"Saw" - Suitable for 15 year old? How about Sin City?
 

I haven't seen either film, so I can't really say specifically. From what I recall hearing, Saw is creepily grisly, and Sin City is like Vice City meets the Gotham City in the Dark Knight series. Neither of these am I keen on my teen seeing, but I wanted the opinions of others who have viewed these in their entirety.

I'm not the most conservative person in the world, but I'm concerned. In this case, the Saw DVD was chosen as a birthday present for a son's friend, whose mom had a stroke when they were 12 that the kids had access to Scary Movie. He thinks that they will be seeing Sin City this weekend, but I'm guessing the mom either doesn't know this, or was just told that "it's a comic book based move, you know, like XMen or SpiderMan".

And I know that "more than this can be seen on HBO or Skinemax any day". That is a reason why we don't have HBO or Cinemax.

Parenting is a balance between someone pushing the envelope while you spend all your time trying to define the envelope.

Please also share if you have kids of your own. ;)

PS I read the recent Saw related threads in Movie Talk, but it is a hard item to search for correctly, especially for this kind of info.

The mom had a stroke because the kids watched Scary Movie?

Well, technically no. It was just a figure of speech.

I my mind both films are extreme in what the MPAA allows to get by with a R-rating - essentially they are both hard-R films.

SAW - bloody, raw, shocking, sadistic, cringe-inducing - all in all it's extremely graphic.

SIN CITY - while stylised, the gore is pretty much veiled by CGI/black and white photography. it's still excedingly violent.

Sin City is violent, but is so stylized that if you've ever watched any kind of violent Japanese animated film - such as Akira or Spriggan - you've probably seen just as bad if not worse. If I were 16 and saw Sin City, I would have loved it and not given it a second thought in terms of content (It's admittingly shallow, but I love it anyway).

Saw... well I haven't seen saw, can never seem to get past the acting in the first 10 minutes.

http://kids-in-mind.com/s/sincity.htm

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/s/saw.htm

Its a tough call. Both are pretty harsh but 15 is kinda old. In two years he can see whatever movie he wants in theaters. I'd say yes, unless the child is very immature.

I don't think he was approaching it from the kids perspective, but more from the mom's perspective. If the mom had a figurative stroke with Scary Movie, she may have an actual stroke if she watches Saw or Sin City with the kids.

That site is cool with the movie info. I didn't realize Pulp Fiction had 250 F-words in it. :lol:

Sin City is a pretty hard R, it just depends on how mature of a 15 year old he is.

Hmmm... that site seems reasonable and not as lame as some of the bible-thumping sites I have seen before (that one with the traffic light rating system).

Well, my wife admittedly hadn't seen scary movie before, and was unaware of the content. She was not pleased when I had her watch a little cause I was concerned about it being in the hands of 6th graders...

But things are a little different for a highschool freshman.

Yep, I'm walking the fine line between the "but in two years..." camp, and the "while under my roof" camp... He's at the age when, while browsing my DVD collection, he always seems to gravitate towards the Se7en's, and the Clerks, and not, you know, Forrest Gump or From The Earth to the Moon.

This is definitely a "shades of grey" discussion. There are no right/wrongs here. If he were 12, the answer would be obvious, and at 17, it would be obvious the other way...

Though, really, to me a good test is would the kid see the movie with mom in the room, as was said earlier. In the case of Saw, I'm guessing no.

At 15 he should be able to know right from wrong, that it's just a movie and all that good stuff. At that age if you've taught him good values it shouldn't matter what he watches.

Besides, if you don't let him watch them he'll just see them at a friends house ;)

Who's taking the gang to the theater to see Sin City? Hopefully they won't freak and drag the boys out of the movie. That would bring teh suck.

I think Scary Movie is a lot worse than Saw and Sin City.

I don't know, I just think a penis going in someone's ear is worse than a guy cutting his foot off or a guy getting his testicles ripped off.

15? they see worse things on the street.

I've never seen a man put his penis in another man's ear on the street.

Are families more restrictive now about this stuff, or is it just me? I remember my little brother and I watching pretty much whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. I saw Aliens, Robocop, Die Hard, and Predator(and every other Arnie movie out at the time, we were huge fans" all by age 10 or 11. That'd make my brother 8 or 9. Very often with my parents. Also saw all the big horror movies, all the Friday the 13ths and Elm Streets, Halloweens, etc. I won't even go into the things I had done by 15, I'll just say it was everything but drugs(true to this day, too). I don't recall any of my friends being in a different sitution, we all talked and joked about Die Hard together.

Have things completely changed in the last 10-15 years?

then you've never truly lived, i say

I guess not. :(

15 year old should be able to handle it.

Allow me to rant. My cousin is a 9-year old boy and his mother puts no control over what he watches. In fact, she buys he and his sisters any movie they want every tuesday and of course they chose every R rated movie. He loves Saw. I don't think he's going to turn into a serial killer or anything but I'm saddened that he is so focused on intense beat you over the head sensational movies, that he can no longer sit through movies like Wizard of Oz or Charlie and the Chocalate Factory. It makes me sad. Sorry, but I just had to get that off my chest.

PS. I've spoken to my aunt about it but she doesn't share my views.

Seriously, it seems like some people don't remember the really bad (unsuitable) content in this movie. Definately not for kids and when I heard some of my little cousins had viewed it, I flipped on the person who let them watch it.

As for Saw, its a horror movie, bit grotesque but nothing this desensitized generation can't handle. Sin City, the nudity in Sin City isn't really suitable. Violence is okay but dunno bout the bewbies. Scary Movie ? Its not a scary movie, its porn.

Uhh...I guess we're all forgettinga bout the MPAA ratings. If they'r eboth rated R, then the "recommeded" age is 17, and if they'r eunder 17, then they need to be accompied by an adult...for a reason. I'm not a conservative person by any means, and any teenager who has half a brain can get access to it one way or another but if you're concerned they shouldn't watch a movie based on the rating then, I'd vote a hearty no, since they're "under age". Sure they see violent stuff on t.v. everyday but in the example of Sin City. A guy get's both his arms and legs cut off and he's still alive....hmm....dont' think I've ever seen that on the street...maybe i should stroll through downtown once in a while. Like most people are saying, if they'r emature, etc etc....let them watch but if you're a concerned parent, let them watch it on their own when they sneak out to the theaters or rent it when it comes to dvd and you're not around. Stand up for what you believe is right, not what's popular with other parents.

I've seen Sin City and have two opposing opinions. It's extraordinarily, sadistically, continuously violent. While I thought the filming was cool, the violence really kept me from enjoying the movie and the thought of a child or teenager watching it makes me shudder. I wouldn't even show it to an adult! It would have given me serious nightmares if I had watched it when I was younger (I'm 25).

On the other hand, he's a teenager. If you stop him from seeing it he will just grow more determined to watch it and end up doing so behind your back somewhere, so you might as well let him watch it with your consent so that you have a chance to discuss the issues in it with him.

There is a certain basic code of honor in the movie, in that the good guys are willing to die to protect the women in their lives and stop evil. But that message kind of gets lost when the good guys are seen committing horrific acts of torture and murder in the process. It endorses extreme violence as revenge for violence.

There is nudity in the movie, but...he's 15. He's probably seen the real thing, or at least a porn mag. Boobs are not going to scar him for life.

It's NOT suitable for a 15-year-old, but if he really wants to see it you might as well make the best of it.

Let him go... and then afterwards, invite grandma over to watch Pulp Fiction.

It all depends on the maturity of the individual. I'm 15 for example, and as you can say in my dvdaf, I have movies like Cannibal Holocaust and Guinea Pig Flowers of Flesh and Blood which are far worse. Too many parents are too apathetic about their children nowadays, but certainly some 15 year olds can be mature enough to handle Sin City and Saw.