to think that no, actually, SS wont be interested that DS(3) watched Hellboy?

[Hellboy]

DS (3) loves proper 'boy' films like Spiderman, Transformers, Batman, Starwars etc. He recently watched Hellboy at MILs and apparantly loved it. Ive bought it for him and he has watched it a few times (Ive vetted it and there is one scene that I think might be a bit too grisly for him so I fast forward past this bit). Apart from this one scene to me its no different to Spiderman and all the other 'hero' type films and there is no swearing (apart from a few craps)

My friend (whose DS also watches Spiderman, Batman etc) has said that if DS goes into nursery going on about Hellboy, then they will call SS as its a sign that we are letting him watch inappropriate films as its a horror film (its classed as a PG-13, Spiderman is a 12 so to me there isnt much difference)

I take my lead from DS, and I do think there may be a time when he will be more aware of what goes on in these films (eg. the idea that there is a hell, baddies that want to hurt us etc) so when that time comes I will of course take the lead from him again. But for now he loves the action bits, we have a right laugh together when we watch them and tbh its nice to not have to watch endless Chris and Pui (and we do turn it into a learning experience - what colour is Hellboy, how many baddies can you see etc )

I dont want to start the age old debate of age limits for films etc, we are just talking about the usual films that most of the kids at his nursery have seen. My friend just thinks that me letting DS watch Hellboy is an invite to get SS involved

So, is she being ridiculous and hypocritical? Or am I being too laid back about what SS would get involved in?

"What about Star Wars where the goodie gets slashed in twain by a red laser wielding 7ft cloaked masked man with a booming voice whos got a face like a stitched together patchwork quilt?

Or where a massive spaceship with thousands of Stormtroopers gets nuked?

Or where Alderan (?) gets blown up, thousands of innocents gone in a second?

Or where Yoda dies

Christ, even on Power Rangers baddies who have shoulder pads made out of gums and teeth get slashed, yet stick it on Nickleodeon or put a green U on it and its fine, apparently."

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO none of that is ok!!! none of that is aimed at 3 year olds!
good god woman wtf do you think you're doing? do you think your son will think you're really cool? or do you just get off on shocking people at your child's expense?

young children often do not show outward signs of being upset by watching distressing things, they will try and blank it out. the fact that your son isn't crying or getting upset does not mean that showing him disgusting, inappropriate material is ok or that he likes it

ffs what is wrong with him just watching kids tv? why do you feel he needs to watch this stuff?

and I am in total agreement with this comment from scarlett :
"Surely to all that's holy and precious your main thought should not be "what is the most I can possibly get away with", but "what is the very best I can possibly be doing for my child.""

Look how many times do you have to be told - it's wrong to show your child this film.

Fine if you think you are right and we are wrong - but for the love of God please stop your pathetic justifications.

Human Centipede

Don't make me laugh OP, it makes my high horse stoop slightly.

Meh. In all seriousness this has made me a bit tearful

Scarlett - he actually cant operate ours as it has a child lock on it

I wouldn't report you to SS but I would think your parenting was shit.

The more I think of it the more shocked I am. Responsible parenting does involve protecting your small children from violence etc. If my 3 year old had gone to someones house and was allowed to watch that I would have been furious. I would have told the parent in no uncertain terms would I allow my son to go there again to play. Let children be children FGS.

Is that a no to Human Centipede then?

hmmm, better cancel that copy of The Fly that I ordered yesterday, humph!

So agree with Hobnob, couldnt have put it better myself. Hobnob you have more guts than me!

I've not seen Hellboy so am probably not in a position to comment, the name alone is enough to make me a bit ick. But my 3yo is obviously still living in a bubble as abot the most hardcore horror he sees is when Henry gets bricked into that tunnel.
BUT I do think a lot of it is parental discretion. My dd was about 4 when she watched Rocky Horror with me and I think that's about an 18. Now at 7 she's word perfect

I would rather my DC watched Hellboy than Power Rangers (which made DS truly horrible) or The Simpsons (which makes them both zone out in a quite scary way). Not that DD (5) has seen it, and DS has only seen it once (because of personal link to film), but they have both seen all the HP films and Star Wars.

Everyone makes personal choices. I censor the news, on TV or on radio, but trust to my DC to select their own viewing (mostly Disney and equivalent films) on Saturday mornings. I do, however, use parental controls to block all Nickolodeon channels because I hate the rubbish cartoons and the incessant advertising of overpriced tat. Each to their own.

So...and I am genuinely interested ... given that a great number of people are honestly fairly shocked and (in my case) inexplicably upset, do you maintain that there's no problem with it at all, and your choices are absolutely correct and positive?

That's not a barbed question - if there was an almost overwhelming consensus that I was staggeringly in the wrong about something - about my choice of footwear for instance, never mind how I was bringing up a little boy - I would at least pause for thought!

I'm starting to think this women is starting to enjoy the upset and shock she's causing

Rocky Horror, I think thats only an 18 because of the raunchiness? Cant recall there being any proper 'horror' in it? I wouldnt let DS see that personally, mainly because I know hed sing the songs and they are annoyingly catchy.

McPhee - I couldnt give the tiniest shit if Im causing any upset tbh

Films like that desensitise a child to violence. That is a veey bad thing IMO. But then, I think, a three year old watching anything for over an hour is poor parenting, he is not old enough to regulate it himself and will never be able to play a nice imaginative game without making loud violent sound effects.

Scarlett - it has made me think a little bit I will be honest, I will probably watch his reactions to these types of films more closely in future and I may skip past the scene near the end where all the baby monsters die in future because he does think they are 'cute' (hes a strange boy).

I'm not shocked and both my ds watched star wars/indiana jones etc from about 3. Haven't seen hellboy but if it's similar to them then I don't really think it's a big deal personally. That's my opinion and I totally respect if other parents don't want their dc to watch similar and wouldnt put anything like that on if other people's dc were in the house.

Lots of parents at my dc school let their children watch similar films to this in my experience. I only seem to come across lots of parents against this on mn tbh.

Hellboy it's human centipede 2 your ds will love! Make sure you've got plenty of brain bleach for after though

No, I somehow didn't think you would be

What actually was your purpose of starting this thread? You don't want advice, you clearly don't think you have a problem, or that your poor son is being misguided.

So, enlighten us.

"will never be able to play a nice imaginative game without making loud violent sound effects"

would you like to produce any evidence on that one?

Because my DC, who have seen plenty of films you would consider unsuitable (HP, Star Wars, etc) generally play "dragon training" (and their dragons do not fight much) or "restaurants" (yes, they watch too much MasterChef and "I can cook") and I have never seen them playing "shoot-em-up" games except once or twice at school when instigated by others.

Really Damon?

I don't know one parent in real life who would show their pre schooler this film. Not one. Thank fuck.

Damon - Id never put any film / cartoon on if I had soneone elses DC here unless I asked them first. Its not up to me what their children watch and I totally respect anyone who doesnt want their children to watch them.

I know whats suitable for my own DC, not anyone elses.

and no thanks to HC2, the first one was enough to make me want to poke my eyes out

I'm with ScarlettPimpernel. My DS is nearly 5 and the worst thing he's seen is chitty chitty bang bang and monsters inc. And no TV at all, just DVDs. Any reputable research into TV viewing has always stated that TV of any kind under 3 is a bad idea, for many reasons, not just the scary/inappropriate content, and over 3 should be v limited and suitable. No one really knows what the effects of your choices are going to be, after all, YOU didn't watch this stuff at three, it wasn't available like it is now. Your child's brain is still developing, are you fully aware what connections are being formed by this, let alone what may be being destroyed, in order to process all that stuff? Not an experiment or chance I'm willing to take with my DS anyhow.

I think you are playing Russian roulette with your child, and it reflects badly on you.

"No, I somehow didn't think you would be

What actually was your purpose of starting this thread? You don't want advice, you clearly don't think you have a problem, or that your poor son is being misguided.

So, enlighten us."

By all means read my OP again if you want to know why Im here

sad that you let him watch something so unsuitable !! oh my days if that is the worst thing she doing as a parent then halleluia. My boy also likes Hellboy, iron man etc and has watched Blade they are films not real life. Has for Bandura experiment Albert Bandura advocated moddeling unless the whole house is running around in Hellboy costumes killing everything in sight 24/7 doubt watching a 1.5 hour film would turn him into a slaying murderer. IT IS PRETEND