PG means Parental Guidance!!

Transformers 3. 3D. PG13. Ster Kinekor Cresta Centre. 

The doors to the movie opened late. We walked in at 20h40 and out at 23h20 – when all little children should have been snuggled up in bed, cuddling a teddy bear. It was a huge movie. Fast-paced, furious, violent, scary! Squashed humans, flesh flying. Noisy – no, make that LOUD – my frikkin chair was VIBRATING with the noise!! In-your-face action – obviously, it was 3D – bits of Autobods flying towards you so fast that you want to reach out and cover your face. A little long-winded at times but I was deeply engrossed, I would have been deeply and totally engrossed if I hadn’t been irritated by the amount of under 5 year-olds I saw go into that movie house with their parents.

During the course of the movie I experienced a zillion different emotions, my own heart was pumping with the action and the noise and the exhiliration. Just because those kids are under the age of 5, doesn’t mean that they don’t experience the same emotions – and those emotions would have been way more intense than mine were. The difference is that I am well over the recommended PG13 age restriction, I also know the difference between right and wrong, and fantasy and reality. To a 3 year old everything is real! I have seen my 5 year old cry and tremble in terror over the scariest part of Toy Story 3, so much so that we had to leave the movie (she’s told me that she doesn’t want to go to a movie again where she has to wear the glasses), and my 2 year old will hide her face in my neck and close her eyes when something bothers her (she hasn't been to a movie house yet) - and this isn’t because they are ‘scaredy cats’ or because they are not exposed on a daily basis to the marvels of movies! They are tiny, impressionable sponges who absorb absolutely every piece of information, and they store it – and with their vivid imaginations, they turn that information into play. They feel every emotion with their entire beings. 

They look to us to guide them and to help figure out the life lessons that they are exposed to in this big world. It's called Parental Guidance.

While waiting to go into the movie, I asked a mother, with her small son on her hip, if she knew that it would be a scary movie and she said yes. I asked her if she knew that there was an age restriction, and she said yes but that it was ok because her son would be sleeping. Sleeping!! My ass, he was sleeping – not with that amount of noise all around him, and even if he were, the noise and the images from the screen would have penetrated his brain!

"Affecting Sleep (check out this link to read further)
The study also included a section about how children's sleep is affected when they see a movie that day. The study showed that when a child goes to a movie, it is as disturbing to sleep patterns as sitting up until midnight, or having two cups of coffee. Based on the research, "Thus it appears that movies selected unwisely and indulged in intemperately will have a detrimental effect upon the health of children." 

Another side to this rant of mine is that we all hate being interrupted during a movie, whether it be by a ringing cell phone, teenage gigglers or - worse - a crying child. When you see a small child enter a movie house you experience the same "oh-crap-ness!" as do once you've found your seat on an aeroplane only to discover that it’s next to a mother with two snotty-nosed children – the difference is that one has no option other than to use an aeroplane to get to Australia! Don't be so selfish! Consider your poor child, but also consider the people around you who have paid money to sit back and get lost in the moment of the movie. We do not want to be interrupted by your child who cries or who cannot sit still through a 2 hour movie!

This is such a big issue for me – it irritates the crap out of me every time we go to a movie, and poor S has to listen to me rant and rave until the movie starts, and then again as soon as the movie ends. Luckily, he’s patient and he feels the same way I do, although possibly not as intensely, which is a good thing as I need someone to stop me from going up to every parent with an under age child in the movie house and giving them a wake up slap! If it were up to me – and my name was Oprah – I’d make a huge issue of this. I’d give it as much attention as she has the pledge to not use your cell phone whilst driving! Sure, you’re not going to kill anyone by taking your child to an inappropriate movie (although you might end up raising a serial killer), but you are going to influence him in some way. The movie houses should be vigilant; actors and actresses should make a stand. Before Transformers started Shia LeBeouf and Rosie Huntigton-Whiteley should have been up there reminding parents to stick to the PG age – it’s there for a reason. I know that a parent who lets his/her child watch Transformers on the big screen, will think nothing about hiring the DVD and letting the child watch it at home – nothing can be done about that but it’s all about awareness – and guilt!

Our children are exposed to so much that we cannot protect them from, but there’s also a lot we can protect them from and they should not be able to dictate to their parents the movies they want to see. Hence, Parental Guidance - but also basic common sense!

As a child, I loved to watch scary movies. I’d be riveted to the screen, while my stepbrother would hide behind the couch with his little eyes peering over the edge so as not to miss what was going on. From a certain age, children love to be scared, I’m not saying that your child must still be watching Bob the Builder when he is 10 - we did watch scary movies but they were age appropriate. At age 3, Bambi is scary. What the hell then is a movie like Transformers (and there are many that are much, much worse), and if a child is so jaded as to not to feel fear over such a movie then I feel sorry for the child because then I wonder what has happened to his imagination!

It is our responsibility as parents to stand up and make responsible decisions. S and I are lucky – when we want to go out, we have two grannies more than willing to take the kids for the night. Other parents do not have the same option. I do understand that, but there are some things you can no longer do when you become a parent. Find a friend you can leave your child with, take turns going to the movies so that one parent is home with the child. Or just wait for the dam movie to come out on DVD and watch it at home once the child has gone to bed – and then take that child to an age appropriate movie at a suitable time of the day. 

It was your choice to bring that child into the world. Make it worth it!