Viewpiont: If you want to be a 'twihard', that fine, just don't take the kids

This is my recent article that was printed in the Daily Universe at BYU today. :) :

Viewpoint: If you want to be a ‘Twihard,’ fine, just don’t take the kids By Stephanie Lacy

Mania surrounding openings of films in the “Twilight” saga, “High School Musical” and the “Harry Potter” series never cease to amaze me.

Without embarrassment, I admit I went with a friend to see the new movie, “Eclipse,” that came out last week. I am by no means a “Twi-hard,” but I enjoyed the books in the “Twilight” series. There is no question the newest edition to the “Twilight” phenomenon, “Eclipse,” was the best by far. However, while I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and thought all the crazy fans who were screaming over Edward and Jacob were hilarious, I was quite disturbed by the little girl sitting next to me who looked to be about the age of 5. She was crying and holding her hands over her face throughout the movie.

Most of the fans who go to the “Twilight” movies have either read or heard a lot about the books they are based on. Mothers and daughters alike go crazy over the battle between Edward and Jacob, which I think is just fine. Although people fainting and crying over fictional characters is a bit extreme, if that’s what makes them happy, so be it.

I do, however, have a problem with mothers who have read the books, complete with violence and inappropriate scenes transferred into the movies, yet still take their young children to see them.

There is a reason movies have rating systems. While “Twilight,” in my opinion, is appropriate for audiences over 13 years of age, the violence shown in the movie is not appropriate for children younger then 8.

As I watched the little girl in the seat next to me, I noticed through the majority of the movie she had her hands over her eyes and started to cry during one of the more intense battle scenes toward the end of the movie. I also took notice of a father ushering out his two little girls because they had also gotten scared.

While there are some parents who have not read the books and may think “Eclipse” would be a great family film for their little and older children, I beg to differ. We all need to be careful about what we are exposing our children to and protect them from seeing the kind of violence that is going to give them nightmares.

A PG-13 movie, according to filmrating.com, is defined as standing for “parents are urged to be cautious. Some material may be inappropriate for teenagers.” The site then goes on to say that a PG-13 motion picture “may go beyond the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, adult activities or other elements, but does not reach the restricted R category.”

Just because a movie is not rated R does not mean that it is appropriate for young children. A lot of the violence, language and nudity in PG-13 movies can be just as detrimental to children.

http://universe.byu.edu/node/9431