I’m inspired by a IMDB.com poll of the day (yesterday) to post this. What movie (or perhaps TV show) would you feel uncomfortable watching in front of your parents or close loved ones (besides pornos)?
For me it would be A Clockwork Orange. My mom got it for my on DVD for Christmas last year and my parents were curious as to what it was about and made some comment on how they’d like to see it. I shook my head and said, “I wouldn’t feel right watching it with you.” Basically, anything with sexual nature, but that movie would be number one on my list.
I would enver watch The Tom Green Show or Jackass with my parents, cause I think they can be funny, and my parents would kill me if they knew that. Also, while we are on the subject of Kubrick, I’d be shot dead before I’d watch just about any of his films with my parents, except 2001.
Then you can get into stuff like Anime. My dad, being one of those parents who, if his son likes something, then it is horrible and evil, so he hates me for it. I was watching my Monoke DVD last week, and he came in my room, and told me that was the work of Satan trying to get to me. so, for this reason, anime would enver, ever be viewed in front of my dad.
My mom, on the other hand, rocks about this stuff. she took me to see Pulp Fiction when it came out X years ago, and she has always been a big indy film, and breakthrough film fan.
It would be impossible to watch a Cheech & Chong film with my parents because I would never make it through the whole movie pretending not to get any of the pot jokes.
I’m pretty happy to say I’d watch pretty much anything with my parents. That I’d watch at all, that is. A few movies I don’t mind my mom will generally refuse to watch, but she surprises me sometimes. (She’s pretty religious and doesn’t like movies with spiritualism etc in them. But she took me to see Sixth Sense, go fig…)
and my dad…well, my dad did his senior thesis on Clockwork Orange and we got into a huge discussion about what it all means and stuff. Most ‘taboo’ things are handled like that in my family. Talk it over, think about it.
I’d watch pretty much anything with my dad; He even likes anime when he has the time to watch. Whoo, dad!
My mom, however, is a different story. I feel uncomfortable watching even a ‘family’ movie with her, because she just tries to hard to enjoy that disney vibe; It can get slightly disturbing. I put it to stress, i guess. Hopefully she will relax over the summer- she is taking a three-month sabbatical for the duration.
One time, while visiting with my folks, my dad and I were sitting up late (we’re both night owls, and like watching TV in the wee hours) channel-surfing. Rocky Horror was on one channel, and my dad quickly flipped it. He mentioned that he’d seen part of it once and could not bear to see any more of it. I said that I had it on tape. He was aghast that I’d taped it. I said, “No, Daddy, I BOUGHT the tape.” I told him about all the midnight showings that I’d attended, and how people dressed up and brought props and interacted with the movie. This was definitely TMI for him, though he was relieved (slightly) to know that I had never dressed up, I’ve only brought props. He was NOT relieved to know that I know all of the responses, and didn’t take me up on my offer to teach him about the culture.
I’m sure that my father has filed all of this under the “I love my eldest daughter dearly BUT!” compartment of his brain. Right next to the fact that I don’t like pasta, except for certain baked cheesy dishes (lasagna, manicotti).
“Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills” This is one of Paul Bartel’s warped comedies and turned me into a fan of his flicks. Lots of weird sexual encounters.
However, I made the mistake of renting this – not knowing much about it – and showing it when my parents were visiting.
When I was 14, I rented Sixteen Candles (hadn’t developed my deep loathing for John Hughes at that time) and my dad plunked his ass down, uninvited, to watch it with me. I wanted to die. That movie is pretty darn raunchy. People have retained the image of the sweet girl dressed in pink (or was it lavender) getting into the guy’s red Porsche as he gallantly holds the door for her, but there’s a lot before that that is anything but idyllic. When the tits-in-the-shower shot came on, I had to leave the room. Also, it didn’t help that he laughed at a lot of stuff that I didn’t think was funny.
My mom is another story. I can watch just about anything with her; if she feels she can’t handle it, she leaves. I showed her Goodfellas; she’d wanted to see it for a long time, but waited until I could be her censor. I just told her when not to look.
One time, though, we had words. I was watching SNL, and our NBC affiliate gave a lot of airtime to those “Dial 1-900-HOT SNATCH” commercials. She kept twittering and shrieking about how awful they were, and finally I blew up and said, “I’m not responsible for this; I don’t sell ad time on this station!” She has her moments of unreasonableness. Once we were in the car, and she changed the radio station, not realizing that she was tuning in to Howard Stern. She carried on so much she almost drove off the road, but wouldn’t let me turn the dial. I dunno; maybe she thought he would abruptly put on Brahms or something.
Anyway, she’s okay with movies, if I’ve seen them and can do what you might call parental guidance*. She got uncomfortable during the opening scenes of Dogfight, and finally asked, “Is anyone going to get raped?” When I assured her no one was, she settled down, and ultimately liked it a lot.
*I was in elementary when people first started throwing that term around. Being a smartass, I asked, “What’s parental guidance?” and my dad answered, “We’re supposed to guide your hand to the off button.”
I went and saw that with my dad, not realizing the true horror that is Scary Movie. We never spoke of it again.[sub]In his ear? Augh![/sub]
My parents are actually pretty cool about most movies and stuff, though it’s embarrassing when I realize I’m laughing at sex jokes in front of them. I actually watched about half of Sex (And/In?) The City with my mom until it got a bit too raunchy, then I bolted.
One movie in particular that I can remember is Mallrats. At the time I hid its very existence from my parents, and I think I’d still try to avoid watching it with them. Yeah, kinda tame, but it’s the only one I can think of at the moment besides stuff like Showgirls and others.
End of Evangelion.
Or, for that matter, Eva: Death and Rebirth is off the list too. Other than that, my parents are pretty cool about anime. They don’t whach it with me, but they don’t mind that I wach it.
I just watched Fargo with my mother; the woman could not follow what was going on to save her life!! We had to stop the tape after every scene so I could give a Cliff’s Notes summary of what just happened. She’s understood more complicated movies before; I don’t know what about Fargo threw her.
But in spirit with the OP; I can handle just about any movie with my dad, but not so much my mother. Any David Lynch film, for sure–except The Straight Story. I can generally handle sex in a movie with her, but not violence. Maybe that’s why she didn’t get Fargo
Content-wise, I can’t think of anyhting that I wouldn’t watch with my parents (baring porno, of course). However, I will not watch any movie that contains surprises or suspense with my mom. I can’t handle the fore-arm fractures she gives me when she gets scared or startled and clutches at me.
