So what if it ain't for kids?

[Lost_Wanderer]

I don’t know if anyone else has made this observation but have you ever encountered people (even just on these threads) who act like just because something is not for kids it automatically means it’s bad for everybody?

It’s as if their entire set of entertainment preferences are governed by the simple, naive minds of toddlers. If you ask me, children-oriented TV shows (like those on Nick Jr. or Playhouse Disney) maybe good for kids but don’t you dare tell me, a grown young man, to watch them. They insult my intelligence and their excess fluff and sappiness can make me writhe when I’m in a bad mood.

Look I am all and everything for keeping rated material away from their eyes but that’s only because they’re not mature to understand the hard stuff. When I was a kid, the whole “Jesus-Died-4-Me” message didn’t hit me when I saw movie adaptions of his Passion and Death. I just saw raw pain and violence. I didn’t like it. It was only when I matured and studied in my faith that I understood and now instead of revulsion, I actually get major guilt trips when I visually see what our Lord went through.

If you ask me, these people give children too much credit.

 

[marbles_the_cat]

I agree… not everything is made for kids, and some things should be kept away from them. However, many things “bad for kids” (like porn, in the extreme case) is also "bad for adults…

I suspect as well that if you are raising kids, you become frustrated at the fact the whole world is not kid friendly by any means! Maybe what you are interpreting as people seeming to want EVERYTHING kid friendly is just simply people wanting a more kid friendly world… most parents are the first to agree that not everything is ment for kids!

(On a side note… my oldest (8) would agree with you on preschool shows!)

 

[KarenElissa]

I would agree with you. I like a lot of the crime dramas (CSI, NCIS, Bones). They aren’t appropriate for kids, but I think for the most part are fine for adults. Bones especially has a lot of good messages, one couple struggled with the possibility that their child would be blind, but there was never talk of abortion, just that they would figure out how to deal with it, the FIB agent is Catholic and a nice contrast to the atheist, Bones.

I do think it would be nice to see some good family shows on the basic channels though. When I was a kid in the 90’s there were a number of good family comedies, but I can think of very few, if any, shows that are appropriate for 12 and under on the major networks and I do think it is sad that families can’t watch tv together any more.

And yes, I do ignore cable networks as I didn’t have cable growing up and don’t now.

 

[PatriceA]

I don’t know if anyone else has made this observation but have you ever encountered people (even just on these threads) who act like just because something is not for kids it automatically means it’s bad for everybody?

You’re not the only one. With all the tv threads lately and the discussions of certain films and what is/isn’t good for the family, its nauseating. I have a brain, I have a good compass on morals and my faith, but I can watch a film or tv show meant for adults and actually enjoy it. Everything doesn’t have to be family friendly, 24/7. There have been times I’ve let my daughter watch certain films or tv shows that some might find not family friendly or age appropriate because we’ve determined she is mature enough to do so and it opens up an opportunity for discussion.

Its good to have some guidelines, such as the rating system. But it is just a guide, it doesn’t have to be strictly enforced, especially for adults and sometimes even for younger members of the family.

 

[Gordon_Sims]

I have to agree with the notion that “not kid friendly” doesn’t also mean “bad for adults.” I will admit, though, that I’m a lot more discerning now about what I watch even without the kids than I was a few years ago. I tend to take issue anymore with completely gratuitous content. I’m not opposed to watching or reading something with violent or sexual content, but if it’s thrown in just for the sake of having it in there and doesn’t further the plot or make sense with regards to the rest of the movie, I have a big problem with that.

My wife and I were watching some movie a couple months back (which one completely escapes me at the moment). From what I remember it was a thriller, and while there was a smattering of violence and a bit of harsh language, it wasn’t anything your average 13-year-old couldn’t handle. Without much warning, there was a very graphic sex scene, after which the woman remained fully naked for several minutes. I skipped over the sex scene and ended up leaving the room during the nude scene mostly out of respect to my wife, but also because the complete gratuitiousness of it floored me. The rest of the movie was just as tame as what preceded it, and the sex scene not only didn’t add anything to the story, but had no repercussions on the rest of the plot and was never referenced again.

Whether it’s actually occurring or not, my perception is that there’s a great deal more of this utterly gratuitous content in recent movies, especially comedies. We’ve not seen a lot of the more recent comedies simply because they all seem to make a point of hitting the same asinine, adolescent, gross-out marks and we don’t feel a need to see multiple variations on the same theme. We also don’t want our kids to think that us watching these movies somehow condones them in any way. They all understand that there are some movies that are okay for kids, others that are only for grown-ups, and still others that aren’t good for anyone.

 

[Mungling]

I’ll agree with the OP. There definitely does seem to be certain circles who view anything not inherently child friendly to be inherently bad. I think we can all agree that as far as art goes, problematic content doesn’t necessarily bad. It’s up the way the film/novel/play/ect portrays the consequences of problematic actions that matter.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Its good to have some guidelines, such as the rating system. But it is just a guide, it doesn’t have to be strictly enforced, especially for adults and sometimes even for younger members of the family.

You know it’s actually my fondness for anything rated Teen and above that prompts me to strongly support that rating system. Honestly I totally facepalmed when I once read around here about a guy complaining that a title and cover of a certain M-rated video game was misleading.

Who in their right mind would judge anything based on what they see on the cover?

I agree… not everything is made for kids, and some things should be kept away from them. However, many things “bad for kids” (like porn, in the extreme case) is also "bad for adults…

I must disagree. Porn is actually one of the few things that’s bad for everybody. I can’t think of anything else besides that other than I know, smoking and excess drinking?

Maybe what you are interpreting as people seeming to want EVERYTHING kid friendly is just simply people wanting a more kid friendly world…

They might as well ask for the destruction of civilization as we know it. There are so many academic subjects that would be rejected on the grounds of it not being ‘family’ or ‘kid’ friendly. First example, the hard sciences (look at the evolution controversy) another woudl be history and culture (as if the history of our world is devoid of bloody conflicts and bizarre cultural practices).

 

[smswife]

As a parent who wishes the world were more kid friendly, I would like to chime in here.

First, I do agree that shows/music/etc. can be made that are good art and OK for adults but not appropriate for children and that’s a good thing.

However, so much of today’s media has the gratuitous sex and violence that has already been deplored on this thread that it’s becoming harder and harder to shield my young (11 and 9yo) children from it.

As an example, a current pop song called “The Lazy Song” that has a catchy tune and a refrain that most kids would like to sing along to, “Today I don’t feel like doing anything”

However it also has the following lyrics:
“Tomorrow I’ll wake up, do some P90X
Meet a really nice girl, have some really nice sex
And she’s gonna scream out: ‘This is Great’
(Oh my god, this is great)
Yeah”

Is it fair and right that my kids and I and my 12 yo Godson should have this blaring out at us at our county fair while we are sitting and eating at the picnic area?

So many pop songs are singing about casual sex I can’t even just click through stations on my car radio anymore w/o cringing.

In my opinion, media that is appropriate only for adults needs to be clearly labelled as such (by a rating system like movies have for example) and then not be easily accessible (much less promoted!) to children. I can dream can’t I?

 

[Hastrman]

You know it’s actually my fondness for anything rated Teen and above that prompts me to strongly support that rating system. Honestly I totally facepalmed when I once read around here about a guy complaining that a title and cover of a certain M-rated video game was misleading.

Sorry to post this rather late, and necromantically reanimate this thread, but I finally found a quote I was looking for. It’s by the guy who draws the (always funny but often filthy and virtually always profane, so be warned) webcomic, Penny Arcade. He did some posters for the ESRB a while back, because, as they pointed out, the alternative is government regulation.

Anyway, this is that guy, Michael “Gabe” Krahulik, on parenting and how it intersects with media:

Some parents would say that’s naive, “You can’t watch them all the time.” They would tell me “They will just play those violent games at a friends house.” Yeah, and they will watch those violent movies at a friends house. Like some kind of pornographic archeologist your 10 year old boy is probably rummaging through a stack of poorly hidden playboys from the 1970’s at his best friends house right now. You cannot watch your kids all the time and you cannot ensure they will never see a boob or a gun before they are ready. What you can do is make sure that what they see and do in your house is appropriate and rely on some good old fashioned parenting skills to make sure that a quick glimpse of some blood in a videogame doesn’t send them into a violent rage that ends with a school full of dead kids.

 

[smswife]

I appreciate and for the most part agree with the above quote.

The problem is that is not a “quick glimpse” anymore. There is gratuitous sex featured everywhere, such as in the example I gave at the fair. Or the fact that J.K. Rowling pointed out that Dumbledore was gay. Why do kids need to know that? Or a children’s book I’m reading now (vetting it before letting my kids read it) where there is an apparently gay male couple who function as the child protagonist’s grandparents. Why is that necessary?

But I’m not calling for more government regulation. I’m just hoping Jesus comes back soon.