A comment was recently posted on my review of Rango by someone going by the name of “Shera” and I wanted to share it with you before digging deeper into the matter brought up in the headline. The comment read:
This is bar none the worst film I have seen. My 11 and 6 year old hated it and I was appalled the inappropriateness of the film. The animal with a arrow through his skull, the violence, the lack of humour and just plain poor plot. I am so tired of immoral movies for kids. Why are we o.k. with a movie like this for our children? I would have preferred to burn my $52.00 instead of watching this pathetic movie.
There are a lot of things I could examine in that comment, but the most important sentence is when she writes, “Why are we o.k. with a movie like this for our children?” In my opinion the question should read, “Why did I take my kids to see this?” and “Shera” should be asking herself this instead of it being the accusatory misdirected question it is.
Why is “Shera” asking an undefined group why “we” are okay with a movie like this for our children? She is the one that took her kids to see it, not us. Where did she hear this was a movie “we” thought would be good for her children?
She didn’t learn it from my review where I debated how children would react, citing the demise of one character. I used an example how one little girl shouted, “Yay!” as one character died and then wrote, “So perhaps kids too will be able to get in on the fun.” This is hardly a recommendation for children as I reference the death of a character, but I also don’t think it is my responsibility as a movie reviewer to parent children. After all, there are others that do that.
Okay, maybe our upset mother was troubled because she did her research and the trailers didn’t offer any indication this film may not be for her children. Let’s see…
In more than one of the trailers we learn the lead character is going to die. You know, something that shouldn’t tip off any concerned parent.
In another trailer our lead character is taking a swig of cactus juice. You know, alcohol, which I am still pretty sure six and eleven-year-olds are still not legally allowed to drink.
Man, if only there was something to let me know there were some pretty mean looking characters in this film. Just, give me one example! Please!
Hmmm, the situation above looks a little precarious. I wonder if they know they should turn off the water or they may drown. And while they’re at it why not take the gag out of that poor creature’s mouth?
If only they would give me a sign there may be a little violence. Please, S-P-E-L-L it out for me!
I can only assume “Shera” did pretty much no research before taking her kids into this film. I am also going to assume she thinks every animated movie is automatically for kids. I will also assume her first reaction to me saying anything about her comment will be to point out the film has a PG-rating. I will then point out to her the rating comes with a reason, which in this case was “for rude humor, language, action and smoking.” The MPAA may not be the best judge when it comes to rating movies, but their reasons do pretty much sum things up rather well in a very short sentence and if you are a protective parent I would think that rating reason alone would be enough to give you pause.
Of course, perhaps “Shera” wasn’t interested in reading. She saw a cartoon and decided she just found a way to shut the kids up for 107 minutes and when they weren’t entertained by a rather adult themed film, she got upset.
She commented on my review so I am going to have to wonder if she read my first sentence, which reads, “With more than subtle nods to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, a wink to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the music of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 and a story line that reminds us of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, Gore Verbinski’s Rango is an animated film for film lovers.” I wonder if she would sit her children down to watch any of those flicks? I doubt it.
I have to wonder just what “Shera’s” comment tells us. Does it tell us parents are simply unwilling to take responsibility for the parenting of their children? Does it say MPAA ratings and their reasons no longer mean anything at all?
Based on this research, the average age of new moms in 2000 was about 24.5. So I’ll say “Shera” is probably around the age of 36-years-old at this point. In the age we live in I would assume a 36-year-old mother and/or father of two would have the common sense to do a little research before taking their kids to a movie if they were concerned as to a film’s content. Particularly if they were concerned with violence, which is probably a good sign they shouldn’t take their kids to see a Western, animated or not.
I’m not saying “Shera” doesn’t have a right to her opinions. I’m saying comments such as “I am so tired of immoral movies for kids” and “Why are we o.k. with a movie like this for our children?” are misguided. These statements might be accurate had Paramount come out and said, “Bring the kids! Rango is filled with gumdrops and lollies for all ages.” And don’t throw the fact it was co-produced by Nickelodeon at me, because so was “Ren and Stimpy” and it was 100-times worse than anything seen in Rango.
