My World: Kids' Flicks Are Not Just For Kids

Being an amateur film critic for roughly about a year now has brought me into the crossfire of opposing opinions.  It’s just the way it is, especially for something like movies, where there are a whole variety of tastes and thoughts on certain topics and styles of motion pictures. 

While I am more than willing to hear opinions that are different from mine and engage in a discussion about it, there is one retort I get that has become a pet peeve of mine: “It’s just for kids.”

This is often the response to a critic, or anyone for that matter, who gives a negative reaction to a movie that’s intended for a younger audience, but that doesn’t work for me.  

Just because something is intended for children doesn’t mean it should have lesser qualities within it.  Think of all the films and TV shows where the intended audience is children, stuff like Disney movies, especially  “Beauty and the Beast,” a movie that received a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars in 1991, or any product to come from Jim Henson and his company.  

These and countless other movies and shows still hold up and will probably be passed on to future generations.  Then, on the other hand, there’s stuff like “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” and “Fred: The Show,” which will be swept under the rug and everyone will act as though they never existed. 

Now I understand that being a parent is a tough task.  I’m not a parent myself, but hearing stories from friends of mine, I get the hint that it is no way an easy job.  And so I understand that parents will want to put on a movie to keep their children occupied for 90 minutes.  

But given how people worry about a child’s education and how we all want the best for them, wouldn’t we want the best in film and TV for them?

This isn’t me trying to be a snob, because I am all for a kid having material that is just plain fun and adventurous.  Sometimes even that can spark a child’s imagination. 

Who knows how many children, and adults, have been influenced by the “Three Stooges” or “Looney Tunes”?  

But we should want the same amount of quality and effort that are put into movies for more mature audiences.  I’m sure that there will be lesser material for the young ones of society, but I’m also sure that the best work will remain significant for years to come. 

To quote film critic Kyle Kallgren, “Bad art is a distraction.  Great art changes people.”