Recently released to theaters on Earth Day was Disneynature's first documentary "Earth." Showcasing the one year journeys of several animal families, namely the African Elephants, Polar Bears, and Humpback Whales, "Earth" gives an in depth analysis of different types of events that these animals face every day while capturing the beauty and essence of nature. So long these details sound peachy keen, and if you have seen the trailerthe scenes are stunning and adorable. However, there are some unfortunate events in nature that take place but are necessary to be filmed. In making this particular type documentary the director must include all of the realities of nature even if it requires shooting a caribou calf being killed and eaten by a wolf or a baby elephant wandering farther and farther away from its mother until it is lost.
Although "Earth" seems to capture some of our planet's most intimate moments and appears as a family friendly film, it drops the ball with a proper rating. According to Jsse Ellison in "Newsweek" he witnessed a child frightened by the scene of a wolf preying on a calf. I myself have not yet watched the movie but for a scene of that nature even giving some of the adults in the theater goosebumps, this docementary should not have been rated G. Sure this documentary may only have a very few scenes like the one just described but one bad scene can easily terrify a child. Just imagine a second grade class going to watch this movie as a field trip. Since the movie is rated G none of the adults would assume that there would be any graphic images. Most likely, only two teachers and a few parents would chaperone, so when that one scary part arrives the majority of the children would not have anyone to comfort them when they are overcame by fear.
In the words of University of Illinois professor, Barbara J. Wilson, states, "As many parents have learned, younger children were more likely to focus on the Tviolent behavior which is concrete and easy to see." With that said, children will be vulnerable and open during this violent scene and will most likely turn away a few seconds later instead of turning away so that they will miss the scene. To be safe, this movie should at least be rated PG. This way a situation like that would never occur, and parents would have to accompany their child to this movie and thus able to be there for their child during frightening scenes and to explain to them the reality of what they just observed. Although the directors meant no harm, there is no such thing as being too safe.
Here is more information on Professor Wilson's article on "Wrong Ratings."
http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article97.html
As for everything else, there seems to be no problem with the movie in general. It looks very interesting and must be spectacular.
I'm dying to see this movie! It looks amazing and extremely interesting! But I do have mixed emotions about the "graphic" scenes you described. It kills me when people film unfortunate animal events and don't step in. Of course, I understand why they can't, but I find myself yelling at the TV, "Somebody do something!!" Although I haven't seen the movie, maybe they're should be some reconsideration on its rating.
ReplyDelete-Lucretia
I recently went to see this movie and in my opinion, it was indeed spectacular. In some of the scenes, I couldn't believe what I was watching took place on Earth. As for the scary realities it depicts, I think it is necessary for children to see such things rather than remain oblivious to the world around them. Future generations should know about the beauty as well as the darker side of nature so they can treat it better than we have.
ReplyDeleteI really think the criticism towards the wolf scene was completely an overreaction. Although such a scene may be "too frightening" or "too graphic" for young children, take into consideration that many children today are already exposed to similar if not worse material. Many children, even with the approval of their parents, watch movies that are intended for older audiences most commonly being PG13 movies. Also many young children play violent video games such as Halo or Resident Evil regardless of age restrictions. In fact this scene was probably more beneficial to the child's learning experience than if he/she were to play a violent video game. The scene obviously portrayed a harsh reality of nature that the child would have to someday accept. As for the movie I’ve actually heard a lot of positive comments about it so I hope to see it for myself soon.
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