A letter to Kennedy/Abrams from a worried parent

This video proves that Disney can child-proof any scene.

 

A key thing to keep in mind is that the PG-13 rating didn't even exist until about 1988, IIRC. Jaws, all of the Indiana Jones films, as well as the original Star Wars films would have had PG-13 ratings had it existed back then. Today's modern "PG-13" movies are about what the PG ratings were back in the '70s & '80s -- there's been movies from those eras with "PG" ratings in which the f-bomb is dropped, there's decapitations, sex and sexual innuendos, even the occasional nudity, all of this would fall squarely in PG-13 category had the rating existed then, yet at the time these films all had "PG" ratings -- "PG" covered a broader range back then. Even The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones could technically have garnered a PG-13 rating due to the decapitations and stabbings/deaths in them. Many "G-rated" Disney cartoons from the '40s would get PG and even PG-13 ratings today, and wouldn't have passed the censorship standards for children's television today (breaking glass, mention of religion/God, alcohol/drug/smoking references, child endangerment, strangulation, bad language including hell, damn, jackass, ass, etc). Ultimately, you, the parent, decide what is appropriate for your children to watch, not the MPAA, not the state, not the government. The ratings systems fluctuate and come and go, and categories with which to dissect movies into will likely only increase in the future what with every other word in the human language being labeled as "offensive" to someone. I honestly would not sweat it if a new Star Wars film gets rated PG-13. I think you should let your kid see it...there's likely nothing in there he hasn't seen before if he's seen the 6 other films. The rating system is ultimately meaningless in this context and when it comes to you deciding what is okay for your kids to watch. It literally is just a label. I wouldn't pay it any mind and just enjoy Episode 7.

 

Actually, Last Crusade was PG 13 . The first PG 13 movie was Red Dawn released August 10th, 1983. Here's a short article about the history of MPAA ratings: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pg-13-rating-debuts

Edit: Also, Temple of Doom, which was rated PG, largely helped create the PG 13 rating. Indy had a lot of pull in cinema history .

 

Awesome, thank you! Yeah, I knew Last Crusade was PG-13, but was unsure exactly at which time PG-13 was officially widespread implemented, I just knew it was sometime in the '80s. I'll check out the link!

Edit: dammit, link not working...eh well....guess I'll have to think for myself and use google then

 

Yeah, that article doesn't mention Indiana Jones, but Temple of Doom came out on May 23, 1984; the PG-13 rating was then established little over a month later on July 1st, and was first implemented with Red Dawn on August 10th.

 

As it was pointed out in a previous post Finn has a bloody hand print on his helmet.

This is gonna be a darker movie easily PG-13 also *SPOILER* if your son's favorite hero is Han he might be really bummed. And depending on his maturity you might have to explain that to him. When I was 8 my mom was pretty religious and strict about what I could watch. And every time a commercial for Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone would come on she would turn to me and say "You will never watch that witch craft devil crap!" I seen the first couple movies growing up over at friend's houses and loved them. As the years rolled on my mother became less religious and strict and into a different person quite frankly. A few months ago she asked me if I have seen any great movies or had any DVDs she could borrow and I suggested Harry Potter years later she still hadn't seen them. She agreed and we watched the 1st one together when the credits rolled I asked her "What did you think Ma not the witch craft devil sh*t you thought it was huh?" she replied "it was wonderful not at all what I thought, I loved it!" I ask her the same question after every movie. They have allowed us to spend good quality time together matter of fact I'm going over to her house tomorrow to watch The Half-Blood Prince. Moral of the story is just cause it says PG-13 doesn't mean its gonna be as graphic to your child as you think but it is your child so your choice. Kids feel emotions way more magnified then adults and as you get older in most cases it takes more to "feel" anything. So to deprive your child of seeing their first awesome SW movie in the cinema might be a big loss to them permanently if he cares about SW that much especially as a great family memory. Even if you feel the movie is too much for your child they most likely aren't going to dwell on that but at what the movie represents as a whole. It could give them the sense of what's morally right and wrong and that could stick with them for the rest of their life. It did for me. I hope you enjoy it either way.

 

Yeah, Temple Of Doom should definitely have been a PG-13, lol....makes sense that it heralded the rating.

 

I tried clicking on it in within the quote and it added the "/QUOTE]" script to the end of the address. Weird, but the link seems to work just fine when I click on it in my original post. Ah well, hope you got to read it either way!

 

Ah okay, I see it now. Yeah, it works fine now. Thanks, dude.

 

When i first saw this thread I was a bit worried things would get out hand. this is a serious topic with a lot of controversy. your right, we should keep in mind that most of us experienced star wars as children the first time. we all are getting older and we cant expect star wars to mature with us as adults...that being said i dont always agree with the ratting system.

 

I think Star Wars is for people of all ages, to be honest -- like the best stories always are. It's a big mythic legend that has something for pretty much everyone. Why restrict it to "just for kids" or "just adults"? I hate when people try and frame things like this as such. They do it with comic book/superhero stuff all the time "Oh, Batman should be for adults, oh, it should be for kids" STOP. The best Batman anything that's universally loved by Batman fans is the animated series, and it was for everyone. Star Wars is the same way.

 

I'm just so baffled...

PG-13 films in my view, are so mild... Yes, there's violence, explosion, blood... but like wow, there's worse in the news, internet and the bible.

If it was a R rated SW film, like no below 18, which I would love to see, I could perfectly understand arguement of Disney branding such films.

But seriously, this is also Disney, made for kids first, then for the family next, and they won't restrict the first half of their market.

My question mark is on a parent, who posts a letter on a forum seeking attention against logic.

I watched Predator, Aliens, Robocop, Apolypse Now, Godfather, when I wasn't even 10 years old. Had a rough up bringing, yet I'm a humantarian and vegan too, and a teacher and even though I enjoy participating in tactical shooting as a sport, I oppose hunting... Basically, no R 18 film tainted my perception. So why the stress of all these PG ratings that rustless the feathers of some parents in red-alert sirens?

A film won't change or traumatize your kids. What a parent teaches them and how to pecieve life is the real impact.

 

Your kid will be fine. He and his friends are already watching X rated stuff on their phones at school. It's Star Wars. He'll be ok.

 

Just so you know... at some point in the movie, someone is gonna lose an arm... in case you hadn't figured that out

 

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--- Double Post Merged, Aug 7, 2015, Original Post Date: Aug 7, 2015 ---

The fact that so many people dislike this woman voicing her concern for the happiness of her child is very concerning to me. Everyone raises children differently, it's a tough job I'm sure, but it takes courage to stand up for what you believe in. The problem is that so many parents simply give their children what they want because it's easy and it make their kids happy. Sometimes the tough choices are the right ones.

 

I had parents like that, they didn't want me to watch the Transformers tv show so they had me watching Star Wars since i was about 4. The only violent movies i was allowed to watch was Star Wars movies and old John Wayne westerns. After some time i ended up just going behide their back and getting vhs tapes from the library or buying them at yard sales and waiting for them to leave the house so i could watch them and i spent a week try to figure out what the password was for the tv so i could watch the blocked cable channles. I still have my vhs of Aliens, that was a good day.

 

That's a good point.

 

How can I say this...I tell my kids, all 4 of them, it doesn't matter what the kids down the street do, it doesn't matter what your friends' parents let them do, at our house here is how WE do things. Some of you think because it was okay for you do some things, and it didn't affect you, then it should be okay for everyone. For me, I can have a bottle of beer, and I'm done; whereas another person might have a drink and not stop until they have been plastered for a week. Things affect people differently. And, society as a whole has changed a lot since 1976 when Star Wars came out, before the days of 24/7 news and social media. I realize it has the word "wars" in it, but that doesn't mean it has graphic war scenes like Saving Private Ryan with blood spatter and guts hanging out from a lightsaber wound.

I know parents who let their kids watch whatever they want, and listen to whatever music they want. That's great for them. I believe I have a responsibility to help mold my children into adults who make good choices. Years ago, after the Columbine shootings, I read about those kids making pipe bombs in their garages and making their plans of gross destruction, and I can't help but think, where were the parents during this time? Probably letting them do whatever they wanted without being a real parent. It is a fact that video games that show graphic images of killing and murder, as well as the popular torture porn movies, desensitize people into not caring about human life. It is well documented that Vietnam soldiers were experimented on with disturbing images over and over to get them used to the graphic scenes and get them used to it to where it no longer bothered them. We adapt to our environments and internalize it. Kids can walk into a movie theatre and unload rounds into the crowd of people because it doesn't bother them because they've seen thousands of deaths on TV by the time they are 5. Who bought their TVs and movies? Who didn't monitor their actions? I don't care if my decisions as a parent make me "uncool", my kids will not be left to their own development and thrown to the wolves of society because some group decided my kids are old enough to watch certain graphics and hear inappropriate language that I would be embarrassed if they repeated in public.

That rant over, I think we don't need to worry about Star Wars. I don't think they will follow Marvel's pattern and throw in bad language for a cheap laugh, or have a robot humping a girls leg like Transformers 2. I don't think there is anything wrong with what Star Wars has put out so far, and my kids watch them all the time. I have faith that this will continue in this sequel trilogy.