Culture you inbibed as a kid that you find inappropriate for kids these days:

[Iwasjustabouttosaythat]

Posted the following on the normal chat board but I was wondering how the discussion might differ if it were over here:

Yesterday 01:33 Iwasjustabouttosaythat

DS (4yo) is loving the idea of time machines. I said to him and DP, "oh, we should watch Back to the Future together!" DP starts grimacing and saying not for a few years yet and giving me the "let's talk about that later" look. Only after discussing it later did I remember that the plot is (SPOILER ALERT) I need to go back in time to save my mother from being date-raped at the prom. Wow.

Then there's that delightful scene in License to Drive where the Coreys are taking sexual photos of a young Heather Graham while she's passed out from alcohol. Hilarious! confused

The Beatles are my favourite band but there's a lot of lyrics in there I don't want my kids hearing. The oft cited Run For Your Life is just one of many examples.

Is anyone else a bit shocked at the stuff we used to watch? I mean mostly in regard to sexism/sexual violence but all discussion welcome.

I used to lap up my Mum's historical romances...basically bodice rippers, from when I was about 11-12. I read them avidly! All that rape and coersion in the name of romance!

I also found a book at my Nan's house...something about "The Health of the Youth" or whatever....an educational book which spoke about how masturbation was terribly wrong. I felt guilty for years....the book was from the 1940s! I was reading it in the bloody 80s!

On The Buses...

Mil loved showing my nieces from about 4yrs rocky horror as they loved dancing to the music just like dh's cousins did.
Not sure if that is an 'of its time' inappropriateness or just their family!
I think she knows I wouldn't be happy for my dc to see it until they're much older

Grease - we all loved grease and sang along to some quite inappropriate lyrics

Marty’s mum only ends up being almost date-raped BECAUSE he goes back. In the original timeline George, not Marty fell out of the tree and Lorraine fell in love with him while caring for his injuries (like you see her do with Marty/Calvin).

The Krankies. Wtf was that about?

Oh yeah, good point fairfax. Still pretty messed up but I forgot that.

When 2 become 1 by the spice girls all those tweens singing it. I didn’t know what it was about.

The Krankies. Wtf was that about? That made me properly laugh out loud.

I don't think that my kids were hurt in any way by watching Back to the Future and listening to the Beatles, nor by reading Dr Dolittle (absolutely fantastic books, and I believe very anti-racist in philosophy, even though they come across as deeply racist in today's world).

Surely all fairy tales are inappropriate in today's world, with their sexist and classist overtones.

Religions also seem highly inappropriate to me- very very misogynistic.

The Beano. Not sure what current ones are like but DP still has his old annuals and they are sexist, racist & crypto-homophobic.

Almost every black and white film ever.

Gone with the Wind. Rhett rapes Scarlett and the next morning bang! she’s in love with him.

Fairy stories evolved to enable children to develop the emotional ability to cope with the horrors of real life. Read Bettelheims ‘The uses of enchantment’. It provides a fascinating insight.

Far from shielding our children from all the unpleasantness that is humanity, we should be helping them explore it in a safe and supportive environment. Hence nursery rhymes (and other fiction). They take the truly awful and help children develop the skills to cope with that knowledge. Boy in striped pyjamas comes to mind as a more modern story that does likewise by reducing the unparalleled horrors of the holocaust into a format that children can deal with given opportunity to discuss and contextualise.
Nothing wrong with Children having knowledge if it’s presented in an accessible way.

Benny Hill 😲😲😲

Crumbs My kids read lots of fairy tales and watched Back to the Future, as well as loads of old movies. I think the whole idea of what is inappropriate at the moment is a bit off kilter.

I actually think overall that Back to the Future is a fairly positive film.
Yes, there’s a very bad character who nearly does a very bad thing but not everyone in life is good.
George has been bullied for a long time by Biff, but it’s finally thanks to his love for Lorraine that he is able to stand up to him, when he could so easily have walked away instead.

It shows the value of standing up for what’s right in that after he does that he has a much more positive and successful future.

Nothing wrong with Back to the Future.
You can explain the scene as unwanted physical contact to a 4 year old. It's not presented as normal or desirable, but as a bad thing.

I think my issue with BTTF is more that it's so casual. She doesn't even seem bothered by the attack afterwards, like it's just a normal and expected part of being a woman. Then they actually hire Biff! Her attempted rapist comes to work at their home! Oh that Biff. What a scallywag! Boys will be boys, eh? Just make sure the car is nice and shiny!

I really adore the Beatles (I really do) but I can't explain away lyrics like "you better run for your life if you can, little girl. If I catch you with another man that's the end, little girl". I would never want DDs thinking that's an acceptable way for men to think about women. Or that it's romantic for a man to be so horribly possessive.

Of course I think kids need to be exposed to the horrors of the world somewhat, but back when the Brothers Grimm were writing fairytales the world was a very different place. These days we should be teaching girls to value themselves, not think sexual assault and stalking is romantic as referred to by a few posters above.

Discussions will be had (of course my kids are going to see and hear these otherwise wonderful things with my encouragement at some point) but it's more that I just can't imagine stuff like this being made nowadays.

She doesn't even seem bothered by the attack afterwards, like it's just a normal and expected part of being a woman.
It was set in 1955, so, yes.

I really adore the Beatles (I really do) but I can't explain away lyrics like "you better run for your life if you can, little girl. If I catch you with another man that's the end, little girl".
I don't see these lyrics as glorifying violence. If my kids asked about them, I'd say they're about a violent man who would kill his girlfriend if she left him. I'd go on to explain that these things really do happen and how horrific they are. I'd see it as an occasion to talk about the horrors that happen in real life, instead of pretending they don't exist.

Lweji, you don't think a teenager from the 50s would be upset at all? I guess those girls were made of sterner stuff...

Bertram, no one said glorifying. It's normalising. And yes, it should be discussed, like I said above.

Mind Your Language
Dick Emery
Another vote for Benny Hill
Man About the House
Bless This House

Benny Hill is so bizarre. It's hard to believe that ever happened. 😂 It makes me think of The Goodies though. I loved that show so much when I was a kid. I named my toy dog Bill. I saw an Ep a few years ago and don't remember anything except the black face. Oh lord. I hope Kitten Kong is ok...

The black and white minstrel show, Benny Hill, Till death do us Part, all dreadful.
Bernard Manning and other similar 'club' type comedians.