Letting Kids See Watchmen

Lisa Belkin wonders if her 15-year old should see “Watchmen,” this weekend’s number one movie. His 18-year old brother saw it and pronounced it brilliant. I won’t keep you in suspense (I know, you were on the edge of your seat), but Lisa eventually capitulated and let the younger son go. Spoiler: he liked it.

Having seen the film, I can say that it is definitely not for kids. The R rating should deter parents, but really it’s the subject matter that they should be looking at. For the record, I enjoyed the film version of “Watchmen”; it’s very faithful to the original comics (aka “graphic novel”), has some flaws, but overall is very much worth seeing. This column at The Onion AV Club by Tasha Robinson does a great job of breaking down the differences between the two, points out some missteps, and is good reading if you’re interested.

For our purposes, the question is “how do I decide whether or not a movie is appropriate for my child?”

Movie ratings help, but only up to a point. A commenter at the Times’ website points out that “Dark Knight” was rated PG-13, which in my opinion is absurd. Great film, one of the best I’ve seen, and Heath Ledger’s performance was incredible and deserving of an Oscar. Part of what makes his Joker so amazing is that he is really, truly disturbing, more so than the bone-popping-out-of-an-arm style of violence on display in “Watchmen.” To me, and I believe to my kids, psychological violence is more troubling than physical violence. Not that I want them to see the extreme grossness that “Watchmen” has. But a movie’s rating doesn’t always tell the whole story.

What I do with superhero movies is see them first. I know. I make the ultimate sacrifice, go on opening weekend with a bunch of guys wearing Captain America t-shirts, and decide whether or not the flick is kid-friendly enough. “Iron Man” was, although the opening sequence is questionable. “Hulk” was borderline, but my then 7-year-old didn’t want to see that one anyway. I thought “Spider-Man 3” would be too scary for him (Venom), but he was unfased; actually, I think he was a little bored (the bizarre musical number).

What makes this part of my parenting job easier is that I actually want to see superhero movies. Belkin, not so much: when asked by a commenter why she didn’t just see “Watchmen” first if she was so concerned, she replied: “You are right, I should have seen it if I felt so strongly about helping to give context to the message, but, frankly, I couldn’t [sic] stand the thought of sitting through it.” At two and a half hours, I can’t really blame her. But if she had seen it, she would have found out that along with the cartoonishly graphic violence (not a lot, but what’s there includes someone having their hands cut off with a power saw) is a very violent rape scene, a moment is that is much more graphic than the one in the original comic. Do I think most fifteen year olds have seen something like that in a movie already? Probably. Does that mean I want them to see that without me telling them what’s wrong with that behaviour? Probably not. For me, seeing a film is the best way to determine whether or not you want your child to see it, no matter what age they are. Fifteen may be too old to be concerned about what sort of entertainment your kids consume. But even if you don’t censor it, it’s probably a good idea to know what they watch.

Source: NY Times

Image: AVClub.com