As a Mom I Love and Hate MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS

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Today MARVEL’S  THE AVENGERS opened in theaters and is getting rave reviews. Since I consider myself now a huge fan of all things Marvel (and superhero in general) I should be excited right? But I’m not since I can’t share the movie with the biggest fan of all, my son Warren.

I know that my whole family would love to see this movie together.

So what is stopping us?

The movie is PG-13 and my boys are 5 and 4.

When I became a mom to boys, I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of toys and shows. I grew up with only a sister so I didn’t realize that as an adult, I would actually enjoy what my sons enjoy.

My middle son Warren  has always loved to play with figures and dress up as a toddler. As he got a bit older he fell in love with superheros and action figures. And in case you didn’t remember, he has a Marvel Hero bedroom!

Our house is currently filled with costumes and props for a large variety of characters from Wolverine to Ironman to Thor.   And his collection of action figures for virtually all the Marvel heroes is pretty astounding.

Because we stream Netflix, we’ve had access to no shortage of superhero cartoons. While Warren doesn’t discriminate between vintage cartoons and modern day ones, current versions like Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heros, Spectacular Spider-Man Animated Series and Iron Man: Armored Adventures are favorites in this house. We love to watch them as a family. One of our very favorites is The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and we can’t wait to see the second season when it comes out on DVD.

My husband grew up with a love of the characters and Warren now knows them all in great detail. Along the way I’ve become my own Marvel expert. Lucian has grown to love them even though I thought he’d never stray from transportation toys.

Which is why it pains me yet again to see another superhero movie rated PG-13.  My boys are so excited to see MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS but we won’t be going to see it in the theater.  I don’t feel comfortable with them watching anything like this in a public setting where we can’t pre-screen or fast forward over what isn’t appropriate.

While we all know that the toys from these movies are marketed towards the younger child, perhaps 4- 8 years, the movies themselves are made for those pre-teen to adult who loved the characters when they were younger or just enjoy a good action movie. I find this as a mom so frustrating. This certainly isn’t anything new but it hits closer to home with the ages of my boys and their love of The Avengers.

Everything I hear from my doctor, educators and experts online agree that preschool aged children shouldn’t watch shows with violence in them. That certainly makes sense. Why then are parents constantly put in this position?

I know that as the parent I ultimately have control over what my child watches. And I take full responsibility for that. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it. If I were a mom of girls who love princesses for example there would always be options to take them to movies in the theater.  All I want is the opportunity to take my boys to a movie featuring the toys that they love that doesn’t make me feel guilty for even considering it.

If they shouldn’t really be watching the movie, why does the marketing have to reach out to them? And why can’t any of these movies be toned down a bit or released as an animation version so they can be rated PG?

I know there are other moms out there that must feel the same way.

Does this also drive you crazy? 

 

 

 

9 Comments

    1. I know, right? I’ve never understood that either! You can easily find SpongeBob merchandise for very young children and the cartoon is certainly not meant for them. For girls you run into toys with gender stereotypes and those that are too suggestive/sexy. With boys it is toys that are crude or suggest violence. There are good toys out there that are fabulous and don’t do any of these things but when I look at the toys at any mass retailer they aren’t in abundance.

      Ugh.

  1. I was a little weary too, but aside from the violence that is in all Marvel type cartoons/movies, I do not recall hearing any bad words at all and there is no nudity or adult content. My youngest is 6 and my oldest is 12. That said, it may be a litle loud and violent for a 4 year old.

    1. I actually think that my four year old would do just fine in the movie. But I’m struggling with the idea that just because he can watch it doesn’t mean he should. (Which is really hard to do sometimes.)

  2. I’m bummed! My grandson whom is three really LOVES Captain America …. he has a costume he wears constantly. He loves super heroes in general (especially Spiderman). He definitely would be the one person I would love to see this movie with. I’m going to have to see it & tell him all about it (minus that parts that rate it PG 13).

  3. I actually read this post right after leaving the movie theater. I agree that so much of the things these days are getting twisted. Barbies are to revealing for girls spongebob, shrek all of those sorts of shows are simply not allowed in my house. These movies that were meant for kids, Transformers (awful language and scantly clad dressed girls) spider man Avengers, these were for younger kids and the toys still are. My hubby says its because they are making them appealing to the adults who remember them. But I think if they would do without the cussing and sleezy dressed young and old could watch. Because all of those comics and cartoons were violent and you bring anything to the big screen it’s going to look more violent then the comic book or cartoons because its lifelike. That being said I think it had 2 not real bad cuss words and of course tight costumes with cleavage, but even even the comics have that. We did not let our kids watch the last 2 transformers, but we will let them watch The Avengers probably. But I do understand completely where your coming from.

  4. other than comic book action type violence (there was very little blood), I didn’t see the need for rating the movie PG-13. I don’t remember any bad language or sexuality at all. Your kids will love it.

  5. We let our 4 year old watch all of the avengers movies. Hulk was probably a bit much and he doesn’t care for him. But the rest he loves. We explain to him what is right and wrong. He is very sensitive and has a strong personality/very superhero like. So for us, it’s not a bad thing. When the violent/punching parts come we tell him “that is NOT right” and he goes “YEA we dont hit people like that. That’s a bad man.” So for him it’s a teaching lesson of morals and helping the little guy.

    We just painted his room for Avengers Assemble.

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