Question for parents

[stephab67]

Carol:
Will a PG-13 rating be enough to tell parents who haven't read the
books that these are no longer children's movies?

Steph:
I think that you'd have to be living in a remote cave to not realize
by now that the HP movies are no longer candy-coated kiddie films like
the first two.  On the other hand, I've seen some pretty lousy
judgement by parents who have taken kids to see movies that are way
too violent for them.  For example there were parents who brought
their 6 or 7-year-old to see "Hannibal." Uh, what? And a mom who
brought her 4 and 6-year-olds to see LOTR:FOTR.  I had to sit through
the film with the kids crying and hiding their eyes for most of the
film.  It was so distracting I couldn't really enjoy it. In both cases
I felt sorry for the kids as they probably were having nightmares for
a long time after seeing those movies.

They can't give HBP or DH an R because it would mean that pre-teens
and teens couldn't see them without the parents, but parents really
need to read about the films before letting kids that are under, say,
8 see them.  If I had a kid that young I wouldn't allow him or her to
see them.  I kids older than that will be able to handle whatever is
in the film, especially if they've read the books and will know what's
happening.

I'd advise someone with kids in the questionable age to see them first
then decide whether their child could handle them.