Movies like “Iron Man” aren’t for little kids!

Over the weekend, after reading reliable reviews, I decided to go see the movie Iron Man.  The film was visually impressive, and despite some questionable scenes it has a good message for a mature audience. So I was kind of surprised to see a lot of dads bring little kids with them. Several of these kids looked clearly under the age of 13. I wonder how many of the dads that decided to take their 6, 7, 8, or 9 year old kids took the time to read parental reviews and see what kind of content was going to be in this movie.

In case you’re wondering there were a few inappropriate scenes which were completely unnecessary. This is pretty typical for Hollywood these days. First, there was a comment by the main character about having slept with a number of calendar models, and later we see a scene where he’s rolling around in bed with a mostly naked reporter who he had just met earlier in the day. These may seem like harmless scenes, but they were unnecessary and what message does it send to kids? Now, to be fair, the character matures and comes to the realization that life isn’t all about how many women you can sleep with (treating them like objects) and it’s not about how much money you can make. I just wonder if that message gets through to a 6 year old kid who’s attention span is, well, limited to say the least.

Now, it’s the prerogative of parents to watch out for their kids and to decide what kind of movies their kids see. I just hope that parents take the time to think about these things before they subject young minds to mature content. I’m also extremely disappointed, but not surprised, by the movie companies which continue to inject mature material in movies aimed at kids. It’s pretty obvious they’re targeting kids when they advertise movie trailers during kids cartoons, market toys, and team up with fast food restaurants like Burger King to plaster movie images all over their kids meals.

Iron Man isn’t as offensive (and frankly outrageous) as last years Transformers movie was, but it still is not intended for children. That’s what the movie makers will say, that is precisely why it is rated PG-13, so why are they (the movie studios, the fast food chains, the television networks, and other corporations) targeting children ages 3 and up? Someone has to speak up about this. Will it be you?