Yes that's right, I'm taking on Hollywood for this one. This will be a similar post to Daddy VS Disney, but will be more general, referencing only TYPES of movies and using a few examples, as opposed to a whole line of movies.

So let's start with a few questions: What types of movies will you let your child watch? What's ok? What isn't? How do you determine if they are or aren't? I've heard these questions answered in so many different ways

Here's a few examples of my and my wife's philosophy on this.

We've been pretty lenient about movies with our daughter. I know of people who strongly censor what their kids see. That's fine, to each their own, but for me it's just not something I worry that much about, at least not to an extreme level. For example, Disney movies, yeah those are pretty much universal. I don't see anything wrong with those. But what about a movie like Wolfman? The new one, with Benicio Del Toro. Is that ok? Let's break it down: It's a scary movie, the werewolf was very well done. Probably scary for a little kid. It's got some gore in it, the werewolf kinda lets a few people have it. However, there is no swearing beyond "damned" or "hell". There aren't any sexual references. And there is no nudity. Would you let your children watch it? Want to hear something funny? My daughter REQUESTS this one... a time or two a month at minimum. I'm perfectly ok with her watching it. Why? Because rather than try and EXPLAIN to her that things are make-believe, she can see it for herself. If she starts to get a little scared, I just pull her up on my lap, and explain to her that it's just a man in a costume and a few tricks with a computer.

The entire Harry Potter collection is the same rule, though not much about that series scares her. The Marvel movies that have been coming out (Iron Man, X-Men, Spiderman, etc) are the same. However, movies with really strong language in them, we're probably not going to let her watch them. Movies with sex scenes or nudity, same deal. The thing about that though, is we aren't really the type of people to watch movies that contain excessive amounts of those things anyway, but there are a few movies where there's a boob flash, or where they use really profane language, that we still like. Not many, mind you, but still...

So how do you regulate that? How do you decide if the movie is ok or not? I don't know... I would actually like to hear your thoughts. As with any question posed on this blogged it's all a matter of personal perspective. I don't think Wolfman is a bad movie for my daughter to watch, but I'm sure somebody who reads this will disagree. That's their choice, because they raise their kids differently. I'm only offering my perspective. Let's hear yours.

See you next time!