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By definition, a “kids’ movie” is a movie that is made for and marketed towards children. Though this term nowadays seems to be thrown around and applied to nearly every PG or G-rated movie in existence. Some PG-13 movies are even deemed worthy of the “kids’ movie” label. In order to try and keep this article as streamlined as possible, whenever I refer to a “kids’ movie,” keep in mind that I will be using the actual definition of the term and not society’s new take on what a “kids’ movie” is. With that out of the way, I would like to dive deeper into what makes a movie a “kids’ movie”. These types of films feature a variety of elements that tend to overlap with other films in the genre. Some examples include innocent comedy or the inclusion of a deus ex machina finale. One other example of one of these elements is an overarching message or theme that is present throughout the narrative.
This message falls somewhere on an extremely broad spectrum, but some that seem to be common in today’s media include something akin to love conquers all or friendship over fame. But, frankly, the content of this aforementioned message is not important in the context of this article. What I will instead be focusing on is the way that this message is delivered and, specifically, how this message is delivered in a “kids’ movie”.
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“Kids’ movies” need to say more by saying less
Forgive me if this next part of my article is a tad extreme, but in the opinion of this writer, “kids’ movies” today force their message so far down their audience’s throat that by the time the credits roll, they have been choked to death. “Kids’ movies” and the writers of these movies, for some reason, believe that they can avoid administering any elegance in how their narrative’s main message is delivered because their movie is a “kids’ movie”. They instead decide to spoon-feed the audience their message through condescending exposition from their story’s main characters. Why don’t “kids’ movies” deserve elegance? This is a question which I will now try to answer.
Do “kids’ movies” deserve elegance?
Children are not stupid. They pick up on things, and they surely would be able to pick up on a film’s theme if it were not handed to them on a platter. So the excuse that children need to be spoon-fed the messages in their movies because they are too dumb to pick up on those messages any other way is simply invalid. “Kids’ movies” today wish to make their message as accessible as possible, which in retrospect should be a good thing, right? But that is neglecting the fact that the same accessibility can be obtained through a message that is intricately interwoven into a story. The only difference between the two is that one requires some level of thinking while the other is plainly mindless. In both of these cases, the message present in the narrative can be reached by nearly every audience member with a functional brain. The single contrast is that one requires thinking to reach that message, while the other is absorbed before the audience member even leaves the theater.
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The Children Around the World Continue to Ask the question
Why the writers of “kids’ movies” believe that children cannot think to reach a message in a movie is beyond me. Children are more than capable of rationalizing a film to reach a clear conclusion on what it’s trying to say. As long as that message is something which a child can relate to, as a message in a “kids’ movie” should be, then that child should find no extra difficulty in reaching that message by their own means if they so desire. Children have the ability to think for themselves and uncover what something means to them. “Kids’ movies” should allow kids to be creative and come to their own conclusions about the message behind a film instead of directly coming out and stating that message to them.
“Kids’ movies” today
Though “kids’ movies” in today’s day and age take a different approach. They instead choose to make their message as simple to digest as possible by eliminating any need to think. No thought is taken into account to reach that movie’s message. What is this teaching and showing the children of our world about art? That they do not deserve the same type of filmmaking as adults? That they are unable to think for themselves and instead must be told how to feel? Children are able to think for themselves, but films made in this way instead tell them that maybe they cannot. This is not what children’s media should be all about, and it is certainly not what “kids’ movies” should be centered around.
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How to fix “kids’ movies”
Thankfully, there is a simple fix to this problem with “kids’ movies”. Simply, make the message slightly more intricate. Give kids an opportunity to think and dissect exactly what something means or what a filmmaker is trying to say. Now I am certainly not saying that every child will do this, but by giving them the chance to do so, they are at least given the opportunity if they so choose to participate in a little analysis. This is less than these children deserve and something which should be instated in every “kids movie”. By making the message of a film a little harder to reach, children learn how to maneuver a piece of art and feel the immense satisfaction of finding a filmmaker’s meaning hidden underneath their film. This is not something that should be taken away from children across the country and around the world. “Kids’ movies” need to change, for the betterment of children everywhere.
By Nathaniel Lee
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