# What Age for PG Movies



## OMama

At what age would you let your child see a PG movie? I know this can range widely depending on the child's temperament and maturity, and of course on parental preference and parenting style, but I'm just curious what others do and how they have made their decisions. DD is 5.5 YO and has never seen a PG movie. DS is almost 3YO and is obsessed with Astro Boy (a new animated film about a robot boy) trailers, which DH showed him on the computer. Astro Boy is PG and I can not imagine taking DS to see it in the theater. He does have some special needs too and he tends to get scared by certain things . . . but on the other hand he seems to be really into watching these Astro Boy trailers. I asked him if he was scared or if he liked it, and he said he liked it (the trailer that is). Anyway, it just got me thinking . . . at what age is it appropriate to see a PG movie?


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## LuckyMommaToo

Only now at six is DS really comfortable with most PG movies. He did see a few previously, and they often left him upset. Unfortunately, DD being the second child, I'm sure she's going to see them earlier. She is less sensitive to movies than he is, though.

Reminds of my brother, who took his two girls (4 and 6) to see Up this summer, and then was upset that they didn't really like it and it wasn't "appropriate." Uuummmmmm....it was rated PG!

-e


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## Thalia the Muse

IMO, it totally depends on the kid, the parent, and the reason for the rating. My daughter saw Corpse Bride when it first opened in the theaters, so she would have been three and a half, I guess? And she loved it. She saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (also PG) around the same time.

If your DS isn't quite 3 yet, is he ready to sit through a whole movie in a theater? DD sure wasn't at that age, but kids are all different.


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## Alyantavid

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Thalia the Muse* 
IMO, it totally depends on the kid, the parent, and the reason for the rating.

That.

And we just took our kids (7 and 3) to see Ice Age 3 at the movie theater. It's PG.


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## lonegirl

Tyr loved Monsters vs Aliens and G-Force!! We saw G-force in the theatre and he was great for it (2y8m at the time) Monsters we saw at a Drive In. We go to the movies all the time with him though....and to the Drive In all the time too....so he is used to them.


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## midnightmommy

If you go to the Dove film site they list absolutely everything that could possible be offensive to someone in each movie. We take each movie based on the movie itself not the rating.


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## LynnS6

You really have to know your own child. I like the reviews/info on http://www.commonsensemedia.org Alas, since Astro Boy hasn't been released yet, I don't see a review for it yet there. However, based on the trailer I looked up (OK, I'm really procrastinating today, aren't I?), no way would my kids see this movie. Too violent. Too scary for them. Different kids might be ready, but DEFINITELY not my 5 year old and not my 8 year old either.

I like commonsense media because they give ratings for ages for which they think things are appropriate, but then also rate movies for things like:
Violence & scariness
Sexy stuff
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs & smoking

They also give reviews of educational value, message and role models. (I care less about that, since I don't feel movies need necessarily have 'educational value'.)

For my kids I'm very concerned about violence & scariness because they're incredibly sensitive to it. Dd (5) runs out of the room any time (a) cellos play or (b) there's a tiny bit of dramatic tension. She hasn't seen any movies in a theater yet because I don't know how she's react.

I'm also concerned about consumerism and drugs/smoking (to a lesser extent). I'd avoid movies that have a lot of those features. Language & sexy stuff are less important to me. Violence is the key thing I don't like and won't take my kids to see. No horror movies. No gun play. No criminals chasing children (that would give dd nightmares for YEARS).


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## 4evermom

We didn't take ds to see anything in the theater until he was pretty big, like 7 1/2. Some things we waited to see on dvd. Things are a lot less scary on a small tv with the living room lights on and the volume not overwhelmingly loud.

We just saw the trailer for Astroboy in the theater. I think ds (age 8) will like it. He is bothered by different things than other kids. War type things and fighting type things bother him less than more emotional things, if that makes sense. Can't watch anything with ghosts or zombies, either.

He just got OK with Scooby Doo yet the kid has watched Lord of the Rings. Kids are just so different. Those sites, like commonsense, that give you all the details are really helpful. I could never trust anyone about whether something was ok for ds because he got upset at such different things, including some of the Disney things that are rated G.


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## gingerstar

:

I totally agree. My kids can handle movies in our cozy living room that would be too much in a theater, where the movie is very loud and the situation heightens and intensifies the film.

And yes, the kid and the particular film each must be assessed - my middle daughter had nightmares from a Winnie the Pooh movie that we watched at home when she was like, 6 or 7.









One site I really like is Kids In Mind - it really spells out the film so you can make your own call.

If you aren't sure, I think it is better to wait for it on DVD, rather than wind up having a bad experience at the theater. We generally take our kids to the theater for shows we know they can handle.


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## emaye_to_2

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Thalia the Muse* 
IMO, it totally depends on the kid, the parent, and the reason for the rating.

I really agree with that. The best idea is to pre-screen the movies first and make your own decision. My son watched Spiderman (PG-13) when he was like four but there are plenty of PG movies that I don't like and don't want my 6yo and 3yo kids watching. I do believe that the ratings are not very accurate anymore.. PG movies are like PG-13 movies from when we were young IMO.


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## fritz

I think taking a young child to the movie theater is a mistake. The sound is LOUD. It bothers my ears for a few minutes; I know my 4yo son could not handle it (he's noise sensitive). I also know my son would not be able to sit still through an hour and a half, nor would he be able to keep quiet, which would disturb other movie goers. And I refuse to pay that much money to see a movie and then not get to sit and watch every second. *shrug* But that's me =).

Instead, we have an extensive DVD collection (started way before DS was born), we get movies from the library, and from Netflix. DS has seen a lot of movies in his short life; it's not what I would recommend for other kids, but he's fine with what he has watched; I'm right there while he's watching, spoiling the plot for him b/c if I don't he won't stop asking, "Mom, what's going to happen?" By warning him in advance of what's going on, telling him there's a slightly tense or scary part coming up, he deals with it much better. And it's always reassuring to him for me to remind him that it's fake--it's just a movie: those are actors payed to pretend.

So I'd vote for letting your DS continue to watch the trailers (my DS went through a phase like that where he would choose which DVD to watch based on which previews they showed) to his heart's content. And after the DVD comes out, watch it for yourself, and if you think your DS would handle it okay, then let him watch the whole movie, but be prepared to fast forward through anything that bothers him.

BTW, to answer your question, since DS was probably a year old, he's been exposed to/aware of movies. His all time favorite (ages 2-4) was _Back to the Future_, but it's got one or two swear words, lots of blasphemy (Marty McFly is frequently throwing out JC in a non-worshipful way) and some questionable content...which didn't bother me at all. For the longest time, all DS cared about was the time machine and the skateboard, though.


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## MaterPrimaePuellae

I totally agree that it depends on the child and parent and the parents' priorities. My DD is 2.5. I don't let her watch cartoons containing any sort of violence at all. Seriously, a cat and a mouse chasing each other would upset her so much that she would talk about it for _days_, which neither Dh nor I want to have to explain again and again and again.

However, she has been watching the BBC/A&E drama Little Dorrit w/ me. I'm not sure if it's actually rated... but it couldn't be less than PG if it's not PG-13. She understands a lot of what's going on, we talk about the good characters, the bad characters, how important it is to be kind to others, blah blah.

So, IMO, dramas with real people, especially based on literature I love, have real value which makes up for possibly having to explain "grown-up themes" to her. A cartoon, whatever the rating, is worth basically zero of my time (again, IMHO), so they just aren't part of her world at this point.

All that is to say, I don't make decisions based on ratings at all but simply based on what I think she can understand and what I want to explain.


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## mistymama

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Thalia the Muse* 
IMO, it totally depends on the kid, the parent, and the reason for the rating.

So true.

Ds has seen spiderman and both transformers movies, those were PG-13. He loves the old star wars movies (return of the jedi, etc) and those are all PG.

He's not scared by much and is pretty mature in his understanding of reality vs. fantasy and has been for a long time. I feel comfortable with him watching all kinds of things.

My parents didn't let me watch PG-13 movies until the day I turned 13 - it was awful and has probably clouded my opinion on movie ratings. I clearly remember being 12 and not being allowed to watch Dirty Dancing when it was a huge hit - all of my friends were talking about it and I couldn't watch it because I wasn't 13 yet.









I will always go by what ds is ready to watch and understand vs. some random age.


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