# Why Put Curse Words in Movies Made for Children? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241 "2013-02-14T00:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/21 "2013-02-14T05:13:43Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > TKS would have been just as good a film without the two swearing scenes and could have been more accessible to younger film-goers. I disagree with that pretty strongly. I mean, it still would have been a good movie, but the scene of the deeply reserved King cutting loose with a huge string of “fucks” was both hilarious in and of itself, an important insight into Bertie’s character, and an interesting bit of trivia about how some stuttering impediments manifest. It would have been a shame to bowdlerizing it, just to make it “acceptable” for schoolchildren to sleep through during class instead of having a proper lesson plan. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/22 "2013-02-14T05:16:17Z")
But bowdlerize it they did. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/23 "2013-02-14T05:32:43Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > But bowdlerize it they did. Not the version I saw - which, if I’m following you correctly, you’re arguing shouldn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/24 "2013-02-14T05:48:51Z")
I agree with the OP. Children shouldn’t hear profanities in movies - they should hear them from their parents. That’s the way I was raised, and that’s the way I’m raising my own damn kid. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/25 "2013-02-14T05:49:53Z")
I think there is the basic misconception that any particular movie was “made for children.” Also what constitutes a curse word varies. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/26 "2013-02-14T06:24:34Z")
It was nothing like that penis breath! That line was added to E.T. to ensure a PG rather than a G rating. A non-animated G rated film has a limited audience. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/27 "2013-02-14T06:53:38Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Yes I did. But in a world… wait, I sounded like a trailer there. 😉 > > Seriously, while the language was integral to the plot, merely change the plot. Or change the words - this is _Hollywood_ we’re talking about… No, we’re not talking about Hollywood. **The King’s Speech** is a British film made by British people and if the filmakers are ratings in mind when they made it they’re would’ve been the BBFC’s, not the MPAA. In fact in the UK it was given the equivalent of a PG-13 rating (12A) uncut on appeal. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Like\_Pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I\_Like\_Pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Like_Pie)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/28 "2013-02-14T13:24:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I agree with the OP. Children shouldn’t hear profanities in movies - they should hear them from their parents. That’s the way I was raised, and that’s the way I’m raising my own damn kid. Exactly. I’ll decide when and where my kid learns the proper use of the f bomb. Stop indoctrinating our kids, Hollywood! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/29 "2013-02-14T13:37:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Not the version I saw - which, if I’m following you correctly, you’re arguing shouldn’t exist. Not really. My point is that they made it with the swearing, then decided to cut out the swearing (after the Oscars) so that it could get a lower rating and be seen by a wider audience.\* Had they merely written the script so that it didn’t include the swearing, or minimized it substantially, they would not have needed to incur the extra cost, would have ended up with the same film, gotten the “better” rating (as it was, the film went from an “R” to a “PG-13”), and would have won the same awards. After all, the film didn’t win Best Picture because of the two scenes, it won B. Picture because it is the supreme example of an Oscar Bait movie. - And I agree that most kids would have been bored by the film, but that’s not really the point here. My 10yo daughter thought the film was OK at best (we saw the “R” version). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/30 "2013-02-14T13:45:09Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > No, we’re not talking about Hollywood. **The King’s Speech** is a British film made by British people and if the filmakers are ratings in mind when they made it they’re would’ve been the BBFC’s, not the MPAA. In fact in the UK it was given the equivalent of a PG-13 rating (12A) uncut on appeal. Corrected. But the point still remains - films, even those based on real-life events, are pieces of fiction, and screenwriters (British, American. French, Indian, etc) will toss out historical accuracy if it doesn’t meet the requirements of the story they wish to tell. And, even [according to the British press](http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2011/jan/17/kings-speech-looking-back-time-didnt-exist), TKS had its fair share of inaccuracies put in solely to service the story. Regardless, I did not mean to hijack a thread about cursing in children’s films into a discussion about The King’s Speech. My apologies to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/31 "2013-02-14T14:06:38Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > According to [Screen It](http://www.screenit.com/movies/1995/casper.html), Casper has 3 "damn"s, 1 “crap” and 2 "hell"s. > > What’s “the b word?” Bloody, bastard, bitch? “Buttfucker.” Yeah, it was really out of place in the Casper movie, but there you go. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/32 "2013-02-14T14:15:08Z")
I took my son to church last night, where the priest put ashes on our forehead and said “You are but dust and to dust you shall return.” When we got back I leaned over to him and said “Did she just call us _butt dust_?” Apparently that was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life. Then he ratted me out to Mommy. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/33 "2013-02-14T14:36:52Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > I think if I were making a movie, but wanted to get a PG instead of a G, at the very end of the credits, I’d have something scroll by on-screen, like “WARNING! In order to get a PG rating, we had to add the following phrase, so cover your kids’ ears!” Then, James Earl Jones would say “Testicles.” The horror spoof [Student Bodies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_Bodies) did something very similar (they interrupted the movie to have a guy saying “the producers have asked me to take this opportunity to say: f— you” in the middle of the movie in order to get an R rating). ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/34 "2013-02-14T16:26:58Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > A non-animated G rated film has a limited audience. Such films are rare. The original (1971) film adaptation of the Michael Crichton book [The Andromeda Strain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain_(film)) was released with a G rating. The rating was a bit surprising to me for a science fiction suspense film that has scenes of dead townpeople in the roads. The movie received two Academy Award nominations (Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing) so it was a somewhat decent film. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/35 "2013-02-14T17:51:46Z")
> [@I\_Like\_Pie](#): > > One of the ghosts says “the bitch is back” when speaking about another character. Meh. The title of a popular Elton John song. I’m sure if you listen to classic rock stations, they play that pretty frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/36 "2013-02-14T17:57:25Z")
Moving to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/37 "2013-02-14T18:10:47Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I took my son to church last night, where the priest put ashes on our forehead and said “You are but dust and to dust you shall return.” When we got back I leaned over to him and said “Did she just call us _butt dust_?” Apparently that was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life. Then he ratted me out to Mommy. That is really awesome. Butt dust, man. I bet he just lost it. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/38 "2013-02-14T18:43:05Z")
Someone, anyone, get James Earl Jones to record him saying “testicles”. I could really use a new ringtone. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/39 "2013-02-14T18:45:21Z")
I could be misremembering, but didn’t Bambi scream “FUUUUUUCK!” during the forest fire scene? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/40 "2013-02-14T18:49:05Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > “Buttfucker.” Yeah, it was really out of place in the Casper movie, but there you go. Man, he _is_ friendly! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241.md?page=3)