Two movies for kids coming out this month devote a significant amount of story-telling time to plot twists involving secret out-of-wedlock children whose fathers were never told that they existed. One is the PG “Nancy Drew” and the other is the G-rated “Ratatouille.” Is there anyone who thinks that this is an appropriate storyline for movies marketed for children? Is there anyone out there who looks forward to questions from a six-year-old about what a DNA test is for or how a father could be surprised to find out that he has a grown-up child or why a mother would want to keep such a secret?
It is not as though either of these is a sensitive treatment of a subject that may be of interest or concern to children living in a world of blended families and reproductive technology. In both cases, they are tossed into the plot more for convenience than for the expression of art or creativity. If the film-makers could not show some effort in designing a plot with more imagination, they could have taken the time to think about finding a plot with more resonance for children.
-
Advertisement
-


click here to see all of our uplifting newsletters» Movie Mom™ Reviews
Search This Blog
Sort Reviews By
Subscribe
SubscribeCategories
- Features & Top 10s
- "Gothika Rule"
- Actors
- Advertising
- After the kids go to bed
- Awards
- Behind the Scenes
- Beliefnet Highlights
- Books
- Breakthrough Perfomers
- Commentary
- Contests and Giveaways
- Cool Stuff
- Critics
- Directors
- Disabilities and Different Abilities
- Early Readers
- Elementary School
- Environment/Green
- For Your Netflix Queue
- Great Characters
- Great Movie Moments
- Interview
- Live Theater
- Marketing to Kids
- Movie Mom's Top Picks for Families
- Neglected gem
- New on DVD/Blu-Ray
- Original Version
- Parenting
- Preschoolers
- Quiz
- Quote of the Week
- Rediscovered Classic
- Smile of the Week
- Special Effects
- Spiritual films
- Spoiler Alert
- Stars
- Supercuts and Mashups
- Teenagers
- This Week at the Box Office
- Trailers and Previews
- Tribute
- Tweens
- Understanding Media and Pop Culture
- Writers
- Festivals
- Genre
- 3D
- Action/Adventure
- Animation
- Based on a book
- Based on a play
- Based on a television show
- Based on a true story
- Based on a video game
- Biography
- Classic
- Comedy
- Comic book/Comic Strip/Graphic Novel
- Courtroom
- Crime
- Date movie
- Documentary
- Drama
- Epic/Historical
- Family Issues
- Fantasy
- For all ages
- For the Whole Family
- Gross-out
- High School
- Horror
- Independent
- Inspired by a true story
- Musical
- Mystery
- Politics
- Remake
- Romance
- Satire
- School
- Science-Fiction
- Series/Sequel
- Spies
- Sports
- Stories About Kids
- Superhero
- Talking animals
- Thriller
- Tragedy
- War
- Western
- Holidays
- Internet, Gaming, and Apps
- Kids
- Lists
- Media Appearances
- Music
- Opening This Week
- Q&As
- Reviews
- Television
- The Real Story
- Features & Top 10s
About Movie Mom
Movie Mom's Archives
Movie Mom's full archives of more than 1,400 reviews (including her 200 best films for families) and 400 blog posts is now on Beliefnet for searching.- Movie Mom is a registered trademark of Nell Minow.
Copyright 1995-2012 Nell Minow. All Rights Reserved. -
Advertisement

