Children

Well, they are the natural consequence of sex....

So, my sister was asking me why there were no good PG movies. I was all, sure, there's ones I like!...but seriously, those are few and far between, and it's definitely not the plot elements (well, usually...admittedly Pixar has more than a little awesome going on) that's happening for me.

Seriously. Good movies always have a PG-13 or, more often (I hate romantic...anything) an R rating, and it's even for something mundane and avoidable like cursing. For instance, "The Informant!"--not the kind of movie that kids should be seeing because it's not relevant until you're actually shopping for yourself, but still, the R rating was only from the fact that they said 'fuck' a few times on there.

Anyway. The American system of treating kids like they're complete fluffy-headed morons explains a lot about a) that self-esteem bullshit we keep hearing about and b) the abysmal performance of schools as compared to other countries.

Kids understand things if you explain it to them!

I remember this one completely moronic editorial complaining about the theme of death in "Finding Nemo" as scaring kids...uh, if your kids equate a 3D fish with themselves, I don't think it's the movie that's the problem.


On another note, it's nice to finally read someone else's review of "Where the Wild Things Are." The Chicago Tribune had a massive hard-on for that entire project, barely mentioning any flaws and going on and on about how much that book defined the way adults see childhoods...10 sentences? Really? I mostly liked the art; I found the ending too sappy when I was young...but I was at least five or six by the time I saw it.

I don't know how you picture your childhood, especially if you're further from it than I am (I have a convenient sibling to live vicariously through), but it surely isn't this saccharine-sweet.