Well, it’s no secret that The Dark Knight has plenty of action and violence. It’s thick into the PG-13 rating, that’s for sure.
Just got a press release from Purdue University, noting that the movie is too intense for kids. Uh, yeah! That’s why it’s rated PG-13!
Glenn Sparks, professor of communication, says, “The danger with a film like this is its history in the Batman comic book series and cartoons. People think of this hero as fun and entertaining, so parents may even take very young children to see what they believe is a family film. Instead, they may be jarred by the film’s explicit level of violence.”
Absolutely agree with this, especially with such a creepy guy like The Joker. And yet, I see little kids at movies like this regularly. What is up with parents? The ratings are there for a reason. Sure, they often err on the side of being too lenient, i.e. PG-13 movies edging towards an R, but really, they do a pretty good job of telling us what’s what before we take the kids.
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Sparks continues, “We know from prior research that violence of this sort can be really upsetting for children ages 6-10 because they realize that bad things can happen to people. At the same time, children at this age don’t have experience coping with explicit images of violence or understanding the likelihood that something will happen.”
There are plenty of great sites out there that give detailed movie info for parents, including Common Sense Media, Kids in Mind, and my own family movie site, Reel Life With Jane. It’s not that hard to find good info on whether movies are appropriate for kids or not.
Image: The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008
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