# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**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, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/41 "2013-02-14T18:57:03Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > “Buttfucker.” Yeah, it was really out of place in the Casper movie, but there you go. Are you sure Casper isn’t really Eric Cartman? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/42 "2013-02-14T19:27:24Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > “Buttfucker.” Yeah, it was really out of place in the Casper movie, but there you go. Nah, they were going to Fuddrucker’s. You misheard, scro. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/43 "2013-02-14T19:59:35Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > A non-animated G rated film has a limited audience. Sad, but true. Too many of Carrol Ballard’s films died at the box office because they were perceived as some sort of squishy “family film” that couldn’t possibly be any good. Even films like the wonderful _[Topsy-Turvy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151568/reference)_ had to add completely gratuitous profanity and nudity just to get to an R rating. I wish every kid could see this movie and discover this wonderful music, and the bare breasts and f-bomb make that impossible. ---
**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, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/44 "2013-02-14T20:33:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Not really. I’m confused, because in the rest of this post, you seem to be saying that exactly. ---
**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, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/45 "2013-02-14T23:23:14Z")
No, what I said was this: 1. The Kings Speech had swearing (two scenes.) 2. After the Oscars, _the film’s American distributors_ decided to re-edit the movie, removing/reducing the amount of swearing in those two scenes. 3. IMHO, had they not had the swearing scenes, this re-editing would have not been necessary. 4. The swearing didn’t matter to _me_ as I took my 10yo to see the “R” version. (This may have been in a separate post.) ---
**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, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/46 "2013-02-14T23:30:54Z")
Honestly not trying to be a dick, here, but I don’t understand the distinction you’re making. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/47 "2013-02-14T23:36:37Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > The only thing worse for a movie than a G rating is an NC-17 rating. Is this true? I’ve read in some sources that G rated movies tend to make money. ---
**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, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/48 "2013-02-14T23:37:36Z")
You claimed that I took a position that TKS should not have been made with the swearing (“you’re arguing (the swearing version) shouldn’t exist”). In fact, I don’t care that it had swearing or not. However, the film’s American distributors edited out the swearing for a more “kid friendly” re-release, which would not have been necessary had the film not have had the scenes/swearing to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/49 "2013-02-14T23:45:02Z")
Snert. Butt dust. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/50 "2013-02-14T23:59:47Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The horror spoof [Student Bodies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_Bodies) did something very similar I came here to [point this out](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzHKwhrN1Lg). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/51 "2013-02-15T00:20:16Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Is this true? I’ve read in some sources that G rated movies tend to make money. But when you exclude _animated_ G rated films, they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/52 "2013-02-15T00:26:55Z")
I am pretty sure that in the otherwise very gentle and family friendly romantic period film _Ever After_ in the scene where Prince Henry has to chase the gypsies to get Da Vinci’s painting back, he says “Fuck fuck fuck!” as he rides off into the trees. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/53 "2013-02-15T00:48:38Z")
The 1996 film version of Jane Austen’s _Emma_ is rated PG, and I remember hearing that the filmmakers actually dubbed the word “damn” into one scene (when the vagabonds frighten Harriet Smith you can hear someone say something like “Grab her purse, damn it!”) so it would avoid getting a G. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/54 "2013-02-15T02:44:57Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Sometimes I don’t understand why they put curse words in movies _not_ made for children. Amen to that! To me, it brings nothing to a situation but maybe more dramatic affect, but why add more to a mountain that should never exist in the first place? God bless you always!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Holly ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/55 "2013-02-16T22:01:01Z")
[Here is a list](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic/mpaa.htm?page=G&p=.htm) of G Rated films by gross. The highest non animated is The Sound of Music but there are several films up there that are more recent. Princess Diaries, Charlotte’s Web (the new one) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/56 "2013-02-17T00:23:54Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > 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. G rated films in general have a limited audience, it’s just some (like Disney’s stuff) can overcome that. For example, **Transformers: the Movie** \* was animated, but they still added in one instance of Spike yelling “shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit” just so they could nab a PG and hopefully get run at better times by the theaters. The VHS releases of the movie removed the word, btw, as ratings really don’t matter much for home video (at least in the US where ratings aren’t legally enforced). Later on when all the kiddies were all grow’d up and nostalgiaing and wondering what happened to the swear, the DVD releases put it back in. \*-not to be confused with the movie **Transformers** , which was live action (well partially live, and partly CGI) ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/57 "2013-02-26T22:08:11Z")
It’s a shame though when a movie is rated R just because of language. The Blues Brothers is a classic, hilarious film but is rated R because they repeatedly said “fuck”. If it was done in a sexual manner like Joliet Jake telling the nun that he wanted to fuck her I could understand the rating. But not when the word is just used in conversation. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241/58 "2013-02-26T22:18:49Z")
> [@Slypork](#): > > It’s a shame though when a movie is rated R just because of language. The Blues Brothers is a classic, hilarious film but is rated R because they repeatedly said “fuck”. If it was done in a sexual manner like Joliet Jake telling the nun that he wanted to fuck her I could understand the rating. But not when the word is just used in conversation. Of course, it should be noted that **The Blues Brothers** was released in 1980 which is four years before the PG-13 rating was adopted. Had that rating been around then, the movie probably would’ve been rated PG-13 rather than R. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-put-curse-words-in-movies-made-for-children/650241.md?page=2)