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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think parents didn't bother about film certs back in the day (early 90s)

91 replies

19lottie82 · 22/04/2016 11:11

Was watching Pulp Fiction on Netflix last night and have a memory of my dad letting me rent it from Blockbuster when I was 12? WTF? Luckily most of it went over my head I think!

Also remember whenever my friends and I had sleepovers at about the same age, parents happily supplied 18 cert horror movies!

OP posts:

Junosmum · 22/04/2016 11:14

My mum rang all parents to see if my friends were allowed to watch PGs until I was 12! Sounds like our parents were opposite ends of the scale.

KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes · 22/04/2016 11:15

I use my discretion.

DS is 12 but we happily snuggle up and watch 15 rated sitcoms together - Spaced, Friday Night Dinner, Bad Education - that kind of thing.

He was about 5 when he watched Aliens and laughed his arse off at it.

NuckyT · 22/04/2016 11:15

You're not wrong - I remember my parents letting me watch stuff like An American Werewolf in London when I was about 9. Nowadays my DW frets when I let DD (3 years old) watch The Simpsons!

My Dad was a big film fan so it's not like he didn't have a clue what was in them.

vvviola · 22/04/2016 11:18

Mine certainly did. And so did our local video shop who would interrogate you about how old you were when renting things.

I remember wanting to rent Thelma and Louise when I was about 14 and the video shop saying no. But then agreeing as my Dad was with me, on condition he "fast forward through one bit, you'll know the bit when you get to it, sir" So we had DDad sitting watching Thelma and Louise with us, which wasn't quite the plan for the evening.

I think I was probably in my 20s before I saw an 18s film.

Herewegoagainfolks · 22/04/2016 11:18

my parents certainly did bother.

It's not a recent change in attitude - it's just your parents personal boundaries.

FrancesHouseman · 22/04/2016 11:19

Yeah my mum was also at the other end of the scale. Had to go to friends houses to watch anything more than a U.

Roomba · 22/04/2016 11:20

Mine did! To a ridiculous degree, it was embarrassing when I had my friends round to watch a video or if I went to theirs. My mum would phone my friends' parents and demand to know what we'd be getting out from the video shop/ be watching on TV, before she'd agree for me to go round there. The parents must have felt sorry for me as they'd just say 'Oh, nothing unsuitable. I'll make sure it's all PG' and them they'd go out to the pub leaving us watching Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, or Tarantino .

Strange thing is, my mum would lend me novels to read after she'd done with them. I was reading Agatha Christie, then an enormous number of crime novels featuring rape, torture, drugs, sex and any kind of murder you can think of, from around the age of 8!

Oysterbabe · 22/04/2016 11:20

I watched Candyman I think it was called when I was about 12, then said Candyman in the mirror 3 times, then didn't sleep for a week.

PurpleTraitor · 22/04/2016 11:20

Indeed, films watched at sleepovers aged between 9-12 approx included things like Halloween, the Crow, It, serial Mom, Alien, etc....

I remember finding someone's parents porn on video and watching it once, a load of 12-13 year old girls at a sleepover. We thought it was hilarious

Original poster

19lottie82 · 22/04/2016 11:20

I'd say I came from a resonantly middle class area and went to a good school but none of the parents seemed to care! 20 years on though we never let the kids watch anything like that though.

My Dad is a quite successful academic, so conventially very intelligent, but a lot of the time, no common sense in the slightest! Prob why he let a 12 year old watch pulp fiction!

OP posts:

thecitydoc · 22/04/2016 11:20

When my son (born 1990) was shown Braveheart (cert PG/12) at primary school I complained to HT as we were not consulted, and teacher was reprimanded. He was not allowed to films or buy games that were not age appropriate

Catmuffin · 22/04/2016 11:23

I remember watching Halloween with my mum at 13/14 and us both being frightened. My mum then went off to bed with my dad whereas i had to sleep on my own terrified.
I watched The Exorcist at 14 on a sleepover with friends. That didn't leave me scared. It was more gory/ridiculous than chilling like Halloween was

CMOTDibbler · 22/04/2016 11:25

Mine certainly cared, and the video shop did too.
OTOH I was allowed to read anything I could put my hands on!

corythatwas · 22/04/2016 11:25

We didn't even have a telly until I was in my teens and even then my parents were very fussy, not just about sex and violence but anything they regarded as thrash.

Otoh they would never have rung somebody else's parents and checked what they were doing.

YouMakeMyDreams · 22/04/2016 11:28

My parents were a bit mixed. Some films were just a no. But they tended to use their discretion if they had seen it. The thing is the 12 rating didn't come in until 1989 in cinemas and 1994 for video so there was a huge gap between pg and 15 rated films so common sense had to be applied.
I've never liked horror but remember watching Candy man and nightmare on elm Street films in late primary in sleepovers.

BieneBiene · 22/04/2016 11:29

I didn't see Dirty Dancing until I moved out. I thought it was going to be pretty close to porn the way my mum spoke about it when I asked. I was very disappointed!

My dad was the opposite though so I saw every cheesy 80's horror film going when mum was out.

HackerFucker22 · 22/04/2016 11:29

I remember my Mum letting me choose a horror film when I was about 7. She also let me get my hair permed when I was 10.

(80's child and I was very "pushy" when I wanted something!!)

No ill effects suffered, although there is no way I'd do the same with my kids.

MrsJayy · 22/04/2016 11:31

You could have been a kid of the 70s where you watched horror at 8 .

Brummiegirl15 · 22/04/2016 11:33

I was allowed to watch 15 rated films with my parents but 18's were a big no no

I remember when we first got our very first video player - a betamax (now those were the days! showing my age now) our first rental from the video shop was Top Gun, which was a 15 and I definitely wasn't 15!

I also remember how I wanted to die during the Tom Cruise Kelly MGillis sex scene

That was the price you pay for watching 15's with your parents!!!

But that used to be a great Saturday night, a takeaway and going down to the video shop and choosing a film to watch and getting ice cream. I used to love doing that with my family

betsyderek · 22/04/2016 11:38

Yes to poster upthread about reading...I read 1984 when I was about 10 and all the Stephen king books that were trendy films in the early 80s, Carrie etc. My parents were definitely culture snobs. My mum brandished her Simone deBeauvoir and Erica Jong with pride and holy crap! Only thing more popular at my school than my mum's books was Forever by Judy Blume

NuckyT · 22/04/2016 11:41

When I was 15 my VHS collection (remember VHS collections???) included stuff like True Romance, Candyman, Point Break and all the Hellraiser films - some bought by my parents for me, some bought from the local video shop, who were NOT very diligent about BBFC ratings :)

Witchend · 22/04/2016 11:46

We didn't have a video player so it wasn't an issue!

The only time I remember a parent doing anything on that front was when we went to see Ghost (15 cert) for a friend's birthday. It was her 15th birthday and, I think, out of the 6 of us that went, 4 were only 14yo, the birthday girl was 15yo that day and the other girl was 16yo.

Not only did her mum get us into the cinema, but she persuaded the girl on the desk as we were all exactly 15yo we should get in for the child's price, which was about 50p!

JennyOnAPlate · 22/04/2016 11:49

Yep. I remember my brother borrowing nightmare on elm street from a school friend when we were both still in primary school (so he can't have been older than 9.) My parents had no issue with us watching it.

pigsDOfly · 22/04/2016 11:51

I was certainly bothered. Wasn't pleased when my 9 yo DD watched Pretty Woman at a friend's house; although I didn't say anything to friend's mother as I didn't think it was worth having words about.

I know there's nothing terribly shocking in the film - not really bothered about sex scenes, but the premise of the film does offend my feminist sensibilities somewhat - and most of it would have gone over their heads, just think there were more age appropriate films for them to watch, enjoy and actually understand.

Why show very adult films to young kids. Can't see the point.

NuckyT · 22/04/2016 12:04

My issue with children watching Pretty Woman would be that it's utter rubbish rather than unsuitable. If they're going to watch adult-themed films they could at least watch good ones.

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