Family Movie Night

February 8, 2011

Written by Sarah Farthing, Contributing Writer

We sat down for family movie night recently to watch Shrek. The boys snuggled in to their sleeping bags with their popcorn bowls and milk within reach. My husband and I made ourselves comfortable on the couch and smiled as we remembered the fun music and familiar voices of the cast. Then the movie started and we realized as it progressed what we had not remembered! Potty humor we were prepared for but foul language and innuendo we were not.

What parents determine is appropriate at what age differs from family to family and even between children within the same family so I am not here to say whether almost 4 year olds should view Shrek or not (and I do like the movie). What I wish is that I had remembered to take a moment to do some quick research on the movie content so that I could make an informed decision instead of just popping it in the dvd player.

There are several websites that make it fast and easy for parents or grandparents to review relevant content of movies for children since animation does not always indicate ‘G’ content.

My favorite, which I am determined to remember to use, is www.parentpreviews.com. I like the ‘at a glance’ letter grades in relevant categories that are visible immediately and the summaries on this site are succinct and full of just the information I am interested in knowing. I also like www.commonsensemedia.com and find the age appropriate continuum and reviews by other parents very handy.

Two additional alternatives are: www.kids-in-mind.com and www.screenit.com .

I am confident that a review of even Goldilocks and the Three Bears could be written up to include breaking and entering, property damage, fleeing the scene of a crime and so forth. No website can decide for a parent what they should allow their individual children to see, of course. Still, information about what our kids are about to take in is power and I appreciate having an easy, reliable way to get that information. Now if I could just remember to use it!

Has your family ever experienced a family movie night surprise mid-film?!

“Shrek – Movie Review.” Reviews & Ratings for Family Movies, TV Shows, Websites, Video Games, Books and Music. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. <http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/shrek>.

Movie Ratings, Family Movie Reviews for Kids and Parents – Parent Previews. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. <http://www.parentpreviews.com/>.

Kids-In-Mind: Movie Ratings That Actually Work. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. <http://www.kids-in-mind.com/>.

You might like...

Category: Activities
Tags: commonsensemedia.com, Movie night, parentpreviews.com, safe family movies |

5 Comments »

Cathy
on February 8, 2011 10:47 am
kids-in-mind also has a free app for the iphone.
Heidi Farmer
on February 8, 2011 11:09 am
Thanks for the heads-up! Oh, if only had one of those little devices – am I the only one?? 🙂
Yaya Kelley
on February 8, 2011 1:20 pm
Thanks Sarah – For the headsup for us grandparents! Been years since I had to think about appropriate movie content and would have just assumed (and you know what they say about that) an animated film would be safe.
Sarah
on February 8, 2011 10:58 pm
Great tip, Cathy, I had no idea!

Yaya, you wouldn’t believe how many animated movies out there are actually PG and 2011 PG is absolutely not 1990 PG, it’s a whole new world and I’m not quite ready for my boys to bear witness to all of it!
Julie R.
on February 9, 2011 6:28 am
Thanks for these links. I usually use IMDB and then down on the page it says “Parents Guide” click there and it will give you details about “sex & nudity,” “violence & gore,” profanity,” “alcohol, drugs, smoking,” and “fighting”