TheAllPurposeNothing

My wife and I are currently in debate about my suggestion of taking my 11-year-old son to see Wanted.

She, and just about everyone she knows, says that he is much too young for an R-rated movie.

Yet, when I look back at my childhood, I know that I saw my first R-rated flick with my dad at age 10, when he took me and my siblings to see Animal House. A year later, he bought me a ticket so that I could see Excalibur by myself. After that, he bought many tickets for me and my brother to see various R-rated flicks by ourselves, to the point that they would just sell us the tickets without my dad there. And the fact is that some of the most gruesome things I saw were in PG-rated movies (this was pre-PG-13, a ratings joke IMHO) - the mirror scene in Poltergeist, the melting face in Raiders, etc.
Somehow I turned out uncorrupted. Hell, people even find themselves shocked if I, at age 40, ever let a swear word slip

In addition, my son has been playing M-rated video games for a while, including Halo, Gears of War and most of the Tom Clancy games. I still draw the line at GTA style games, but so far, he doesn't appear to have been been affected (he will still give me and my wife a hard time if a four-letter word should slip, for ex.).

So my question is: Should there be a hard and fast rule about the age at which one introduces their children to R-rated material, as my wife thinks, or should it just be dependent on the child? I don't agree with bringing a 3-year-old into Saving Private Ryan, mind you, but 11 seems like a good introductory point for R-material.

Your thoughts???

P.S. One side note: I do find that I have sadly fallen in to the hypocritical area where I have a higher tolerance for him seeing violent material than sexual material, though I would guess the violent material would be more likely to have an impact. Don't know why...maybe something in the water.

JPRaup

I think that's a bit too young for such a violent movie like that. It really depends on the film, I probably would wait til my son or daughter is 14/15 to show them the heavier R-rated films.

My Other Self

I think it depends on the content of the film and why it obtained an R-rating.

In your situation alone there's no way in hell I'd take an 11-year old to see Wanted.

Ms. M

I saw my first R-rated movie in theaters at the age of 11: Aliens in 1986. I loved it and was always grateful to my parents for letting me see it. Wanted probably isn't any less violent or graphic than that movie.

It probably depends on the kid. Some enjoy doses of adult material from a fairly early age while others are highly sensitive to intense scenes.

islandclaws

You draw the line at GTA games but you'd consider taking your kid to a film along similar lines? That should answer your question right there. I haven't heard much about how hardcore Wanted is, but my guess would be too hardcore for an 11 year old. Kids sneaking in is one thing, but I wouldn't take my 11 year old (if I had one) to a film like that.

berserker37

Don't take him to see "Wanted". Unless you want to be the COOLEST DAD EVER!!!!

Actually, I think it depends on the kid and the movie. Not sure how graphic "Wanted" is (sex/nudity or violence-wise), try to find out and decide accordingly. I assume that you would be going with him if you let him see it?

JPRaup

Wanted is extremely violent. The only sex that I can remember is Jolies fine ass.

TomOpus

You forgot those scenes of his friend banging his g/f?

But, when I saw it, I saw at least 2 different sets of parents with VERY young kids... I'd say 6ish. I thought that was too young for this movie.

Groucho

There are a plethora of other choices out right now that are not only more appropriate, but they are better flicks too: Wall-E, Iron Man, Sex in the City, Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2, etc.

maxfisher

Wanted sounds like it'd be a bit much, but it probably depends somewhat on your kid too. My first r-rated movies were when I was 12, when a friend's parents' rented Terminator, Nightmare on Elm St. and Pumpkinhead for us for an all-nighter.

Shannon Nutt

When does your son get to start to watch porn and drink Jack Daniels? 13 or 14?

fumanstan

All I know is that Brack was some super kid and could have watched this when he was 5.

TheAllPurposeNothing

Shhhhh....you'll spoil the surprise of his 12th birthday party!

I've heard that Wanted is rather violent. I guess it comes down to the type of violence. Is it graphic in a somber, matter of fact way or is it cartoony violence? There is a world of difference between the violence of let's say a Road Warrior and that of Saving Private Ryan.

Also I realize that there are ""better" movies out there. But he's not big on superhero flicks or animated films. That leaves his current selection of movies somewhat limited to a series of lame comedies (The Love Guru, Get Smart and Zohan) and Wanted.

arminius

I took my 5 year old son and 12 year old daughter to see Starship Troopers. They both loved it. I think it depends on the parents and their estimation of their children.

Oh and I do not understand the nudity thing. Violence is one thing but almost everybody is naked under their clothes and to act like seeing a naked body is a traumatic event for a kid is idiotic. Thats why you see them running around naked as toddlers. They're ok with it.

TheAllPurposeNothing

BTW, need to correct myself. Just realized that I was 13 when I saw Excalibur.

Doesn't change my introduction to R films but it does change when I was allowed to go to see them by myself.

Hulkabrgr

My parents took me to see Stripes when I was five. I didn't pay any attention to the language or nudity in it. Then again, my parents wouldn't have taken me to a violent R rated action picture at that age.

Artman

I don't have a family but personally if our options where going to see Wanted... I'd opt to just do something else.

My parents rented Glory when I was 11 I think... of course there's a world of difference watching that movie at home vs going to see a movie like Wanted in theaters.

What kind of violence do you think is better to see? I'm a little different in that I think the more serious, realistic violence is better to see than cartoony violence that is meant to be "funny."

Artman

Nudity's one thing, but if it is two actors simulating sex that's a little different imo.

Trevor

16 and 364 days

DRG

It's all about context, even within the parameters of violence/sex/etc. Frankly I'd be more worried about a kid seeing a hard drug use scene than any about of violence or sex.

mike7162

I personally think 11 might be a little young for such a film, but these days, I'm sure the film isn't much worse than most video games. My uncle took my brother and I to see The Godfather when I was 10 (yes, I'm that old), and I must have seen every violent kung fu film made before I was teenager. I also saw Coffy with my parents at a drive-in when I was 11 - my mother dutifully ordered us to close our eyes during nude scenes (movies seemed to telegraph nudity a lot better back then), but apparently had no problem with us seeing a shotgun decapitation.

Larry C.

Well I watch R rated movies at a very young. I remember being 10 and having my stepfather take me to see the original Nightmare on Elm Street. I'm pretty liberal on what I will let them watch. I don't mind the language, as much as sex scenes. I have an 12 and 10 year. They are real good about closing their eyes when I tell them too. LOL

devilshalo

Fully clothed. I've seen this in Rescue Me.

The up close, slow motion exit and entry wounds tho are a different matter.

DeanoBKN

I saw plenty of R rated flicks when I was a kid, Godfather III, Robocop 1 & 2, Speed and Terminator 2 jump into mind...and I turned out ok, I think

RichC2

R-ratings are so incredibly varied on content that it is a tough call.

Go read http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ for indepth assessments of movies, they contain spoilers but it is a fairly solid rating system.

For Wanted:

The violence is for the most part, quick and to the point (bullets exploding out of foreheads), and the one really graphic sex scene is only a few seconds long (and can be seen in the Russian trailer for the movie, you see a man's bare ass screwing a woman on an Ikea table). There is a lot of foul language/f-bombs. That said, with all that, I still didn't find much of it particularly objectionable since it is essentially a live action cartoon (It's obvious in how fake the things happening on screen are, and it's fun to watch, it doesn't try to pull a United 93 and create a sense of heightened realism).