Why We Should Loosen The Reins, Just A Little, On What Is Considered 'Problematic Content' For Kids

In what came as a shock to some fans, the classification of beloved Disney classic Mary Poppins was bumped up from the all ages 'G' aka General Audiences to a 'PG', Parental Guidance recommended. This means that the film has been deemed no longer suitable for all ages, with the recommendation that a parent or adult should be present to watch the film with young children. It also means some Primary/Elementary schools will require permission slips from parents if they wish to screen the film for students.

The reason for the change? The brief use of some obscure discriminatory language. The matter could go further than this, with some Classification authorities campaigning for the power to review and reclassify films every ten years, to keep with the values of the time. While there are times when this may be necessary, some believe the Mary Poppins example is slightly extreme, even calling it censorship gone mad, and many parents have vowed to continue showing it to their children regardless of the rating.. And they should.

Times have changed, but there's nothing wrong in loosening the reins, and reverting to your own judgement, when it comes to what is genuinely problematic content for children.

Consider the amount of problematic content, context, and whether a lesson can be learned

In the case of Mary Poppins, the problematic content refers to the minor character of Admiral Boom. In two separate, brief scenes, Admiral Boom refers to some sooty faced Chimney Sweeps as 'Hottentots', a discriminatory term once used by White Europeans to refer to nomadic Native tribes in southern Africa. While discriminatory language should be discouraged, it is worth noting that Mary Poppins classification was not raised during its previous review in 2013, and the British Board of Film Classification, the first authority to up the film's age rating, only chose to do so after conducting research.

If an organisation who's job it is to notice problematic content or language let this one slip just over a decade ago, and only caught it after research, the chances a child would take much notice of the word are minimal. Even if a child did ask questions, the worst that could happen would be opening a dialogue with the child about what the word means and why they shouldn't use it.

Also, in this case, context is key. Admiral Boom is an elderly man, likely with some form of Dementia, who still believes he is in the Navy with a ship under his charge. In the second instance of the objectionable language, the Admiral genuinely believes he is coming under attack. Though it is not outright stated, the other characters in the film humour Boom out of kindness, and respect for his former service.

While that doesn't make his discriminatory language okay, it could provide a chance to explain that elderly or unwell people may say things they shouldn't, that a child shouldn't repeat, because the elderly person no longer knows any better. On top of all this, the problematic language takes up less than two minutes of Mary Poppins 139 minute runtime. Should children miss an otherwise fun film with important lessons about spending time with family for less than two minutes of a single unfortunate word? Probably not.

It may be better for kids to see, and learn from, low-impact racial stereotypes rather than bar that content entirely

As most fans know, some older Disney films include some racial stereotyped characters that would be considered offensive by today's standards. The most obvious and often condemned example is in the portrayal of Native Americans in Peter Pan, particularly the 'What Makes the Red Man Red' musical sequence. Other films, such as Lady and the Tramp and The Aristocats, portray Siamese Cats as racially insensitive Asian caricatures. All three films, among others, now include a warning before the film when played on Disney Plus.

Some parents have used the Warning as a reason not to show their children these films, not wanting them to be exposed to racist content. However, that is not necessarily the intention behind the warning. One can not learn from the past if they do not know it.

The world is an imperfect place, and kids will probably stumble into racially insensitive content at some point no matter how hard we try to keep it from them. It is better that they run into it in a controlled, low impact scenario as seen in The Aristocats. A parent can discuss why racist content appeared in the past, and why it is offensive. If a child then notices racial differences between themself and others, they will know not to discuss or bring attention to those differences in an offensive way.

The Balance of Problem vs Positive

Disney's Winnie The Pooh franchise, based on the books by A.A Milne is considered one of the greatest children's film and TV series of all time. It is heartwarming, suitable for all ages, and packed with great lessons about love, friendship, family and more. However, the franchise has come under minor fire from the latest generation of parents, claiming Winnie the Pooh is now behind the times due to a gender imbalance in the main cast of characters, and therefore their daughters cannot find role models or anyone to relate to among them.

It is true that the cast of the Winnie the Pooh films is almost entirely male, aside from Kanga (although the Disney Junior series My Friends Tigger and Pooh does add Darby, a young female friend of Christopher Robin). However, this makes perfect sense in the context that the characters are stuffed toys belonging to a little boy. The characters are also not necessarily meant to be 'role models', but equals on the same level as the children watching, learning with them.

Finally, being of the opposite gender to a character does not render one unable to relate to them. A little girl who suffers from nerves will find things in common with the also nervous Piglet regardless of the fact that he is a boy.

Should little girls miss out on the wonderful lessons Pooh Bear has to offer over the cast's gender imbalance? Probably not.

While there are definitely problematic elements in older children's films, there's nothing wrong with Parents deciding themselves what is a potential discussion opener, what is truly a non-negotiable problem, and when it's okay to just let it go.