9yo watched JAWS on sleepover

[VikingBlonde]

I've just picked up my DD from a sleepover, she's just 9 and a gentle, fairly sensitive sort. First thing she says to me is "I really didn't like Jaws mummy!" And the dad is like "oh yeah that might not have been the best choice of movie ..."

I'm fewwwmin! Jaws is a horror film. I watched it recently and jumped out of my skin a few times. And I'm not bloody well 9. There's a shed load of claret and kids being eaten alive and realistic limbs being severed and we are - to cap it all off - going on our ONLY holiday of the whole year (cos we are skint) camping at the beach tomorrow. She's already told me she won't be getting in the water when she normally loves bodyboarding. CHEERS FOR THAT!!!

The kid who's house the sleepover happened at is a child who can't have sleepovers at anyone else's cos she gets anxious and stressed if she's away from her own home so how the effing chuff have they managed to show MY kid a horror movie while she's there!!!??? Grrrrrrrr

We have had a talk about there NOT being great whites around the UK and that the film is just pretend but she just recounted the part about the little boy getting eaten and burst into tears.


What would you do?

[PolkerrisBeach]

I saw it again recently after not seeing it for decades and it's really not gruesome at all. My 10 year old watched it and loved it.

[MaggieAndHopey]

I love the way people are using the fact that it's a PG as a reason it's not scary. Loads of scary films have a PG rating. Another Spielberg classic - Duel - is a PG. I still wouldn't watch it with my 8 year old.

[GerdaLovesLili]

I remember seeing at the cinema when it came out, I was 10. And as it was an "A" and is now a PG that makes perfect sense.

What what rating and at what age do you think children on sleepovers should be allowed to view without first checking individually with parents?

[NoSuchThingAsAlpha]

The version of the film that we all remember watching on the telly back in the 80s is the PG cut. The 2012 cut has bits in we haven't seen, and is a 12A.

A lot of older films were released onto Blu-Ray with the cinematic cut or a brand-new cut, and these are sometimes a higher rating than the original TV or VHS releases.

[MaggieAndHopey]

Sorry, ShatnersWig - must have missed you earlier. I did read most of the thread but not every single post it's true.

[GerdaLovesLili]

Oh! IMDb needs updating then. Because that's where I check first!

[megletthesecond]

That would have pissed me off. 9 is top young. Secondary age would have been ok.
Wasn't it sneakily released with a low certificate and it should never have been a PG?

[Everyoneiswingingit]

I'd feel the same. It annoys me that some parents feel they can put film on like that without checking . I've had it before with mine being shown 12s and 15s when they were under that age. I've always stuck to the age appropriate certificate. If Jaws is PG , it means PARENT guidance not the same as a U. A parent knows their own child and wouldn't watch that before a seaside holiday perhaps! OP I would really play it down and show your daughter how silly that plastic shark was and get in the water yourself . She will take more notice of your reaction so don't make a deal of it in front of her.

[SlartiAardvark]

I saw it aged 10 and didn't go in the sea again until I was 40

If you got all that from a film then you are indeed a truly delicate soul!!

Recent thread on the new film the meg was full of adults with serious water phobias.. All of us had seen Jaws as a child.

Everyone saw Jaws as a child!!! I'd be more shocked if you found someone that hasn't seen Jaws as a child!!!

[Everyoneiswingingit]

What what rating and at what age do you think children on sleepovers should be allowed to view without first checking individually with parents?
The age that the child is should be at or under the film cert. simple as that.

[wanderings]

Lol at "fewwwmin!"

I haven't actually seen Jaws, setting Sky box to record - is it a coincidence that it's on ITV4 tonight? I'll see if "that fish movie" (how someone referred to it before it became the huge success) is all it's cracked up to be.

If you want something scary, watch Return to Oz (terrifying); we saw that one at primary school, or the old version of The Woman in Black: not the one with Daniel Radcliffe, but a much older one which gives many adults nightmares.

[Nodnol]

Jaws is one of my favourites. That beach pan on Brody, Quint telling them the story of the Annapolis, the music.

But.

I would not show it to children that are not mine, under 12. We watched it with ours, along with many other films like it. But they are our kids and we get to decide what they see.

Op, would your daughter feel better if she investigated the GW? I’m happy to message her and talk about them- I think they are amazing creatures. Plus I’m Australian where we deal with sharks frequently.

[Twistella]

It's a 12 on amazon.

[dailyshite]

Get her to watch Jaws 3 - it's hilariously bad.

Ghost shark too.

She will laugh her head off = no longer anxious

[Everyoneiswingingit]

The point is, someone else doesn't get to decide for you. Every family has different takes on things like this and it's not for another parent to overrule.

[imnotreally]

Make sure she doesn't see Jurassic world fallen kingdom. That's much more gory.

[Twistella]

I saw it age 11 and it sparked a life long love of the sea (scuba dived round the world and swam with many sharks) and film!!

I will say again that I wouldn't have shown it to a 9 year old but there are worse things that she could have seen.

[Ohhbollix]

If I were you the first thing I’d do would be to take a nice big breath of calm! I’m 38 and can remember vividly watching Jaws in the early evening (about 5pm) in the 80’s. ok it was a tad scary but nothing like you are making out.

[Girlwhowearsglasses]

Ooh- my ten year old DCs watched yesterday. They looked it up and said it was PG. I watched it won them as I actually think it’s a great film and pretty restrained in its use of gore v suspense and surprise. It’s a brilliant use of atmosphere and tension. I made sure it was after returning from our beach holiday though, and I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t seen it myself.

I wouldn’t show it to another ten year old without permission though.

There are a lot of pg films I don’t want them to watch and a lot of 15 film I have let them watch (with me) because I’ve seen them and they really wanted to watch - Titanic, the Abyss and Ghostbusters for example.

The Marvel films are much gorier and not 15

[Topseyt]

Jaws!! I really couldn't get worked up over that. I must have seen it at around that age. Frightening? Somewhat, but I would only equate it to a child watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa.

I once saw the actual Jaws shark at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. It is a little clockwork thing that putters about in a smallish man made lake and apparently during filming it broke down regularly.

[Nodnol]

@dailyshite, oh my god! 3 is so terrible that it is amazing. 😂

[Topseyt]

Oh, and I always used to tell my DDs that there were sharks living in the paddling pool whenever it was out. They never believed me for some reason. Somehow, they seem to have survived.

[dailyshite]

Nodol

Spoiler
The scene where it swims towards the control room looks like a cardboard cut out on a seascape backdrop

[YourMilkshakeIsBetterThanMine]

I'd be fuming too and I'd have made it known. Even if it's a PG (seriously?!) THEY aren't your DC's parent and I'd have expected that they ask first. Some children are more sensitive than others. My friend took her 4yo to see Jurassic World and he loved it. My 6yo was scared of The Good Dinosaur.

My uncle showed me Jaws when I was 7 and I couldn't sleep for ages and cried in the bath. I thought the carpet would turn into water and the shark would get me or that it'd come up the train. I wasn't the most realistic child

[YourMilkshakeIsBetterThanMine]

drain* not train. Although a shark on a train would make a good movie. Sequel to Snakes on a Plane maybe (also not suitable for kids).