Grrr

[vivien]

I haven't seen it (nor will I) but I've read the reviews and am grumpy. Thus the icon. I reeeeeally hate it that idiots are taking children's books - classic, beloved children's books - and turning them into pop culture, sexual innuendoed pieces of movie crap. Ok, actually I hate it when films marketed for children do the sexual innuendo thing, period. I don't care that most kids don't get it - it's just not appropriate. And guess what - some of the kids that my program reaches will get it because they've been exposed to too much, too soon. Quality children's movies don't have to have adult undertones in them to make parents enjoy them. And you know what, children's movies shouldn't be about the parents enjoying them, although it's a plus when they do. It just really pisses me off. It's enough that we have preschoolers dressing in low waisted pants and skimpy shirts - we don't need sneaky sexualization in their movies.

End of rant. Please excuse the outburst.

Comments

[madamsprout.livejournal.com]

It's so funny that you should mention this, as I read your comment--my daughter age 10 is talking to her sister telling her that she hates this 'cat-in-the-hat' and it's starting to scare her.

[debellatrix.livejournal.com]

w0rd

[aevalin.livejournal.com]

I took a bunch of 11 year olds to see Looney Tunes today. It was kinda funny, likely a little bit in the innuendo dept, but it's aimed at kids a bit older I think than Cat. Jenny Elfman dressed like a bit of a tramp in it tho IMHO.

I did get a trailer for HP:PoA tho. Wheee :) First time I saw it on the large screen. GAH Draco done went and aged. And the example of the Ridikulus Spell made me giggle. :)

OOOOOOOOOO and they are doing Polar Express next year. That looked hopeful, it has Tom Hanks.

family vs kids movies

[flouritephoenix.livejournal.com]

Though you have to distinguish between what is aimed at "family" and what is aimed at children. Very few movies these days are released in theaters aimed at children. Children has become a direct to video concept. A family movie is supposed to have stuff that both parents and kids enjoy.

Now, I can't rant about The Cat in the Hat, because the only sexual innuendo I know from it is the centerfold in the pictureframe from the commercial. And that was tame enough so that if the kids understood it, it's not scarring, and if they don't, it would go WAY over their heads. And also, if we assume that the cat and the mother are both adults, and no children are being sexualized, I don't see a problem. I think back to the Muppet Movies, and the subtle sexual referances there that I found funny as a child, and was not scarred by.

I take offense to the Cat in the Hat being as sucky a movie as reviewers have made me believe. Making 90 min films out of 15 page books is usually ill advised though. Though I do have to say that the art direction and the casting and wardrobe look perfect.

As for Looney Tunes, I think it's as much aimed at kids as Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And can I say that I wasn't allowed to see Rodger Rabbit when it first came out? (the fact that I'm 22 will make that seem less frightening to you, but still.) Looney Tunes was more for kids than Roger Rabbit, but it was within the same genre, and nothing Jenna Elfman wore could be more sexual than Jessica Rabbit.

And what about Scooby Doo? Should the scenes about pot and the sexual preferances of the characters have been left in so the movie remained a parody of something adults loved as a kid, or should they not be there, and the movie become a bland live action 90 min long Scooby Doo episode? Well it sort of was, and it sucked. Muppets in Space also stayed in that middle ground, and pushed too many buttons so that the kids were lost for much of the movie, but not enough that the adults remained amused. The whole "Gonzo coming out of the closet as an alien" metaphor only made me laugh, out of the whole audience.

Brother Bear was completely santitized for children, and the adults were bored our of their skulls. Though that was for lack of good storytelling and painfully slow pacing problems.

I think Hollywood should put out better written movies. And cheap fart jokes aren't funny. They're lazy writing. Now, well crafted fart jokes are a different story. I don't think that sexual undertones are a problem. But cheap, lazy sexual undertones are a problem in ALL movies.

Movies need to suck less.

Hear Hear!

[labellerose.livejournal.com]

***Ok, actually I hate it when films marketed for children do the sexual innuendo thing, period. I don't care that most kids don't get it - it's just not appropriate. And guess what - some of the kids that my program reaches will get it because they've been exposed to too much, too soon***

That sound in the street is Wordy Wordstein driving by your door in the Word Wagon. One of the hidden causes of depression and acting out in young teens is they have been pushed into sexualized behavior before they are ready. They've lost the middle childhood years where their personalities and character start to gel, and it's damn hard to really grow up when you got cheated of your chance to be a child. I hope Wordy brought you something nice, you deserve it.

[cleverthylacine]

Um, I've no idea what this Cat movie is like, but have you ever seen the original Looney Toons cartoons from the 30's and 40's, or read the original versions of the Brothers Grimm?

I have a feeling that I will hate it for not being true to the book, but super sanitized "childrens" books/movies/what have you is an artifact of the mid-to-late 20th century.

[aevalin.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I've seen them. I love them all. In fact, in a hugely funny and painfully true scene, we get Porky Pig and Speedy Gonzales discussing how they are out of work now because they aren't politically correct. Ooooooooo in the same scene we have the guy who played Shaggy in the movie being threatened by the cartoon Shaggy and Scooby (with Shaggy voiced by Kasem).

There was nothing in the Looney Tunes movie that made me uncomfortable with my kiddo seeing it...

Oh and I dislike the Brothers Grimm. I taught in a Waldorf Preschool for a while, where they do the true BG stories. Cinderella (shudder).

Re: family vs kids movies

[aevalin.livejournal.com]

Mmm but in my mind, the kids that are going to want to see Cat are younger than the kids that are going to want to see LT. Now I haven't seen Cat, so I can't judge, I might find it ok. I mean as a mom to an 11 year old, I think I'm more skewed now because Damon is getting the innuendo. I agree tho, my concern was how they could flesh out a book of that length to a movie. That scares me more than anything. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of my all time favs, and one of the few movies I own. I saw it at the theatre, and I agree Jessica is all about the sex...but we're shown that this is what her character is made to be "I'm Not Bad, I'm just drawn that way" (did I add that when I was 19, and slimmer I was JR for Halloween. Veeeeeeeeery popular ;) ). I have absolutely no idea why Jenna Elfman's character dressed as she did. She's in an evening gown for a while with as much clevage as JRs, for no reason (but at least she's in decent shoes). She's in a mini mini skirt for a hike thru the desert while Brendon Fraser is in pants and a tshirt...I love Jenna Elfman, but I just found the fashion choices kinda odd. Loony Tunes has a lot of in jokes for grownups, and a lot of monsters etc pulled from old WB movies. It's really still a movie that I'd feel comfortable with kids Damon's age seeing (it is PG as is Roger). Ooooo and watch for funny product placement.

[vivien]

my daughter age 10 is talking to her sister telling her that she hates this 'cat-in-the-hat' and it's starting to scare her.

It just makes me sad :( Cat in the Hat is all about mischievousness, not scary.

Re: family vs kids movies

[vivien]

And can I say that I wasn't allowed to see Rodger Rabbit when it first came out? (the fact that I'm 22 will make that seem less frightening to you, but still.)

Heh heh - good for your parents ;) Not a kids movie, for sure (I saw it as a teen).

And what about Scooby Doo? Should the scenes about pot and the sexual preferances of the characters have been left in so the movie remained a parody of something adults loved as a kid, or should they not be there, and the movie become a bland live action 90 min long Scooby Doo episode?

I still haven't seen Scooby Doo. And while it's funny to joke about the drugs and the sexual preferences, Scooby as a cartoon is still something I can watch and giggle at today. Cos it was funny! And it wasn't mean or ugly or adult driven.

But cheap, lazy sexual undertones are a problem in ALL movies.

I agree. That is the main point right there. So get out there and start writing us some quality entertainment, Emma Bee ;)

Re: Hear Hear!

[vivien]

That sound in the street is Wordy Wordstein driving by your door in the Word Wagon.

That was really funny ;)

I'm glad I got to be a kid for a nice long while.

[vivien]

I have a feeling that I will hate it for not being true to the book, but super sanitized "childrens" books/movies/what have you is an artifact of the mid-to-late 20th century.

Oh, I am not saying children's entertainment should be super-sanitized, necessarily. I just think it should be aimed truly at children, and not at the parents who are coming with them.
The Lion King is a good example, dealing with scary situations and parent death, but not a slimy sex joke in the mix.

Cartoon violence is a totally different thing than cleavage baring dresses and "dirty hoe" jokes (in Cat in the Hat, the Cat picks up a dirty hoe and says just that. - and I'm sorry but my students from "the Hood" will know exactly what he's talking about and it ain't gardening equipment.)

I'll state in the record that I was extremely disappointed with Ron Howard's take on the Grinch, even though it did have something more of a story. I'll stick to the animated version. :P

[adjudicated.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree! We won't be taking our children to see The Cat in the Hat; although, we did take them to Brother Bear, which they enjoyed. I think I'd rather spend my money on the new Olivia (the pig) book. I <3 Olivia.