Is the Titanic film suitable for a 7 year old?

[TastingTheRainbow]

My daughter is covering the story of the Titanic at school at the moment and wants to watch the film.

I’ve seen it many years ago but can’t really remember much as to whether it would be ok for a 7 year old to watch. I’d obviously skip the sex scene but is there anything else that would make it unsuitable?

I’d say no way. Have a look at common sense media.

The sex scene isn't that fruity, it's just the sweaty windows and the hand on the glass. He draws her naked and you see breasts but nothing inappropriate. The part where Jack dies might make her upset but it depends how sensitive she is; DS2 watched it at that age (but he's very stoic and has an old head on his shoulders).

I would say not at 7 no, aside from the nudity and sex and many of the deaths are very upsetting

We skipped the sex scene, but apart from that it is fine

I believe it was a 12 when it first came out.

There's also a suicide attempt, domestic violence, emotional abuse, lots of threat and some rather nasty deaths.

It's very long, over three hours if I remember correctly. Not sure most 7 year old would be up for that.

She’s not overly emotional when it comes to death, she’s sadly experienced the death of a close family member so it quite matter of fact about it now as a result.

She knows people died, they’ve been covering that in school anyway, and she knows the film is people pretending about what really happened. Is there any blood or gory scenes? That’s something that would upset her and I can’t remember.

I expect more likely she would get bored because of how long it is.

No - I let my kids watch it when they were slightly older but didn't really think too much about the content. They were really upset by the deaths, especially the mum who put her kids to bed while the ship was sinking!! They were really upset - understandably really.

I don't really understand why you would want a 7 year old to watch a film depicting hundreds of people drowning.

It would have definitely given me nightmares at 7! That bit with the elderly couple lying hand in hand as the water gushes in, or the mother reading her children one last bedtime story before they inevitably die, not to mention the many, many dead people floating in the water (including a baby in its mother's arms). I was quite sensitive, but it would have upset me very much, I think.

No. definitely not.

My son was obsessed with titanic so watched it around 7 -8 yrs old. My main concern was the sex scene but it didn't register with him. He was fine

Jesus I haven't let my 12 year old watch it yet as it's based on real life and is really upsetting - my particular 12 year old isn't ready for that but I will show her soon.

A 7 year old? Why? There's a million age appropriate films out there that don't involve the deaths of hundreds of people.

It would be fine from how you’ve described her knowing it’s all pretend. The sex scene is nothing fruity, a hand against a steamed up window.

No! It's quite scary IMO.

No, watching the mum put her children to bed, trapped in the ship knowing they're all going to die horribly is not appropriate. Watching a man hit his fiancee also inappropriate.

Could you watch it beforehand and then you will know when to skip scenes?

It’s not gory as such but I think people falling from the ship, screaming and crying, crashing into parts of the ship as they fall, their dead frozen bodies floating in the sea etc..it would certainly affect most kids in some way

I watched it recently with my 9 yr old.
No issues or questions arose.

At 7 I think the bigger issues would go over her head.

Actually some of the scenes being listed here would definitely upset her so we will give it a miss. I haven’t watched it since it first came out so have forgotten a lot of the details clearly.

I only considered it as she asked as she’s covering it at school at the moment. Watching interviews with survivors, looking at the structure of the ship and why it sunk, pretending to be a reporter and writing a news article on it etc. It’s a major topic she’s learning about right now and she’s very interested in it.

Will give the actual film a miss for now though.

I don't think it's appropriate for a 7 year old, no. There's a lot of very upsetting stuff, DV, violence, the treatment of those passengers in steerage and all the needless deaths. The sex scene isn't the main problem, though you'd obviously skip it for a child.

Love the film Titanic, seen it millions of times - really don't think it's suitable for a 7 year old though.
1 - It's 3 hours long. Do many 7 year olds sit still that long?! Mine didn't at that age!

2 - It's not just the sex scene, that's only the one from what I remember and is over on seconds and you don't see anything anyway. Would probably go over a 7 year olds head.

3 - It's really emotional. The deaths, the ship sinking, the upset I'd think that'd be what I'd be most worried about at that age.

Adults watch these films through adult eyes and think the worst.

A 7 year old will watch it through kids eyes, and will be fine.

Remember when you watched Grease as a youngster and thought it was a cool musical about live and American highschool? And the. You watch it as an adult and are scandalised at the pregnancy scare, the smoking, the slut shaming, the innuendos, the forced intimacy from Danny, the spiking of drinks ....

It is so long and boring that she'd probably lose interest before she got halfway through it.

Well if it makes it easier my son, also 7, alongside his class are cutting up a sheep's lung to learn about clean air and how it affects the lungs!

Could you watch A Night to Remember instead? B/W film. I can't remember how horrifying it is, but it is far superior to Cameron's shite.

1958