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We Bought a PG Rating?

Ah, you have gotta love free movie weekends. It allows people who are a bit behind in their movie viewing to catch up. 

Last week my wife taped a showing of We Bought a Zoo. Rated PG, she thought it would be a family-type comedy, complete with animals and hilarious mishaps. Anyone who was watching current movies in 2011 already know that that isn't true. 

One look at http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ for the movie rating gave us pause. I love that site. It gave us several reasons to hold off on the family movie party. 

My wife and I ended up previewing it and realized it was clearly not made with families in mind. Now, let me say my problem is not with the makers of We Bought a Zoo. The movie was interesting at points, amusing at points and perhaps even caused my allergies to act up.

Overall, it was a good story for my wife and I to enjoy together. 

But who is in charge of rating movies? Seriously, this isn't the 80's when, at least looking back, we can all understand that sometimes PG means PG and sometimes it means R. 

When I read of the use of language, I assumed Kids in Mind was exaggerating, which maybe they have a tendency to do, in their zeal to be accurate on every detail. But I was wrong. Kids in Mind was correct. 

With multiple uses of strong language and themes beyond my 12 and under crowd, I have to wonder if Hollywood has heard the phrase the innocence of youth. Parents, keep it in mind. Keep your kids in mind. Because Hollywood certainly is not.

Oh, and there were no animal antics. 

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