Oh, bollocks. I know it’s natural to castigate children for not being as tough as when we were kids, but it’s ridiculous to do it when it comes to films; generally the complaint is that ‘kids these days’ are anaesthetised against violence by seeing too
much of it in films and on TV.
Finding Nemo, as one of many analogous examples, also showed us (on-screen) a mother being murdered - along with lots of her babies. The reason this isn’t such a big deal is because, well, it wasn’t such a big deal by then; film censorship has most definitely not become more namby-pamby since the days of Bambi. (I honestly did not intend that rhyme there!)
The classification system in the US applies to foreign films too.
But was there any bad language? Having one or more of the “Dirty Half-Dozen + One” sprinkled throughout the dialogue was (and still is) a surefire way to get an otherwise innocuous movie stuck with a more adult rating.
In any case, the MPAA was pretty lenient in what they allowed in “G” rated movies during the first few years of the rating system. For example, the original Planet of the Apes initially had a “G” rating. (Years later, it re-rated “PG-13”.) Conversely, they also weren’t quite sure how to use the “X” rating. The fact Midnight Cowboy was tagged with the same rating as hardcore porno seems laughable today.
I am old enough to remember seeing Bambi at the local drive in theater as a kid.
My parents, and the neighbors (with their daughter, Leslie) thought it would be a “fun night out” for them, and let the kids see a “cute” Disney film. Leslie and I were about 6 or 7 years old, and sat on the bumper of the car to watch the film
When we went running, crying, screaming back into the car - the adults were not prepared.
Disney seemed to love doing this - there have been many threads about this over the years on the SDMB. Old Yeller, Bambi, Dumbo…nothing more fun than to have kids wailing away in tears as DEATH roars its ugly head!
I don’t think kids have become more wimpy, except through overparenting of nervous adults. The difference then and now is that many parents these days are in abject terror of allowing their kids to see anything that will disturb or challenge them. So now Bambi is something to worry about, because little Kayleigh and Jacob might be upset when Bambi’s mom dies – and “upset” is something to be strictly avoided. (Along with “boredom.”)
Personally I think it’s okay for children to feel sad and confused now and then, and to learn that sometimes deer are shot and leave fawns behind, that guns aren’t toys, nature is often haphazard and cruel (a la Nemo), and “bad guys” aren’t noble (The Incredibles). Bambi’s orphaning was painful, as was Dumbo’s locked-up mom, but my little niece learned from them, I learned from them, as did many of my peers, and a couple of generations before us did too. Sorrow is part of life. It’s okay to cry when you lose something you love dearly. I think the way Bambi and the other Disney / Pixar films show this kinda stuff is controlled and compassionate, not exploitative. They’re helpful lessons.
Protecting your kids is a natural and beneficial part of parenting. Hermetically sealing them isn’t.
I’m not sure there are that many parents who are that over-protective, though. Up had a really sad opening montage with a death scene, and it was hugely popular. Harry Potter has loads of people die. Ned Flanders-type overprotective parents have always existed, not any more now than then.
I suppose it would just be nice if as a parent I could be prepared. I am not over-protective. But I like to know what a movie is like before showing it to my kids. My kids are 2 and 3 1/2. I had not seen Bambi in maybe 20 years so I could not remember everything in the film. I just think that if it was reclassified as ‘PG’ I would have thought I should have watched it before showing it to my kids.
I think Bambi can be a terrific lead-in to introductory discussions with children on important topics like friendship, death, etiquette, and “twitterpation”!
The way the MPAA rates movies is secret in addition to seeming completely arbitrary. That said, once the MPAA rates a movie they do not rate the same version of the movie again so I’m not sure who “they” would be. Some movies for kids do have scary parts. When I watched Labyrinth with my nieces I had forgotten that some parts of it were somewhat intense and frightening for a six year old.
The MPAA board changes over time. There is no set of rules but it is very flexible to reflect the values as they shift in society.
Look at the 70’s and the films that are rated PG. Then they only really had G, PG, and R and the films that fell in the PG range would be R rated today.
Tommy and Grease come to mind. (Grease has loads of foul language that is edited for TV)
When my daughter was around 4 years old, she went and stayed with my in-laws for a few days by herself. It was the first time she had been away from us for so long, and she started missing my wife. To cheer her up, my mother-in-law dug into her video collection and got out Bambi, completely forgetting what happens in it. My daughter was not amused.
The next night, my mother-in-law decided to show a different movie, one that had a happier ending. She chose Land Before Time. My daughter was doubly not-amused.
Yep, they stuck a “shit” into Transformers The Movie (the 80’s cartoon movie, not to be confused with Transformers the 00’s CGI/live action movie) just to avoid a G rating. Then when it came out on home video, they took the “shit” out in early versions.
There’s issues about the MPAA re-rating movies. One famous example was The Wild Bunch. The movie was made in 1969. It was reviewed by the MPAA and given an R rating.
In 1993, Warner Borthers decided to re-release the movie in theatres. They were releasing a “director’s cut” with ten minutes that had been cut from the original release.
The restored cut was submitted to the MPAA and they surprised Warner Brothers by giving the movie a NC17 rating. The restored scenes were basically scenery and some dialogue - nothing sexual or violent. So it appeared the MPAA had changed its mind about the rating of the overall movie.
Warner Bros was unhappy about this rating - they knew that a NC17 rating would kill the release. So they decided to call the MPAA’s bluff. They said the MPAA had already rated the movie and given it an R rating. So they were going to release it with that R rating and the MPAA could take them to court if it wanted to. The MPAA decided not to challenge the release.
The MPAA is in a somewhat precarious position. It realizes it is dependant on both the voluntary cooperation of the studios and its perceived reputation for objectivity and impartiality. So the organization realizes it has to work with the studios. It also realizes it cannot afford to have to explain in court how it reviews movies and perhaps have its system exposed as arbitrary or biased.
There’s also ‘Hope and Glory,’ a British film about a young boy growing up in WW2. It’s a good film with nothing I’d be bothered about kids seeing. But it’s a 15 (I’m not sure what the US equivalent is, but you get the idea - only people 15 or over are allowed to watch it; it’s slightly stricter than in the US in that cinemas are not allowed to let anyone under that age in to watch the film). It’s automatically a 15 because of one single iteration of the word ‘fuck.’
The lead actor wasn’t even allowed to see the film at its premiere, because he was under 15 - and he was the one who said the word fuck in the film!
Originally Posted by Susanann
I think if anybody thinks Bambi is scary, they need to get some help.
Its a DEER!!! A wild animal!! (We usually call them : “forest rats” around these parts) …and Bambi was a CARTOON!
Moreover, deer dont live forever, they usually live max out at 5 years or so (assuming that they can even get through their first winter.)
If a “real” deer does not get shot(and thus usually dies quickly), then it will most likely will die slowly and painfully after getting hit by a car, it will starve or get diseased, or it will get eaten (while its still alive) by a bunch of coyotes.
All children should learn about the real world and how the real world is, and where “meat” comes from. Any child who is raised in a fantasy of make-believe “needs help”, and so do his parents who cant face reality.
