Do you ever see children in really scary or violent movies?

Question

Do you ever see children in really scary or violent movies? How do you feel about that?

Answer 1

Sure, kids have been in some very violent and/or scary movies. Of course, what we see on the movie screen looks nothing like what the kids saw while filming. Child actors have advocates (usually a parent) there with them at all times. It's fine for them.

Answer 2

Scary movies, definetely. Pet Semetary, The Others, Children of the Corn, Poltergeist, The Exorcist. They're used for their creepy factor. Violent movies too, but can't think of any examples besides Terminator 2 for some reason, but he was a teenager.

Answer 3

I think the ultimate example of this is an incredibly young (she was only 11 or 12 when it was made) Natalie Portman in The Professional. (Make sure you see the "Leon" version to fully understand the reaction of viewers.) It was incredibly violent, and it's terrifically controversial. After her family is brutally murdered by a corrupt cop, she tries to hire a profession hit man to get revenge for her. She moves in with him and agrees to keep house for him if he will teacher her his craft, which he does. Not only this, but she believe she has fallen in love with him at some point. The scenes dealing with this were originally deleted from the copies available in America until very recently for fear they smacked of pedophilia. But that's laughable; the hit man is dumbfounded by her pronouncement that she loves him and he never lets it go anywhere.

It's an incredibly intense and moving picture. It certainly shows you what a precocious actress Natalie Portman was at that age. Since becoming a father, I am usually very uncomfortable with films involving the endangerment of children. But Portman seems so professional in this film that it's hard to see her as a child per se (which is part of the point--she has been forced to grow up too fast).

I recently read an article which put a new twist on this film for me. Natalie Portman is a classy and beautiful young actress, but nudity has not been something she is comfortable with. She even asked to have some revealing scenes in the recent film Closer removed and destroyed, which they were. Good for her--her body is her own. But the reason for this is somewhat disturbing. She said that The Professional is still the movie that she gets the most fan mail about, and it disturbs her that grown men have sick fantasies about the role she played in it. It bothers her to this day.

In a similar vein, think about the extremely young Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver. And we all know the effect that role had on one bizarre individual.

So there's a lot to think about here, especially when sex is involved even by implication . . .

Answer 4

Children are in a lot of scarey movies.. of course you have to remember that the children are actors. They see the makeup being applied on the actors, they are aware of what is going to happen and are taught how to react.
Poltergist comes to mind and little Carol Ann..
M Night Shamayla has kids in most of his movies, though they are mostly suspenseful, they do have scarey scenes in them In the last movie,'The Lady in the Water', it was actually a bedtime for story he had made up for his own children.
He was interviewed about this and said that he never felt any of these movies were intended for under 9 years old. He felt mature children could handle it if their parents were with them. That they, the children viewers, understood it was only a movie.
I don't like scarey movies myself let alone letting kids see them, but I guess some are just adrenilin junkies ;-)

Answer 5

Yes, and my reaction depends on the age of the child mixed with their level of maturity and ability to understand the difference between reality and the movies. If the child is old enough and mature enough to understand this difference then I don't have a huge problem with it as long as the parent takes the time to discuss the movie with the child. But this would be a boarder line situation with an older child.

Seeing younger children that I know can not be mature enough really bothers me but their is nothing you can do about it.

Answer 6

Children playing in scary movies gives me the creeps. Take Children of the Corn or The Omen for example. That's some freaky stuff.

Answer 7

Everyone's answering about child actors, but I think maybe you were talking about kids in the theatre?

Generally I think movies like that are inappropriate for children, but it depends on the kid. My 10 yo nephew has been going to R rated movies for longer than I want to admit, but he's a weird kid. He's always been very interested in movies and theatre, and he has actually done movie reviews on the radio. He can intelligently discuss different directors, actors, different versions of classic flims, etc. He's not really interested in the gory or sexy parts, and he just tunes that out to get to the parts he wants to see.

So you never really know what's going on with kids you see in the theatre. To be honest though I think most of them are just there because their parents didn't want to pay for a sitter, and didn't really care what was appropriate for the kid to see.

Answer 8

Yes. In the Transporter 2 the whole story revolves around him saving a kid, along with Man on Fire and some other movies. It doesn't bother me; I think it adds some depth.

Answer 9

sixth sense. mischa barton played the dead poisoned girl who shows up under the bedsheet. that was disturbing but well played.

also the spinning head possessed girl in exorcist.

i think that as long as a child actor is protected from the overall thriller plot or horrific scenes it should be okay. but i think that there are guidlenes in place for this anyway.

why do you ask and why is your question in psychology and not the entertainment category?

Answer 10

yes, i think those kids are really talented, it must be such hard work to act at such a young a age. Plus. if it's ever anything real bad i just remember it's a movie and it's all acting.