To urge parents not to take their underage children to see the FNAF movie?

[Ahsoka2001]

Today it was announced that the new "Five Nights at Freddy's Movie" has been classified 15 by the BBFC for "strong threat, violence" - https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/five-nights-at-freddys-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdeznzy4

I know there's a large fanbase for the FNAF franchise aged 10-14. I'm sorry that they won't be able to see the highly-anticipated movie version on the big screen. But at the same time - as someone who works in a cinema - reading this news has me dreading the release of this film.

A 15 certificate means that NOBODY who has not reached their 15th birthday is allowed into the auditorium. This is enforced by UK law and applies even if the parent accompanies their child. No one underage being in the screen is a condition of the cinema operating. It's just like alcohol - sell alcohol to anyone underage, the venue loses its license and won't be able to remain in operation.

So, if I turn away your under-15 from the FNAF film, I am just following the law. Underage patrons being let into the screen could mean not only legal action against the cinema, but legal action against me - I could also potentially lose my job.

Many people think, "It's not like it's alcohol, it's just a film." No. It's treated almost just as badly as alcohol and other age restricted products. Please be kind to cinema workers who have no choice but to turn away underage customers. It's a shame I have to say this but please don't become aggressive or verbally abusive (it's happened to my colleagues before). I'm sure this isn't the vast majority of people but it's one of the prime sources of customer aggression in the exhibition sector.

Oh - and if your child genuinely is 15 or over, please make sure they bring valid photo ID :) If you don't want them taking valuable documents like passports out then a clear photo of these should suffice. The last thing we want to do is turn away people who ARE within the law but if we do have to...we have no choice and it's absolutely nothing personal.

Absolutely this.

Fucking hell. Of course companies want to sell this mind-rotting shit to your kids - it makes a lot of people a lot of money. But why aren’t parents protecting their children? Jesus.

Why does a child need to experience themes of paedophilia, murder and mutilation? What is so positive about that? They have their whole adulthood to contend with the horrors of certain aspects of some human behaviour, they don’t need it served up to them as entertainment when their brains are far too immature to deal with it healthily.

Your job as a parent is to use your much more developed brain to support the healthy maturation of theirs, which includes basic gatekeeping of age appropriate experiences. Holding appropriate boundaries is fundamental to responsible parenting. Good grief.

Stop and read that again. 12+

I'm missing your point. The games are aged at 12 plus - that suggests that it's not aimed at young children.

This.

I'm not familiar with the film, though it sounds horrible to me, but I think the OP is right to remind people not to pressure cinema staff. They don't make the rules but they do have to enforce them and it is completely unfair to expect them to break the law and potentially lose their jobs just because you don't agree that the film is inappropriate. Presumably it will be available to stream somewhere in due course in which case it's your business if you choose to let your younger kids watch it, but don't blame the cinema staff if they won't act illegally to please you. Front line staff, often earning minimum wage or little more, frequently take the brunt of customer complaints when all they are doing is upholding their employer's policies or, as in this case, the law. My DD worked in hospitality when she was a student and the way some people spoke to her was appalling- it really opened my eyes and made me think hard about how I interact with people in those kind of roles myself.

And how is 12 not a child? I can't believe I'm even typing this.

@breadandbutterpudplease The problem is that you won’t know what will cause long term damage to your child until it happens and then it’s too late. I was a bold child, not easily frightened. I watched Dallas, Charlie’s Angels etc with no ill effects. Then I was allowed to watch Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. I don’t remember the film but apparently I had nightmares for months afterwards and have been left with a lifelong phobia of birds and anything that flies. I am very careful what my children watch. I’ve never heard of FNAF but I think it’s very important that children watch films and play games that are age appropriate.

bread "Until you can explain the damage it caused me, I fail to see the significance."

your child is not likely to be exactly the same as you. Also, did you watch stuff referencing paedophiles?

pp mention Woman In Black - apparently Daniel R was really surprised by the classification as 12.

@EmmaEmerald

I don't think there were a lot of movies referencing paedophiles back in the day tbh, I watched things like exorcist, hellraiser, evil dead 2, predator, the classics lol.

@Threeboysadogandacat Yes, you can't predict what will and will not affect your children - the amount of kids freaked out by return to oz is pretty high, which is hardly a 15. I also loved the birds - peaked my interest in Daphne du Maurier when I got to secondary school. I'm sorry you had a negative experience, but I absolutely loved anything horror as a kid and can't imagine never having seen these classics as a child.

I saw people mentioning Woman In Black starring Daniel R on here the other day, and went to watch it as people described it as scary. I thought it was junk of a movie but I've outgrown horror anyway. These days I like a good documentary

@breadandbutterpudplease

You havent had your child yet.

Wait until your little one has cried at Peppa Pig.....then you may see things a little differently. Seriously.

Give it a couple of weeks and download it for free.

My 8 yo dd asked me this afternoon if I had seen the new exorcist trailer, she loves horrors

I went to a talk by BBFC once and it was really interesting how one scene can make or break a rating e.g. violence with blood vs without blood.l (although I don't think one scene is the issue here).

FNAF is conceptually so disturbing it's something I'd rather kids weren't exposed to and I've read the film is gory in a way the games are not.

I remember the 1988 15 rated film Child’s Play.

I remember the murder of Jamie Bulger.

And I remember how, at the time, the 2 boys who murdered little Jamie Bulger were said to be (apparently) obsessed with that film. I recall it being posited by their respective defence counsel as a reason, along with other alleged mitigating circumstances, for why those 2 children murdered another child.

I recall those convicted murderers being given a life licence, a new name and then being freed from prison.

And I remember clearly, that Venables has reoffended a further four times, whilst on licence.

Can media messages negatively impact and influence people? Of course, that’s why millions is spent on advertising each year!

I remember when my children were young and asked their dad (poor DH, he has so many crosses to bear!) why he didn't use Veet on his legs! And they were about 9/10 at the time!

Is this a joke? The 2023 film hasn’t been rated in the uk. It’s an R in the US (17) so older than a 15 and younger than an 18.

My husband used to work in a shop that sold video games, and of course would help customers who weren't sure what to get etc. He told me that there were a number of parents/grandparents who saw the age rating as some sort of difficulty rating.

"Oh don't worry, my son is really good at video games, he can handle an 18!". "But you said your son is 7 and this game has guns and prostitutes in it?"

The defendants counsel denied that they had seen the movie, the police investigation also concluded that they most likely had not seen it, as did the psychiatric report.

I think the idea that they had seen the movie just offered the public a means of rationalizing the crimes.

Huge difference between ten and 14 there- while I won’t allow him to go to the cinema (in case he’s stopped because he gets to town with his friends so little and he’d be embarrassed if he didn’t get in) I will allow him to watch it at some stage (he’s about to turn 14). Under 12/13 DEFINITELY should not play the game and we’re an easygoing house! And I’ve stopped a ten year old buying the book at work. It’s for teenagers. Ps parents of ten eleven year olds, definitely hover when your kids are watching stuff, there’s tough stuff out there!

JoanOfAllTrades
While yes I’m sure you can link games/films and violence, was it not that all they watched was violent films and that there was extreme neglect? I’ll be honest I don’t want to think about any of that too much and I agree that younger than eg 13 should not look at fnaf (maybe even younger than 15 although it didn’t look the worst in the world to me), there’s a difference between a child in a loving well adjusted house watching a bad movie but the rest of the time being immersed in the normality of play, books, everyday chats and just being left in front of a screen with non stop horror and misery on it

Well the most obvious damage is that you don't understand what's wrong with exposing children to violent, disturbing and/or sexual content. If you want to understand why that's
a problem and what it does to them (esp if they are not disturbed by it actually) well there's plenty of info available on line.

@Totaly The Dark Crystal was never a 15 - it’s actually famous for being one of the first ever PG rated films and was rated this from its original cinema release in 1982. Think you might be confusing it with something else. Although it is scary!

Not everyone is you, saying you suffered no harmful effects is true but you can't extend that to imply that no child will be affected

General responsible parenting wouldn't include exposing young children to unsuitable material

You may find you change your views when you face the same choices for your child

Completely agree. A boy in my sons class loves it. They are 7. His friend has been playing it since he was 4/5 and his parents are absolutely fine and let him play watch whatever he wants