I don't think kids would understand the tone they were going for here. Plus there are a few NSFW (in kids terms) moments talking about beaching people off and bringing up how the creator of Barbie had a mastectomy.
shareKids under 13 don't have money for tickets, their mothers do. I think most of them brought their kids to watch it.
PG-13 is more of a guidance only, I think in most countries rating is only enforced for R rated movies, also 13 is a hard to tell age, theaters can comfortably ignore anyone other than infants.
In many countries ratings are mandatory by law, but yeah most theaters only enforce the R rating.
shareTHIS WAS FINE FOR KIDS...KID MOVIES FROM MY CHILDHOOD HAVE MORE UNACCEPTABLE ADULT MOMENTS THAN THE PG-13 RATED BARBIE...THE SMALL MINORITY OF OVER PROTECTIVE PARENTS ARE WARNED OFF BY THE PG-13.
share"Mom, what's a mastectomy?" - 7-year-old kid after watching "Barbie"
shareALI KNEW ABOUT CANCER AND SUCH OPERATIONS AS A KID...YOU ARE MAKING AN OLD RELIGIOUS GRANNY POINT.
shareAli doesn't speak for all kids.
shareDUDE...ILLNESS AND HOSPITALS ARE EXPLAINED ON FUCKING SESAME STREET...ELMO VISITS A CANCER WARD IN ONE EPISODE...SORRY,PAL...BUT YOU CHILDLESS ASS DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT IS TALKING ABOUT WITH THIS TOPIC...THERE IS LITERALLY NOTHING IN THE BARBIE MOVIE THAT A KID OLD ENOUGH FOR SCHOOL DOESNT KNOW ABOUT UNLESS WE ARE TALKING MORMONS OR AMISH OR SOMETHING.
THE MOVIE IS TAME COMPARED TO A LOT OF FAMILY FILMS I WATCHED AS A KID...HEY FUCKER...YOU EVER WATCH OLD YELLER?...THEY KILL THE FUCK OUT OF THAT DOG...HOW ABOUT HOCUS POCUS?...THEM WITCHES EAT KIDS AND CHASE VIRGINS...ET?...HE TURNS INTO A WHITE DOG TURD AND ALMOST DIES...THEY SHOOT AT HIM...IT'S TERRIFYING.
And that is worse than, say, asking about death?
shareParents never get descriptive when talking about death. They just say it's when you go up to the clouds. If a kid asks what a mastectomy is, they're going to have to say that it's when women get their boobs cut off.
shareThats horrible if your parents were so cruel to you to give you such a stupid answer.
shareKids ask about all kinds of things, it's their job.
It's the parents' job to answer the questions ACCORDING to the kids' mental and psychological level of understanding, AND in a way that does not traumatize or scare the kids.
Parents are so stupid in this world they almost never know how to do that correctly, or even think to do that.
The wrong way would be to teach some four-, or five-year old about human reproduction in a very intimate and detailed way. They don't need to know about vaginas, sperm, fertilization, eggs, fetuses, abortions, and so on and so forth. There was a mom that taught his way-too-young son this in a very 'scientific' way, and the son was SO confused, grossed-out and repulsed, plus VERY very uncomfortable about all this.
But what was worse, she then ego-radiated and basically INTERROGATED the kid about all she had taught him, so he could not even escape into forgetfulness, and had to RECITE all this grotesque (in his young mind) and weird stuff he CAN'T POSSIBLY FULLY COMPREHEND in way too much detail to the uncomfortable adults at every single gathering.
Just so she could prove she is a good parent and he is a bigboy.
I was this kid's friend, but he became a really disturbed individual later on, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out he has already died of some kind of drug overdose or something.
The CORRECT way to do this, the way she SHOULD have done it, is something like this:
'Dad puts his seed in mom's belly, and then the belly becomes big and the kid pops out. That's how kids are born'.
This is PERFECTLY satisfactory answer to a very young child, they do NOT need any more details. It's still very factual, but it's tailored to the kid's level of understanding. He doesn't need to hear about hardened penis pushing deep into some scary cavern and exploding some sticky goo into the walls of a pulsating, slimy egg that then starts mutating and dividing cells and STOP IT ALREADY!!
Parents are just so friggin' stupid...
My point is, there is ALWAYS a correct way to tell something or answer something, but you have to TAILOR the answer correctly, taking into account how the kid is going to receive the information. Not just blurting out details.
Death is even easier - there IS no death. Simple.
We all live in temporary bodies we inhabit when the newly-manufactured body comes out of the parent body. The first breath locks us in the body, so then we are in a baby body, until the body grows up. Then the body dies, and we are set free to live in a better world, which is a lot like our most beautiful dreams.
Telling the truth this way is actually a relief to a kid, who might fear someone else's or even his own death. If his grandma dies, he can know the grandma still lives, just somewhere he can't yet access, but will, when the time comes.
What could be more comforting way to know about death than that?
Also, why would ANYONE think death is bad, unless some bad things are done to cause it..? If someone dies after a lot of pain, the pain is now gone. And so on.
KID MOVIES FROM MY CHILDHOOD HAVE MORE UNACCEPTABLE ADULT MOMENTS
Yeah same as OP. I thought it was meant to be a funnier and more lighthearted comedy about the 'dolls' trying to live in the real world.
Instead it had all that other stuff that I wasn't expecting, and kinda made my kids a bit bored at times. Good messages though.
However, it was my fault for not really checking into it beforehand and realising what it really was. I bet this happened to a lot of people who contributed to its $1.4b box office take.
Good messages though.
The movie had that in it but I'm sure most people could see it was just there to promote the bigger picture of achieving a more balanced equality between the two primary genders, not to create a new movement against men.
In particular, the message I particularly liked was how weird Barbie was okay to be different and that she had something to contribute to society.
I watched this movie earlier and I was very entertained. I really liked the dance sequence in the beginning of the film. I'm going to watch this movie again this weekend with my daughter in 4DX. Should be fun!
shareBetter than I thought it would be. 6/10
shareOH COME ON CUTIE...TEAR INTO THIS POSTER AS WELL...THEY CALLED THE MOVIE ENTERTAINING AND THEY ARE SUBJECTING A CHILD TO IT.
shareThe topic is: "I thought this would be geared more toward kids." I never said kids shouldn't see it. It's just not a kids movie.
shareDUH IT'S NOT A KIDS MOVIE...ALTHOUGH YOUR PREVIOUS COMMENTS ARGUE AGAINST THIS LATEST COMMENT.
[–] samoanjoes (43142) 12 hours ago
"Mom, what's a mastectomy?" - 7-year-old kid after watching "Barbie"
[–] samoanjoes (43142) 6 hours ago
What does any of that change? Why stop there, let's show them Silence of the Lambs if the witches in Hocus Pocus are eating kids.
Seeing the preview would tell you that its not aimed at kids. Barbie is an icon, not just a kids toy, she's been around forever. Superhero movies aren't aimed at just kids either.
shareIt made over $1B. I thought it was parents bringing their kids.
shareIt probably was partly due to parents bringing their kids. But that's never the main demographic for these films.
It's a PG-13 / 12A. Like almost all $100m+ Hollywood films. That rating has long been identified as the sweet spot for maximising profits -- because it's geared at the demographic that spends the most on cinema tickets: teenagers and young adults (who won't go to see stuff explicitly aimed at children). And then you get families taking their younger kids on top of that because the rating is advisory and... kerching!
I think kids must have hated this because they would be confused at the tone they were going for.
sharePossibly. But it's evidently not aimed at younger kids.
I mean, I can perfectly understand parents who would think it'd be aimed at younger kids -- it's a Barbie film, after all -- but those ratings mean something.
THERE IS A BANANA SPLITS MOVIE TOO...IT'S A BLOODY HORROR FLICK...AND A WINNIE THE POOH HORROR FILM...THE RATING AND THE TRAILER ARE THE KEY.
shareExactly.
I'd have more sympathy with 'may not be suitable for younger children' arguments if the film didn't have a rating that exists solely to suggest to audiences 'This film may not be suitable for younger children.'