This past weekend my mother-in-law and I took Ethan to see the movie Planes. It was Ethan's second movie theater experience and it went slightly more rocky than the first. We aren't quite ready for full on movie watching just yet, but that really isn't the point. Needless to say I didn't get to see the whole movie, but I got the main gist of it. While there were plenty of kid friendly animations, sounds and characters I have to say I was surprised at just how much of the movie played to adults.
The main plot revolves around a small underdog plane racing other more well qualified planes on an around the world adventure. There was name calling, bullies and overly stereotyped characters, but the real kicker for me was at some of the check-in points there would clearly be a bar scene in which all the planes were having a drink either to celebrate or drown their sorrows. Sure, they were drinking motor oil, but a bar scene it was for sure. (Edited to add: you can view one of these scenes here.)
I found myself getting angry every time they showed it. I know I should be more worried about the name calling and the bullying that my almost 3 year old can actually understand, but I was mortified by the completely unnecessary scenes of drinking.
I admit, I drink. I've even drank a glass of wine in front of my child, but zero attention was drawn to it. I'm comfortable with him seeing me responsibly drink a glass of wine at dinner, not so comfortable with him seeing Dora (or some other favorite character) crack open a bottle of beer because she's sad that Swiper stole her bracelet.
I appreciate the sly adult humor that kid movies place in the script from time to time just to keep us old folks entertained, but I really don't need adult like scenes that make me feel squirm-ish to watch with my toddler. I want to feel good about taking my kids to the movies. I'm prepared to talk to him about name calling and bullying because those are things that he could potentially have to deal with very soon, but I am not prepared to talk about bar scenes.
I know, I know...my kid is only almost 3, but what if he had been 6? I'm fairly certain that scene might not have been so lost on him.
I'd like to be mad at Disney for not taking the necessary precautions to shield my child from such influences, but really I am more mad at myself. I think I've gotten so use to flipping on the always dependable PBS or Nick Jr. (although they do have that Mom's After Dark program that I also find unnecessary...a whole different topic to itself.) that I've become lax in pre-screening. Or maybe it's just that up until now....I didn't feel like Ethan was so influential about things, but we are there folks. We have favorite characters and we want to be just like them....mommy and daddy are not the sole influences anymore and that is just downright scary.
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We haven't taken Spence to a movie yet, but this is something that I would have NEVER thought about, so thank you for putting this out there.
ReplyDeleteI certainly didn't think about it either! I guess I have taken for granted that we are still in "very little" kid TV world that doesn't revolve around name calling and other more serious issues.
DeleteI hate to hear this...especially since it really isn't necessary to make the movie this way.
ReplyDeleteExactly....it was unnecessary. That was what made me so upset. I get that kid movies are going to have name calling and such...although at Ethan's age, I still prefer he doesn't watch that type of stuff. I can understand that maybe school age children would be exposed to this in real life and it could be a "teaching" lesson, but a bar scene...
DeleteWe only saw 1 hour of this movie as I won passes and it was past bedtime. Have you seen Cars 2? They have a "bar" scene in that movie too...I didn't really pay much attention to those scenes in Planes, which is funny because I'm the daughter of an alcoholic and I don't drink myself. I don't think little kids are going to watch Planes and learn that they go to a special place to drink their sorrows away. I'd be more worried about the name-calling and bullying. But that's just my 2 cents!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't seen any of the Cars movies. I had wondered if they were similar. I do agree that young kids aren't going to pick up on the bar scene, but school age ones might. I just find it so unnecessary to include in a children's movie. I was disappointed that Disney in particular found it important to include those scenes. While I appreciate some adult humor, the movie was intended for children. I just think kids should have some dependable movie makers that produce good, clean films and I had previously thought Disney was one of those companies. I guess the lesson here for me is to be more aware of what I take my child to see. I don't need to just assume that since Disney made the movie, that it won't have any scenes I find inappropriate.
DeleteAs for the name calling and bullying...yes, you are right...that is going to be what my child picks up on if anything. While I don't like it, I do think it could be used as a teaching moment. Unfortunately I don't think it will be long before he is faced with those situations at school and he will need to know how to deal with them.