Deciding if a PG-13 film is appropriate for a teenager is up to parental discretion, as some material may be unsuitable for children under 13. The rating system can be applied poorly, and some PG-13 films contain violent content that may not be suitable for all viewers. Parents should preview movies or check reputable family-oriented websites for guidance.
Deciding whether a PG-13 film is appropriate for a 13-, 14-year-old or older child is a matter of parental discretion. PG-13 now comes with the warning label: PARENTS STRONGLY ATTENTION. Some materials may be inappropriate for children under the age of 13. However, some material in PG-13 films would be considered inappropriate by parents for children over the age of 13, and other PG-13-rated films are viewed by large children’s audiences, such as the early Pirates of the Caribbean, with minimal objections. by the parents.
One of the difficulties in determining whether a PG-13 film is really suitable for a teenager is that the rating system now employed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) can be applied a bit ill-advisedly. R-rated films tend more to be made that have something beyond small amounts of male rear nudity or references to sexual behavior, and are likely to include a great deal of violence, as long as the bloodshed is minimal. Item deemed mature may also warrant an R rating. Reference to drugs almost always turns a PG-13 into an R. However, if the depiction of drug abuse is intended as an example of self-destruct, it may be helpful for some teens see the R-rated movie occasionally while still forgoing some of the PG-13-rated movies.
If you think of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy as examples of PG-13 films, you will see a huge amount of violent content, including beheadings, human head blasts over the Wall of Gondor, stabbings, disembowelments, strangulations, of torture, arrows shot directly at the head, and the list goes on. Peter Jackson scored the films PG-13 because the violence is termed “fantasy violence” and the violent scenes are relatively bloodless. When bloodless killings are used, especially in a fantasy setting (humans vs. orcs), the violence generally doesn’t warrant an R rating from the MPAA. This doesn’t necessarily make it suitable for all viewers.
Based on Jackson’s film alone, many argue that most parents won’t find the PG-13 rating enough guidance in deciding whether a teen should watch the film. Some teenagers seem okay with violence, particularly if they’ve read Tolkien’s books. Others may be deeply disturbed or disgusted by the violence. In some cases, parents decide that a child is simply not old enough to see the movies, even though the PG-13 label suggests it’s okay for teenagers.
Many critics of the current rating system suggest that the PG-13 label is still too short, even when the film describes what is likely to be seen. Some movies now say “PG-13 rated for fantasy violence” or for brief nudity, mature themes, moderate drug use, or intense sequences. This may be partial guidance in determining whether a child 13 or older should be allowed to see a movie.
When teens are allowed to watch PG-13 movies without parental input, this suggests that parents have agreed with the MPAA on what constitutes acceptable teen content. In fact, some parents allow their children to see any movie, regardless of rating. Not all parents agree on this point. For moral or ethical reasons, a parent may decide that the MPAA rating of PG-13 is insufficient to determine a film’s eligibility.
The reality of the PG-13 rating and all film ratings is that they are based on the notion that people of a certain age should be able to tolerate the content of a film. Yet not all adults choose to see all movies. Many adults who can see any movie prefer not to see some, such as those people who avoid slasher movies or very scary movies because they don’t want to be scared or grossed out. Even movies with a PG-13 rating like The Ring or The Exorcism of Emily Rose are considered extremely scary by adults, which questions the wisdom of allowing teenagers to watch them.
Children and adults alike can’t help but see what they’ve seen, and some people can be haunted by particularly violent or frightening movie images. So the question of whether a 14-year-old can see a film is less important than whether the teenager should see a film. Previewing movies or checking a reputable family-oriented website that provides detailed rating reviews before allowing children of any age to see them is probably a better guide than what the MPAA offers.
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