We try to establish a “family movie night” as often as we can. This consists of picking out a movie, usually at BB, all actually sitting down (aka, me NOT cleaning while watching) and popping some popcorn and enjoying a flick together.
Lately, it has become increasingly hard to pick out a “family friendly film” to watch. I know some would say I am a little too over protective with my children, we don’t let them watch a lot of the “cartoons” on Cartoon Network, Shrek is STILL a no-no, and absolutely NO “T” rated video games are in my household. I guess we are trying to keep them innocent for as long as possible. Lord knows they’re going to be subjected to things we’d rather them never see or know far too soon as it is. I think most of the time, it’s parents that don’t want to really deal with their kids, so they buy them anything to get them in front of the TV no matter what they’re playing on it or watching….but that can be a whole other blog….
Anyhow, back to what this blog was supposed to be about…we went to the Library the other day, and I noticed the movie “FLY AWAY HOME” - I remembered seeing it on TV, a really cute, true story, and without a doubt, something the kids would enjoy seeing. We got it home, assumed our positions and proceeded to watch. Then, there it was, a couple of the “smaller” curse words, that I wish I would have listened to my moral compass and turned it off then, but I thought, no, no one really noticed…until a big one came out - a Holy with a S followed by it…I let out a gasp, which caused my 5 year old daughter to realize he had just said something that was a no-no in our family, so she asked out loud….”What?, did he say HOLY S..?” But she actually said sit…THANK goodness!
It made me pretty mad. Those few words ruined our family movie night…now when they made this film, did they really think parents would go out and see this without their children? These so-called cartoons they are making these days, with little trashy hints here and there…don’t they know this is going to attract kids…can’t they keep it completely clean? What is wrong with these people? We can’t feel safe to take our kids to almost any movie anymore unless it’s Veggie Tales! Even The Chipmunk movie had some questionable things in it that caused me not to take my kids to see it. Do they not feel a movie is any good without the curse words and sexual innuendo’s? If that’s the case, they need to re-think their script…whether or not it’s really any good, because if you HAVE to put those things in to attract people, it probably isn’t.
That said, I really think us Christians, should really try to go out and support these Christian - and family friendly films that are coming out. It seems they are “testing” the waters with these and seeing what kind of crowd it draws. Let’s support these films so these filmakers know there are people who still have morals and won’t take their kids to see any other trash out there. And don’t be fooled by the “Cartoon” look…you can investigate a movie BEFORE seeing it (wish I would have done that this week) by going to www.kids-in-mind.com It will tell you everything that is in that movie, so you can decide whether or not your kids should be watching it or not. Next idea, put blinders and ear muffs on our kids til they’re 30! 