Watchmen Dilemma

I have a 9 year old son who loves super heroes--of course, he's nine! So I rented Watchmen to watch with my husband the other night, and he saw the cover and wanted to watch it really, really badly.

Now let me tell you my son-- we'll call him Seth-- is a GATE student, meaning he's a gifted child; he's in the 4th grade but his intelligence and abilities are way beyond that. I'm sure he'd get the whole idea behind the movie and what it means, what it represents.

My dilemma is this: There is a really strong sex scene (for a 9 year old) in the movie and I'm not sure if I should let him watch it. I really don't want to send Seth out of the room as soon as it comes on. I don't think that's fair!

The violence isn't really that bad--normal comic book violence if you ask me--I can explain that, but what about that scene? There's another sex scene toward the beginning that's kinda iffy too.

I think if I were to burn a copy to my computer, I could edit out the scenes or cut them down a bit. The more graphic sex scene is kind of important to the plot, but not really. I could edit it to show them kissing or something in the beginning of the act, then ask him. I don't know.

On the other hand, I really don't want to edit the director's work just so Seth can watch it. It's censorship isn't it? It's not my movie.

I think I might edit out the one part and let him watch it, but if I start doing that, there are a few other movies that I think he should watch too, and I might go on a censoring craze!

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r66-The member who always asks WHY?

I don't even think the director would be comfortable with a 9 year old watching this film. I think some movies are just worth waiting for--they were intended for adults-not the sensitivities of children.
IMHO

Just let him watch it, i'm sure everyone at that age watched The Terminator or caught some 'naughty' scene at some point. Not that i can speak as a parent but if you normalise it instead of making it seem like such a taboo, it cuts down the inevitable desire to break the rule or watch it some other way. One thing i would stress is that if he does watch it i'd have said that probably get embarrassed watching with parents, hell i even do sometimes now.

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If you edit out the sex scene cause you don't want your son to see it, it's really no big deal. I mean, censoring movies is done on TV for many reasons and they even have censored versions on DVD of films. I don't see what harm it will do if you took out the scene just cause you don't want him to see it.

And by saying you don't wanna edit the director's work by taking out the scene for your son's sake, sounds like you're worried Zach Snyder is gonna be upset you took a scene out of a copy of Watchmen lol.

Actually jrs, maybe you're right, I should wait for it to come on TBS or something. Good point. It won't be the "Directors Cut" though...

I'd watch the movie with "Seth". If you're not going to edit the violence, I wouldn't worry about the sex. Besides that, even though I recall people claiming the sex scene was strong, it didn't seem that way to me. I thought Rorshach smashing the guy's head in was a lot stronger.

I showed movies to Sarah most all her life, but I'll admit I didn't really expose her to The Exorcist or A Clockwork Orange until she was about 12. She's now enrolled at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.

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mark, would you let Sarah watch it if she were nine now?

I honestly feel like I'm nit-picking here and I should just go ahead and let him watch it. It really is a good super hero movie with a lot of depth. I'm sure he would love it.

Well. I personally thought the sex scene was pretty beautiful. I mean, it's not like it's porn or anything. It's just two people making love. I think you're main concern should be the violence.
The violence is pretty bad for a nine year old, in my opinion. They cut the guy's hands off with an electric saw. Rorschach hacks a meat cleaver into a guy's skull. Night Owl breaks a guy's arm so the bone pops out. And you worry about the love scene? Watch that movie again and pay attention to the violence. I think you might think differently. Now if you edit the violence out, there's not much of a movie left so... Yeah. I forgot where I was going with this.
If you think he can handle the violence, then let him watch the movie, but I really wouldn't worry about the love scene. Of course a kid shouldn't watch porn, but that scene is as far from porn as a love scene gets.

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"I don't think either graphic sex or graphic violence are harmful when it comes to movies," Tarantino counters. "When it comes to children, that's not my business. It's up to the parents to show them or not. What if kids get it on their own? That's part of being a kid - looking at what you're not supposed to look at, having that excitement of seeing the forbidden fruit."
--Tarantino

I see this the same as parents condoning underage drinking--parents assume the mindset that they would rather the children experiment with alcohol in the home than sneaking it somewhere else instead of just waiting to see if their kids even *want* to be exposed to it. Personally, I hate it when parents bring young children into a rated R movie when I'm watching it--it taints the whole experience for me. There are movies for adults and movies for kids. The gray area is called PG-13.

Or just give him the graphic novel

Nah, it's not the same.

If I went back in a time machine and did things the same way, then no, I probably wouldn't show it to her when she was nine. Sarah was GATE too. If she was nine now I probably wouldn't show it to her either. Of course, she's never been very big into super heroes, so she probably wouldn't care. Sarah is 18 going on 30 now. She's very mature, but in some ways she's lived a sheltered life (although movies the last six years isn't one of those ways). One thing I will tell you though is that I wouldn't trust the MPAA to do any parenting for me. I believe that Watchmen certainly earns its rating of a solid R in the U.S.

I remember watching True Lies with my father and he would fast forward through the stripping scene.

Pfft, I stole it from his room and watched it the next day.

Bottom line: He will see it eventually.

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Suspect's Reviews

I don't think it's really a "censorship" issue. You're not distributing it or really misrepresenting it. I don't know that a 9-year old missing a scene or two is compromising anyone's vision in a meaningful way.

That said, when I was that age, my parents just had me look away briefly.

I know I'm crazy here, but the violence is kinda OK....I mean he wouldn't be put off by it. It's comic book violence. It is strong yes, but Watchmen is a different world with masked super heroes--it all seems so fantastical and fictional. Although, now that I think about it, the jail scene is pretty intense...hmmm. Maybe I'm not sure I'm ready to explain it all to him yet. TBS (US Cable TV Channel) will show it soon enough....

But Chris you're a smart guy, you could have handled it no? And it is such a mind stimulating movie. Great for precocious kids who want a more profound super hero experience.

I'm with Kasper. If you don't have a problem with all the violence, I don't understand what the big deal is in showing him something much nicer, natural and positive as love making...I'm sure he'll just go eww but try not to make it such a taboo...:\

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Seeing a pair of boobs does even out the amount of penis he'll be seeing at least.

Ha Ha Ha Pyro!!

Well, I believe Tim said he rethought the violence part after remembering the prison scene, and I'd agree with that. Some of the violence is cartoonish, but some of it is quite brutal.

My feeling on the whole sex/violence thing (and I'm sure I've said this elsewhere before) is that they can't really be compared. Sure, violence is a worse thing to actually do, and sex generally has more redeeming value, but that's beside the point, because they're not equally likely to be imitated, and they're not equally likely to hasten along certain aspects of maturity. I'd say more but the rest is pertinent to Tim last post, so...

I wouldn't have been all messed up from seeing it, I don't think, no. But a sex scene probably would have caused me to ask more questions than a scene of violence. I think there's something about violent conflict that we understand and comprehend from an earlier age, whereas sex is a bit more perplexing if you haven't hit puberty or learned much about it yet. Each kid is different, but I think for most sex raises more questions.

I agree that it's a stimulating film and that a precocious kid might get a lot out of it...but I'm not sure whether the scenes of sex, or the more violent scenes, represent a crucial part of its depth.