Parent movie reviews are a great tool when you need help determining whether a movie is appropriate for your child.
About Movie Ratings
The rating system used by the Motion Picture Association sometimes just does not jibe with the opinions and beliefs of parents. Many believe that a film with a "G" rating means that the film must be appropriate for young children, but that is not always the case. Sometimes, "G" rated movies contain suggestive themes, but the Motion Picture Association has deemed those themes to be inconsequential, hence the "G" rating. Because of the "G" rating, parents may believe the film is suitable for their young child. Sometimes, parents find that it's not and say to themselves "I can't believe this is rated 'G'!"
This is why movie reviews for parents are a great tool in helping decide whether a film you may be questioning is appropriate for young viewers.
About Parent Movie Reviews
Movie reviews done by parents are generally done so on a volunteer basis. These parents review all types of movies across different genres, not only what would be considered children's movies. These reviews are great for parents of older children who may want to watch a PG-13 rated movie. Even with a PG-13 rating, some of those films can be a bit racy or suggestive, not to mention, contain more inappropriate language than a parent is comfortable with.
Reviews written up specifically with parents in mind are completely objective, as the reviewers avoid expressing their own personal belief system. The exception here of course, are movie reviews done for parents that have the same belief systems, like religion. The goal of having movie reviews aimed at parents is to explain the content of the movie and leave the decision making up to the individual parent.
Parent Movie Reviews Online
If you are looking to read a few movie reviews for parents to help determine whether a film is appropriate for your child, here are a few great websites to help you do just that.
- Kids in Mind - This website has a one to 10 rating system for nudity, violence and profanity for the films it reviews. Then, it explains each major instance sexual situations, violence and offensive language occurs.
- Parent Previews - This website offers reviews for new releases to theaters and movies new to DVD. They also have an archived list of film reviewed in the past if you're wondering about the content of an older film.
- Screen It - This is a subscriber based parent review site. Many subscribers have found this site extremely useful when deciding which films are best for their children.
- Parents TV - Not only does this website offer movie reviews, but they also have a section dedicated to popular television shows.
- Movie Mom - This helpful review site gives films grades as well as stating the age group the film is suitable for.
- Family Style Film Guide - Though this site is in the process of updating, it still has plenty of reviews for parents to take a look at. Its simple explanation of films makes it an easy to use tool.
Making Film Decisions
As a parent, it is sometimes difficult to decide what you should and should not allow your children to watch, especially with older children. What makes it even harder is when your children's friends are able to watch a film that you won't allow your child to see. So no matter what a review says or what other children's parents do, you know your child best, making you best equipped to make a good movie decision for him or her. Using parent movie reviews helps to make that decision a little bit easier for parents.
