Ryan Reynolds Let Daughter Watch R-Rated Movie: Don’t Follow His Example
By Movieguide® Contributor
Ryan Reynolds recently revealed that he has watched the R-rated DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE with his 9-year-old daughter.
“Well, I’m not saying that other people should do this, but my 9-year-old watched the movie with me and my mom, who’s in her late 70s, and it was just was one of the best moments of this whole experience for me,” Reynolds said. “Both of them were laughing their guts out, were feeling the emotion where I most desperately hoped people would be.”
He continued, “When I saw rated-R movies when I was a kid, they left a huge impression on me because I didn’t feel like people were pulling punches, and it’s been a huge inspiration to so many of the things that I look to make now.”
A movie’s R-rating means children under 17 should not see it, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
“The film may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously,” the Association explained.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE has been rated R for “strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references,” per Games Radar.
Movieguide® has previously warned against the dangers of exposing your child to excessive content, especially violence:
Scientific evidence strongly indicates a connection between television violence and violence in the real world. The cumulative effect of all these studies indicates a statistically significant connection between watching violence on television and behaving aggressively. These studies have prompted the American Medical Association, The American Psychiatric Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association for the Education of Young Children and many other organizations to issue policy statements condemning violence in the media.
Another study from Movieguide® founder and publisher Dr. Ted Baehr about violence in movies and TV reads:
As presented in detail earlier, media violence is a critical problem because of its influence on children and susceptible individuals. It’s important to know how much violence is in anything you or your children are considering watching. Many contemporary movies and television programs push the limits of violence, while others avoid gratuitous, bloody violence while increasing violence as spectacle. The emotive heart of drama is conflict and the ultimate conflict ends in violence. The Bible is full of violence and the Gospel story has one of the most violent scenes imaginable, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The presentation of violence in the entertainment media is not always bad and is sometimes necessary. It is, however, critical to protect young children from such violence and to identify how the violence is presented in the entertainment product so you can discern whether it’s necessary and furthers the Good and the True.
On the other hand, violence can have a demonic, pornographic appeal. The Roman Empire featured spectacles of live violence. Gladiators fought to the death, Christians were fed to lions and all manner horrible killing was offered as entertainment to a stadium full of spectators. This same demonic taste can be fed with movies, videos, games, and online content. It is, in fact, a stage into which many people addicted to pornography sink. What may start out as simple sexual attraction devolves into darker and darker pits of hell. As discussed earlier, horror movies and violent video games obviously stimulate the brain.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Christian author Kevin DeYoung addressed the popularity of SQUID GAME in a recent article where he warns Christian viewers of compromise when it comes to what we watch.
“Some Christians will be quick to point out that the Bible is full of sex and violence. And indeed it is. But there is a world of difference between sin described honestly on a page, never with the intent to stimulate or amuse, and sin depicted on the screen with multi-million dollar budgets, real nudity, and realistic gore,” DeYoung writes. “Can we freely watch something like Squid Game and honestly give thanks to God (1 Corinthians 10:30)? Does anything with an MA rating on Netflix help us think about what is pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phiippians 4:8)?”
He continues: “I dare say you could not find an orthodox Christian writer or pastor before the 20th century (or maybe prior to 1965) who would countenance a fraction of what we consider ‘moderate’ entertainment today. If they were too rigid at times, certainly we are far too relaxed—to the impoverishment of our churches and of our souls.”