Since no one has mentioned kids-in-mind.com yet, I appreciate the level of detail while still remaining as spoiler-free as possible. I've had that bookmarked since 2014, when my wife and I went on the first date away from our newborn son to go see a movie.
We figured we'd see some mindless action-comedy that was getting great reviews, and we had been loving the MCU movies so far. We got my parents to babysit, set up the remote babycam so we could watch him nap, and made sure our phones would vibrate strong enough to get our attention without disturbing people, in the event of an emergency. Parents will understand, you can go a little crazy with your first kid.
I even checked to see if any dogs die, because my wife was still in the post-partum emotional phase. The dog survives, yay!
So off we went to see Guardians of the Galaxy.
If you haven't seen it (or don't remember), the very first scene is an emotional death of the main character's mother in the hospital. She's dying of cancer, and he refuses to hold her hand as she passes. Then he runs away from the grandfather who promised to raise him in her absense, and is immediately abducted by aliens.
Credit to my wife, she managed to remain silent while ugly crying, and insisted we stay to watch the rest of the movie when I offered to take her home.
Pro-tip: IMDB has a parental advisory section that you can clock on for written detail of each incident in a movie (sex/nudity, violence, language, etc). It might contain spoilers, bit it's worth looking at before any movie you're recommending to a sensitive crowd. e.g. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg
Besides the obvious triggers (prejudice, guns etc.)
Does someone spit?
Is a child’s toy destroyed?
Does someone wet/soil themselves?
Does someone leave without saying goodbye?
Is someone's mouth covered?
Is there farting?
Are there underwater scenes?
Does a car honk or tires screech?
That's very detailed. Nice that there are no implicitly racist/sexist questions (like Is there a trans person?)
They are indeed very detailed.
Minor character in Spirited Away is briefly seen smoking a cigarette: Mild drugs & alcohol.
King Julian twerking in Madagascar: Mild sex & nudity.
Blood briefly shown in Your name in medical context: Mild violence & gore!
Tbf, I'm definitely more comfortable watching simulated violence with my parents than simulated sex
99% of people are, but just think about that for a second.
In all civilized societies, sex is a normal thing that occurs regularly, and violence and gore is much much rarer and very traumatic to most people. The vast majority of parents had sex to make their children, yet watching actors simulate sex with our parents or children is much more uncomfortable than watching actors simulate violence. It’s really bizarre when you divorce it from our normal hang-ups.
Yes, but sex scenes have the tendency to make people horny. I don't want to be horny around my parents. On the flip side, violence doesn't create a feeling of bloodlust, so there's nothing to be uncomfortable about.
99% of people are, but think about that for just a second. In a civilized society, sex is a normal thing that occurs all the time, and violence and gore is much much rarer and very traumatic to most people.
We are all the product of sex, the vast majority of parents had sex to make their children, yet watching actors simulate sex with our parents is much more uncomfortable than watching actors simulate violence. It’s just bizarre when you divorce it from our hang ups.
I'm not a prude but I've never understood sex scenes in movies. I don't want to watch that with my friends and family, nor do I want to watch that with strangers in a theatre. If I want to watch people fuck, I can just watch porn, thanks.
Sex scenes are going out of favour with the current generation, but there's value in having a platform for showing sex in a "normal" contexts as part of a whole charachter. Otherwise the only portrayal of sex is left to porn.
(As stated by a Wisecrack video on the matter which is well worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW4wf63PhI8)
I just think they're weird and unnecessary. I've never seen a sex scene that was important for the plot. They seem to just be added because they're sexy and I don't need to be turned on when I'm hanging out with friends and family, so what's the point?
I have no issue with nudity, by the way.
I think there are several exceptions to this. Sex scenes in general follow “show, don’t tell:” having a character simply do X is usually preferable to having a character say “I did X.”
Some examples off the top of my head:
- The Terminator - It shows how the main character becomes pregnant with minimal exposition
So, you're saying the Terminator is not the main character in The Terminator? 🤔
Correct, just like the alien is not the main character in Alien and Predator is not the main character in Predator.
interestingly, they said this about "The Kiss," an 18-second long early cinema piece (and the first cinema kiss) in which a man combs his mustache and then briefly pecks a woman on the lips.
A contemporary Critic wrote: "beastly enough in life size on the stage, but magnified to gargantuan proportions and repeated three times over, it is absolutely disgusting."
I'd always find it amusing because my wife forgets the content of movies but remembers it was funny, scary, whatever.
When the kids were younger, my wife would suggest a movie to watch with the kids. I'd remember what was in it, she'd just remember it was funny. I didn't mind if the kids saw it, and she wouldn't really mind if the kids saw it, but I knew she'd be uncomfortable watching it with them.
Being a bit of an asshole, I'd just ask if she was sure she wanted to watch that with them. She'd say yes, and away we'd go.
"You really want to watch Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny with our 11-15 year old kids? Bet, can't wait"
~my dad, I assume
Before the movie starts: "I don't think it's got anything too bad in it."
15 Minutes Later: "Ok. We're going to turn that off now that we've learned all kinds of nice new words."
"Aw shit, I forgot about that scene. Wanna rewind it and watch it again?"
...yeah, no I don't have kids lol
A friend of mine's mother and sister are born-again Christians. One night it was his turn to chose a movie, and for some inexplicable reason he chose "Easy Rider".
When the acid kicked in - the New Orleans cemetery scene - that was the straw that broke the camel's back, that's when mom and sis started screaming at my friend.
Imagine being an award winning actor and never doing a full frontal.
By the way, that "Wolf of Wall Street" scene was a certified cinema classic, I regret nothing. Nothing!
Once when I was a teenager I sat down with my mom to watch Eyes Wide Shut. Neither of us knew anything about the movie, but her friend had told her it was good. That family movie night didn't last long.
