How restrictive were your parents with regards to watching movies when growing up?

[rockNrollaDIM]

My parents love to tell the story about how they were watching Silence of the Lambs one night when I was very little, like 3 or 4 years old, and they thought I was sleeping on the couch until the next morning when I started recounting scenes from the move in detail. They were horrified but I don't think I even had nightmares or anything from it. I still haven't seen the movie as an adult.

[Hiccup]

My Dad went out of his way it seemed to take me to some of the most scariest and tense movies when growing up. My first R-Rated flick at age 8 was Aliens. I remember closing my eyes when the aliens came on because they were scary as a kid, and my dad would pull my hands away and tell me to stop being a pussy.

That is mean of your dad to do that. I do it to my younger brothers and some of my friends but a father shouldn't do that to his son.

[Warhorse]

I do that to my 12 year old cousin. However, that is NOT how a father should treat his eight year old son. Ridiculous.

I was actually an 8 year old girl. Eh, that's the way he was, he didn't beat around the bush. If I was bad, he stopped by the orphanage and would threaten to trade me in for a better kid. I had a difficult time learning how to swim, so he took me down to the keys, and took me and my mom and uncle out in the boat. He pointed to some sharks in the distance, and that's when he picked me up and threw me into the water, yelling that I was going to get eaten up by Jaws if I don't learn how to swim. I learned real quick, but the horror when I saw one of the fins getting closer and closer, and then I was confused when my dad jumped into the water with me and held out a hand to one of the fins, and as the fin came closer, I realized they were never sharks at all, but bottle nosed dolphins.

[Totem]

I was listening to 2pac and watching R aged movies at a very early age. Started around 5 when I would be visiting my cousins. They used to always put on scary movies and until this day I haven't forgotten hiding under the blanket, part of the reason I dont ever watch horror movies.

[Bitcher]

I was actually an 8 year old girl. Eh, that's the way he was, he didn't beat around the bush. If I was bad, he stopped by the orphanage and would threaten to trade me in for a better kid. I had a difficult time learning how to swim, so he took me down to the keys, and took me and my mom and uncle out in the boat. He pointed to some sharks in the distance, and that's when he picked me up and threw me into the water, yelling that I was going to get eaten up by Jaws if I don't learn how to swim. I learned real quick, but the horror when I saw one of the fins getting closer and closer, and then I was confused when my dad jumped into the water with me and held out a hand to one of the fins, and as the fin came closer, I realized they were never sharks at all, but bottle nosed dolphins.

If half of it is true, you've got like the coolest dad ever. Sheltering one's kids and being overprotective is the worst thing a parent can do.Thankfully, my parents weren't dumb enough to think brutal movies can mentally scar me or anything, so I've been watching 'em even when I was barely able to comprehend them. Mum did bicker a bit, when I was rewinding the tape with Robocop to the scene when dude gets smeared on a windscreen over and over again but it never amounted to more than words.Frankly, I did more to shield myself off from brutal content than all my relatives combined, as I was a little bitch when young. (some movies I was accustomed to, so they didn't scare me but with the new ones I often turned TV off at the mere sign of adult content) Edited January 15, 2012 by Bitcher

[Travod]

They were not.

[Travod]

However, my friend's crazy Christian parents forbid most movies. Harry Potter for obvious reasons, which annoys me the most as they of course watch LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia because that's "Good Christian Magic" UGH. But their cousins are worse, they are all teenagers now and they are restricted to PG and under. Not kidding. And they can't watch Spongebob.

[Bitcher]

"Good Christian Magic"

Well put.

[Noctis]

I'm still flabbergasted at the amount of religious people who forbid themselves and their children from watching Harry Potter. I mean, hell, how fucking stupid are they?

[MovieGuyKyle16]

I find that really stupid considering they should know Magic is not real its just pretend its not real

[acsc1312]

My parents were pretty easy going on watching PG13. We couldn't watch rated R until we were 17ish. We used to watch a lot of scary movies though, and it was easier that I would hang around my older sister and aunt. I got to see a lot more with them. I can still remember not being able to see rated R movies when my parents and sister would watch them though. I remember when American Beauty came out on DVD and my parents made me and my sister go to our room to watch something else.

[Kalo]

when I was little I didn't want to watch R-rated movies, if there was a lots of death or gore it made me really depressed feeling.but my parents didn't really till me I couldn't watch R rated stuff, I saw Air Force One when I was about 7 I think, (I actually liked it though)but I hated the rock. and my parents would watch, so I did, I hated being left out, and they were pretty strick with sexual stuff. being a christian I still try to watch, what i watch, I've pretty much never seen a true horror movie (Alien as about as close I a get) and try to avoid movies with strong sexual material.

[Noctis]

^ LOL

[CaptainJackSparrow]

I saw my first R film (in theaters) in sixth grade. (Aliens VS Predator 2)

[Webslinger]

By the time I was 14 and my dad took me to see The 40-Year-Old Virgin, all the restrictions were pretty much gone. 

 

Honestly, though, they were pretty permissive before that point, too. They definitely didn't give me a blanket pass on R-rated fare up until that point, but they'd let me watch soft-R material like Lost in Translation, and the occasional action movie that went a couple of tokes over the PG-13 line (e.g. the Matrix and Terminator movies). I think their permissiveness probably came as the result of me being really interested in movies in general, as opposed to just wanting to see some choice violence or nudity.

[Sam]

I remember watching Hong Kong mafia gangster movies like A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled when I was 7 with my dad. Ghost, monsters, horror movies, I was exposed to when I was 8, they're like regulars on family movies' night. But I guess it's okay cause there were a lot of sunshines, rainbows, friendship and happily ever after through Disney animations too. My parents weren't that bad after all

[dashrendar44]

I remember watching Hong Kong mafia gangster movies like A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled when I was 7 with my dad. Ghost, monsters, horror movies, I was exposed to when I was 8, they're like regulars on family movies' night. But I guess it's okay cause there were a lot of sunshines, rainbows, friendship and happily ever after through Disney animations too. My parents weren't that bad after all

 

Me too, since my dad was fond of John Woo, action movies in general, he let me watch several times Hard Boiled, Bullet to the head (I think I watched that VHS 20 times since he was in love with the music), The Killer and HK movies in general with him as a kid. All Schwarzie movies (Total Recall and Terminator 2 were like indisputable classics at home) and all 80's R-Rated movies in general. Seagal movies were also a staple as well since he was like my dad's idol back in the day. My dad was more keen to let me watch violent movies and such but he used to fast forward sex scenes...Like when we watched Angel Heart.

 

No Disney, my dad hates Walt Disney and its cheesy songs ladden movies. He brought me up to Tex Avery. I used to force him to rent The Lion King and that bored the shit out of him. The only Disneys I saw in cinemas (The Rescuers Down Under and The Beauty and The Beast) were the times I was in holiday centre (the former) and with my mother and sister (the latter).

 

But there's one movie he didn't let me watch with him...Cannibal Holocaust. I remember him renting the VHS (when I was 7 or 8) and then watching it at night in his room the door closed. The day after, he told me he couldn't get through it and that disturbed the shit out of him. Then when I was 15, I got my own TV, I proceeded to watch it without my parents awareness. Good lord...

Edited September 28, 2013 by dashrendar44

[Sam]

Me too, since my dad was fond of John Woo, action movies in general, he let me watch several times Hard Boiled, Bullet to the head (I think I watched that VHS 20 times since he was in love with the music), The Killer and HK movies in general with him as a kid. All Schwarzie movies (Total Recall and Terminator 2 were like indisputable classics at home) and all 80's R-Rated movies in general. Seagal movies were also a staple as well since he was like my dad's idol back in the day. My dad was more keen to let me watch violent movies and such but he used to fast forward sex scenes...Like when we watched Angel Heart. No Disney, my dad hates Walt Disney. He brought me up to Tex Avery.But there's one movie he didn't let me watch with him...Cannibal Holocaust. I remember him renting the VHS (when I was 9 or 10) and then watching it at night in his room the door closed. The day after, he told me he couldn't get through it and that disturbed the shit out of him. Then when I was 15, I got my own TV, I proceeded to watch it without my parents awareness. Good lord...

Yeah, my parents didn't shy away from the disturbing, gory, or violence in movies for me. I just stopped watching or went away for a while if I can't handle some parts. But when it came to sex scenes, I remembered they always told me to "cover your eyes" and muted the sound until those scenes passed :lol:I figure the Disney movies were just them trying to be model and proper parents I still have a drawer full of Disney VHS.My Dad is also a big fan of HK gangster movies, Kungfu and wuxia movies, I grew up with those, and I'm also a big fan, the only one in my family sharing that hobby with him.And LOL, you naughty kid, how was your reaction after watching Hannibal Holocaust? Edited September 28, 2013 by Sam

[Jack Nevada]

My parents were always open minded in what I was allowed to watch, but I was such a giant pussy as a kid. I didn't watch my first K-18 til I was like 14. 

[Fancyarcher]

My mom wouldn’t let me watch R Rated movies (like the Matrix and The Terminator), when I was young. 

Edited September 29, 2013 by Boxofficefanatic