly Hell. Hey , while we’re at it , let’s go rate The Lion King R since Mufasa dies and Scar hits Zazu on the head ! IT’S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE IDIOTS !! GET OVER IT !!
I meant to point out previously instead of ranting – that I don’t think these attitudes are necessarily the strict domain of certain Christian groups.
itis hard to tell which is worse – over protective types or under protective types that let their children watch anythign under the impressionthat visual media is an appropriate substitute for good parenting.
With Cars, they are probably talking about the “hillbilly hell” comments McQueen and Sally make a couple of times. Sad that people must waste their lives dissecting and ripping apart great works of art/film-making.
That’s ridiculous. Strictly speaking, it’s fine to be censor-wise when dealing with possibly violent/disturbing films, but there is such a thing as going “over the edge”. (Can you say the word ‘over-excited’?)
Alright, I’ll admit it: Finding Nemo does have a few, slightly scary scenes hiding within its depths, but they’re extremely mild — the worst it gets is when 1)Nemo almost goes “belly-up”, and 2)Marlin and Dory get chased by Bruce and the anglerfish.
Cat in the Hat, on the other hand, is a little more “revealing”; the jokes seemed to be more geared toward an adult audience, but they’re still hilarious.
But, in any case, it’s nothing to get excited about. They’re movies, for Pete’s sake! People are supposed to laugh at them and enjoy them! Three words (in a nice way): Get a grip!
This is ridiculous, but don’t laugh yet. We have to guard against any of this kind of bull getting a toehold in the US, as well as Australia. It’s a tiny, tiny stupid fraction of the population whole, remember. Most people are smarter than this.
Before we get carried away, let’s notice that these peopel are acting out of good intentions. This is what they think is morally right. There’s some good in that.
My point of view is that we live in the real world where scarey stuff happens and people use bad language. In a way films and such introduce children to the ways of the world in some sense. It woudl be worse certainly if they went through their childhood never hearing bad language or seeing how people deal with a variety of situations and then suddenly they are an adult and someone says a swear word and they think the world is ending…
However, I do think it is important to have people in the world willing to stand up and say, hey, I don’t think you should be saying that, doing that or watching that.
Frommy experience as a teacher, I see children every day doing stuff that and saying stuff freely with no adults important in their lives saying, “hey, that’s inappropriate and we don’t do that in this family”.
You know what I mean?
Perhaps we need to think of this as a continuum with extreme ends and we are somewhere in the middle perhaps and these people are right at one of the ends.
You do have a point, Shine. I can see how people can be rather wary and critical about certain types of media out there. I do respect their concern for their children. But still, don’t you think that it is a little “over the edge” for them to start harassing G-rated family films such as Finding Nemo?
Maybe I’m just a little too harsh on them. Maybe it’s just me…?
/me is consdering a self imposed ban to stop her coming to this thread and posting more woffle that beats around the bush and sits on the fence
LOL!
I refrain from more comment at this juncture, but thanks for the encouragement for me to blather on again! *giggles*
Thomas,
Your subscribers are very enlightened. I agree with everyone.
Extreamists suck no matter what side of faith they are on.
andy
Though I think the age recommendations for the movies reviewed on YMA’s site are quite strict, I do think it’s a good idea parents research movies kids movies on sites like YMA’s or ScreenIt.com (which, I notice, now charges a fee to access its database.)
That said, I think that knowledge itself is power and there’s truly no need to request the movies be sanitized. If enough educated parents decide that a movie is too adult-oriented for their children, that translates to lower ticket sales and perhaps the studios themselves will self-regulate future films.
In my opinion, the YMA site’s review of Cars hilariously missed some of the most obvious “controversial” material while mentioning some of the most minor stuff. For anyone still reading, here’s my complete list of Anything Potentially Offensive in Cars that YMA didnt’ catch:
Antisocial Behavior: Mater encourages Lightning to tip tractors (cows) and talks about smashing mailboxes. 😀
Violence:
* In Lightning’s dream, Chick Hicks is graphically shredded by Frank the combine.
Sexual References:
* Dialogue — “sexy hot rod,” “getting cozy at the Cone” (a reference to two unmarried cars staying together at a motel — in reality they have separate rooms), “you could see his dirty undercarriage,” “she just likes me for my body,” a burlesque rhyme is recited in which a slang term for private parts is implied, though not spoken.
* Lightning bursts into the doctor’s clinic to find Doc working on Sheriff, who is up on a ramp with his rear end facing Lightning. Lightning is obviously horrified, and Sheriff replies, “Get a good peek, city boy?” and “Hope you enjoyed the show!”
Use of Substances:
* At the race, spectators are wearing “drinking helmets” equipped with beverages and straws, and acting rowdy.
Coarse Language:
* YMA’s review mentioned most of it except “moron.”
However, it’s obvious that if you took the above out of this movie, it wouldn’t be much fun to watch!!
First off, let me just say that I am a practicing Catholic and as Phoenecian said, the people that raised this issue is just a small minority of Christians.
Generally speaking, especially in regards to “Finding Nemo” and “Cars”, I don’t agree with the proposed change in rating. Imposing such a rule, IMO, would simply be too strict.
However, there is one very specific thing that I agree with: “Cat in the Hat” definitely did not deserve a G rating. And it’s not because I hated the film (which I did, just for the record). It’s because I’ve seen the film and realized then and there how obscene, foul, and subliminal this film was. I mean, what kind of children’s or family film includes, in its script, a product name whose acronym spells out a swear word. For those of you who’ve seen this film, you probably know what I’m talking about (If you don’t remember, it’d be best to leave it at that)
The tractor tipping in Cars made ME uncomfortable (as I mention in my Cars review) – I would have liked to be sitting around the table during the pitch for that…
When I look back at my thoughts on Curse of the Were-Rabbit (which, in my opinion, was filled with all sorts of sexual innuendo) – I wonder what “these people” had to say about that.
Increasingly animated films involve different levels of meaning layering that provides for the entertainment of both ends of their audience and this is one way to achieve that.
With Cat in the Hat it was to be expected because, it is, after all, Mike Meyers…
Again, I have to re-iterate – it is not so much the questionable content as the discussion parents have with their kids about it and some parents can’t even talk about these things themselves let alone convey their moral beliefs through conversation explaining it to their offspring.
I wonder how many apathetic parents are gonna send their kids off on their own to Pan’s Labyrinth and then whinge about it…
Personally, a change in rating does not bother me. The video game rating system went through a recent change as well, splitting the “E” for Everyone rating into “E” and “E10+” for those of age 10 or older, mostly for those games where you bash someone over the head in extremely cartoony fashion.
However, I think parents have to stop being so afraid of their children being exposed to any sort of violence or mature situation. Sure, you don’t want to sit your 5-year-old down to Pulp Fiction, but the violence in Finding Nemo is a fact of life. They’re going to see much more graphic showcases of it on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, both of which are educational. Children need to grow and learn, and it’s a matter of a parent taking responsibility and discussing scenes that frightened or impacted children.
The entertainment industry is under siege in general lately, and the attack on animation has been blatantly stupid. Take, for example, the censorship of Tom and Jerry. I can tolerate a rating change, but dismembering scenes from classic animation just because Tom is smoking a cigar is absolutely ridiculous.
“They’re going to see much more graphic showcases of it on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, both of which are educational.“- junoluver
Educational is in the eye of the beholder… anythign (even tom and jerry and finding nemo) can be educational depending on the dicussion and delivery to the individual.
This people are crazy. Cat in Hat I wasn’t crazy about, but you’re right, it does have a lot of sex-related stuff in it. This is all just stupid. I hope it’ll just blow over, because Nemo, Cars and Hedge are three of my favorite movies.
Hello everyone I am one of ‘those people’, in fact it was a quotation
> from me that seems to have set this whole thing rolling.
>
> Young Media Australia is not a christian organisation, much less
> fundamentalist or extremist. Nor do we advocate the censorship of
> films, in the sense of having bits cut out of them.
>
> Rather we try (as one posting has acknowledged) to arm parents with as
> much information as possible so they can choose movies based on what
> they know their children are able to handle.
>
> We also advocate the application of a child-development focus rather
> than the kind of ‘I-saw-violent-media-and-I’m-OK’ line that passes as
> analysis in this debate.
>
> When this article appeared in the Australian press I spent the whole
> day being interviewed by people at radio stations who, I eventually
> realised, assumed that if a movie is marketed to children, it must be
> suitable for all children.
>
> The reality is that this is not true at all. There are a number of
> movies screening in Australia right now that have been heavily
> marketed to young children (eg limited-edition chocolate flavoured
> breakfast cereal), but are rated M, which means they are not
> recommended for people under 15.
>
> I think a number of contributors to this blog have fallen into the
> same trap. Yes, if you assume that movies marketed to kids must be OK
> for kids, YMA’s suggestions that they might not be OK for all kids
> look ridiculous.
>
> But if you realise that movie companies have been marketing their
> products without regard to the actual developmental needs of their
> intended audiences, you might see it differently.
>
> A number of contributors have argued that it is necessary to have
> scary and violent material in children’s movies, because the world is
> a scary and violent place. YMA does not necessarily disagree with
> this, but to us the point is that parents should be able to decide how
> much scary and violent material their children see, and at what age.
> And to do do they need the kind of information that we provide in our
> award-winning review service.
>
> Sorry to rain on your parade folks.
>
They’re retarded and should be completely ignored!!!!!! People like that have lost touch of reality and will ruin their own children. I hope they all read this and then go to a clinic for treatment afterwards.
Another Christian opinion here.
Hmm…. I’m gonna be the idiot here, but I gotta agree what is okay for the G film is starting to slip. I think Nemo gets away with the G. It used to be G films had NO language though, not even Hell, and Ratatouille should have been PG for alcohol use. But don’t hate the movies for what the MPAA says.
WOW. These over-protective people make Christians look like… well I’m not sure. I am actually close friends with a mother that is over-protective like this, and her children are going to have a culture shock when they join the real world. Seriously man, you can;t shelter your kids for ever.
I do agree with the Cat in the HAt film, though. There was a scene in the movie where a man is leaning back in his chair in a pair of Spandex pants. It was very revealing, to say the least.
pixar makes movies made for kids and the crash scenes in car don’t have explosions or fire like in nascar sometimes most of the time the cars are crashing into a bunch of tires or something. and rated g means guidance where you have to watch you kids while there watching it. and the about cat in the hat another bad scene is when the cat gets hit by the hoe than say you dirty hoe that can seem inappropriate because of the other meaning for it im referring to the garden hoe for example so don’t try and twist my words
Ok, #1: Pixar make movies for themselves first and foremost, they have never said they made them for kids. It just so happens that people think animation is for kids.
#2: G is for General Exhibition; PG is for Parental Guidance.
#3: Yes there are scenes like that in Cat in the Hat but i’m sure most kids of the age of watching that film would not get it. That joke is meant for adults. If a kid is watching it and gets it, well then they must know about the second meaning so one could assume they are mature enough to watch that film and not be severely affected.
You find me a child adversely affected by a scene like that and I will show you a child that has lived a very sheltered and fragile life.
I was watching Scary Movie at age 12 and I haven’t turned out badly at all.
some things are bad in pixar but in cars i don’t here hell and it’s nature that sharks eat when they smell blood.But the cat in the sould be PG to me.
I think that if we are going to berate CARS and NEMO we may as well start on A BUGS LIFE. When Flik is getting hurt by Hopper is a lot more scary than FINDING NEMO. I love all the Pixar movies and they are made for everyone to enjoy!
This is so retarded!!! Pixar makes movies for both kids and adults!!! If they didn’t then there goes my two favorite scenes in Cars. The one when Lightning sees Sheriff’s “undercarriage” and when Mater goes, “He did what in his cup?”