What Do You Mean It's for Kids?: Difference between revisions

* Nothing could have prepared children for what came after ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]''... even the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hehod3xjeLs FoxKids] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3abftABmTY ads] weren't kidding around. And they were scratching the surface on how frightening ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' could be, even to parents watching it with their kids.

* [[ABC 3]] in Australia lists ''[[Vampire Knight]]'' as a kids show and gives it a PG rating. That doesn't stop it from having violence and scenes of vampire biting that are intended to be highly erotic.

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[EC Comics]]. The entire company output qualifies, even after correcting for Values Dissonance for their being published in the 1950s, when ideas on "age appropriate" were a bit different.

 

* This trope is likely to be invoked (usually by [[Media Watchdogs]], [[Moral Guardians]] or both; some of the latter likely including "concerned parents", but also some regular viewers as well) anytime an animated movie is given anything other than a G rating (since live-action movies are more ambiguous in this respect). As noted from some of the below examples though, it has also been known to be invoked in G-rated movies as well (such as the ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'').

* ''[[Chirin no Suzu]]'': Aw, look, it's a cheerful film about a cute little lamb... [[Mood Whiplash|Until the second half of the film]], whereupon it becomes a dark and depressing tale featuring revenge.

* ''[[The Land Before Time]]''. You've got Littlefoot's mom getting a chunk of flesh bitten off of her by Sharptooth (it would've been more frightening without the [[Shadow Discretion Shot]]), the mega-quake that split Pangaea, and at one point, the heroes get stuck in a tar pit! Brr...

* Where to begin with ''[[Fantastic Mr. Fox]]''? Let's start with the fact that they manage to get away with saying "fuck" by simply exchanging it with"cuss" ("The cuss you are", "Clustercuss", "Scared the cuss out of me"). From there, it just gets better. Mr. Fox is a thief; the farmers want to kill Mr. Fox using switchblades and guns (which leads to Mr. Fox {{spoiler|having his tail shot off}}), eventually leading to using '''excavators and explosives'''; there's incessant smoking from Mr. Bean, who makes alcoholic cider (and eventually goes '''[[Sanity Slippage|batshit crazy]]'''); there are multiple injuries sustained by characters varying from scars to burns; Rat is electrocuted and {{spoiler|killed by Mr. Fox}}; and the ending is of the [[Bittersweet Ending|bittersweet variety]] in which {{spoiler|the animals homes have been destroyed and they now live in the sewers even though they have a food supply that could last them for decades}}.

* The ''[[Gamera]]'' films of the 1960s-1970s contained some of the most graphic "monster vs. monster" violence in movie history that's actually geared towards children. Yes, a film series that contained truly gruesome moments such as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMAw19cuug this] was made for kids. You heard me! A company released videos of gruesome violence under the name ''Just for Kids Home Video''!

* [[George Lucas]] has maintained that ''[[Star Wars]]'' is intended for children. Some people point at the severed limbs, convoluted politics and economics, [[Techno Babble|techno-babble]], bio-babble, and other kid-unfriendly aspects to counter those claims.

** Not quite. The ''[[Back to The Future]]'' films pulled that off. However, those were mid-80s to 1990. Ratings criteria have changed since then, so it's still surprising, nonetheless.

* The [[Live Action Adaptation]] of ''[[The Cat in the Hat]]'' definitely qualifies: despite it being based on a book meant for kids, the movie dealt with a lot of extremely crass humor and rather dirty things that should not be exposed to kids, to the extent that its almost as though the movie is actually missing a crap detection radar. It's also the main reason why there aren't ''any'' live action adaptations of the Dr. Seuss stories anymore.

 

== Literature ==

* The entire point of the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] series ''Galaxy of Fear'' was to be a horror series for kids. [[Body Horror]] and [[Mind Screw]]s abounded to the point where the book that revolved around ghosts was the least scary of the twelve. Hell, they introduced a planet that eats people alive in the ''very first book''. Other lovely highlights include worms that suck the marrow out of your bones so that the empty space can be filled with a serum that makes you [[And I Must Scream|an unwitting zombie]], a [[Mind Rape|machine that traps you in your own nightmares]], forcible conversion into a [[Brain In a Jar|B'omarr brain spider]], swarms of [[Eaten Alive|beetles that eat you from the inside out]], other humans [[I'm a Humanitarian|who also think your flesh is tasty]], and some of the sickest [[Evil Scientist|EvilScientists]] in the Star Wars universe. Good God, everywhere these kids go people die like flies! Special mention goes to the psychological trauma that goes with the question "If clones made of you have all your memories and think they are you, ''how do you know you yourself aren't a clone?''

* The ''[[Discworld]]'' kids' books.

* ''[[Animorphs]]'' features a lot more violence and [[Nightmare Fuel]] than you would expect, despite being for kids.

* Pretty much any book by [[Garth Nix]] that's labeled as "young adult" (as in, the stuff usually found in the kid's section). For example, there's [[The Seventh Tower|the series that has]] living (often unfriendly) shadows, [[Mind Rape]] as capital punishment (even for minors!), [[Body Horror]], and some rather intense war scenes. Then [[Keys to the Kingdom|there's the one]] with [[Mind Screw]] galore, [[Body Horror]] monsters, mandatory brainwashing (more literally than the word is usually used) for children, and plenty of death abound. Oh, and the ending involves {{spoiler|the destruction of everything everywhere ever}}. For those of you asking how this can possibly be meant for children, go and read the [[Old Kingdom]] books. You know, his ''teen'' series.

* The ''[[Chronicles of Prydain]]'' contains death, zombies, human sacrifice and much more.

* ''[[Someone Else's War]]'' is about [[Child Soldiers]] trying to escape the Lord's Resistance Army, erstwhile enduring unspeakable horrors no child should have to read about, let alone endure. [[Truth in Television]], though, as there [[Tear Jerker|really are children going through this in certain parts of the world, even today.]]

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Press Gang]]'' was aimed at children and teenagers, was frequently hilarious... and featured topics such as glue-sniffing leading to accidental death, child sexual abuse, a gun seige at a newspaper office, a gas leak resulting in a building blowing up (half of the episode was about one survivor, trapped in the rubble, trying to keep another alive until the rescuers could get to her...which didn't work), teachers having extramarital affairs, and so on. Storylines also focused on a suicide, a reporter coaxing a confession of manslaughter out of a half-blinded gang member over the phone, and a death by drug overdose ([[Da Editor|Lynda]] was not overly sympathetic). There's a reason that its [[Steven Moffat|co-creator and sole scriptwriter]] went on to become Executive Producer of ''[[Doctor Who]]''...

* On seeing the script of Episode One of ''[[Children of the Stones]]'', director Peter Graham Scott remarked, "And this is for children?"

 

== Music ==

* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40856856/ns/business-retail/ A recent recall] happened involving a Wal-Mart CD called ''Kids Favorites'', in which it featured songs with absolutely explicit lyrics.

* Béla Bartok's set of piano pieces ''For Children'' includes several based on [[Bawdy Song]]s with unprintable lyrics.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* ''[[Little Nemo]]''. It's a whole [[Nightmare Fuel|nightmare ''world!'']] Though this is more of a shift in what is acceptable for children. It was a lot more open at that time as shown with other so-called children's books during that time like ''The Wind in the Willows'', which would almost be impossible to publish as a kid's book now. There's even a panel where Little Nemo, who is about nine at that point, is reading ''[[Gulliver's Travels|Gullivers Travels]]''.

 

* Depending on the incarnation, ''[[Starlight Express]]'' includes hate-motivated beatings, a [[Serial Killer]] villain, [[Domestic Abuse]], marital infidelity, a young woman singing a solo about her favorite sexual experience, a retired prostitute, a character who maintains an equal-opportunity harem, an ocean's worth of sexual innuendo in general, and references to smoking, alcohol, and drugs. The show manages to get away with all these elements because the characters are anthropomorphic toy trains. The Las Vegas version of the musical, which featured the main female characters in showgirl costumes, actually ''wasn't'' intended for kids, but attracted family audiences regardless.

 

== Theme Parks ==

* In the 2011 ''Dance Off With the Star Wars Stars'', which is for children, Darth Vader performs C. Lo Green's "F**k You!" (or at least the radio edit) during the freestyle half of the show.

 

== Toys ==

* [[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command|Buzz Lightyear]] [http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/21/buzz-lightyear-with.html sippycup]—so ''that'''s what "To infinity, AND BEYOND!" really means...

* For years ''[[Barbie]]'' has been accused of this (not to mention ''[[Bratz]]')', and [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|we'll just leave it at that]].

 

== Video Games ==

* There's a game called ''Dog's Life'' for [[PlayStation 2]]. It's premise seems nothing bad. A cute game where you play as a dog trying to rescue his damsel-in-distress from a dog catcher, with some [[Toilet Humor]] and anatomically correct dogs (only in the CG, though) added in. By the end of the game {{spoiler|you learn the whole thing was a plan by the creepy cat food maker Ms. Peaches, who wants to make dogs into her cat food. You have to save Daisy from being killed, and in the end Ms. Peaches dies in a gruesome matter (and she says one word of mild profanity)}}. This game was rated 3+ in Europe, but T in North America.

 

* Technically any webcomic ever could be this, since there are laws about letting anyone under 13 years old use the Internet unless supervised by a parent or guardian.

* ''[[Sonichu]]'' is nominally intended to be a children's comic, aimed for kids between the ages of 7 and 14... but that certainly doesn't stop its author from inserting scenes of bloody, brutal violence (up to and including a scene of a young girl mutilating a defenseless criminal with a pair of giant drills) and ([[Fetish Retardant|supposedly]]) titillating sex (with an entire chapter dedicated to showing off the main characters' sexual anatomy). Needless to say, no children even read the comic in the first place.

* The creator of ''[[Liltoon]]'' once had an on-site notice stating that his comic is suitable for readers aged 10 and up, but the recent "Flushing the Soul" arc seems to belie that.

 

== Web Original ==

** Detailed in [http://www.cracked.com/blog/10-great-childrens-books-for-people-who-hate-their-children/ 10 Great Books For (Traumatising) Children].

** Here's another: [http://www.cracked.com/article_19288_8-weirdly-sexual-products-you-wont-believe-are-kids.html/ 8 Weirdly Sexual Products You Won't Believe Are for Kids].

 

== Western Animation ==

 

== Real Life ==

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14232143 This] al-Qaeda jihadist film, [[Blatant Lies|supposedly]].

* With all the [[Nippled and Dimed|controversy]] surrounding them, it's easy to forget that breasts as a source of milk are intended for use by babies.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:YMMV Trope]]

[[Category:Unexpected Reactions to This Index]]

[[Category:What Do You Mean It's Not an Index?]]

[[Category:This Index Asked You a Question]]