When they have a scheduled day off from school, I give them some time to watch movies on Netflix. The kids setting is turned on, so I trust that the movies they pick are acceptable for them to watch. Usually they choose AFV (S's choice) or Clone Wars (J's choice). Sometimes they pick movies. Recently they chose the Mike Myers' version of The Cat in the Hat. Now I will admit I haven't seen the movie (I don't particularly care for most of Mike Myers' work) but I saw it had a PG rating. I figure it was okay for them to watch.
Well...I figured wrong. Today S (who is just shy of 6 years old) plopped down in her seat for lunch, looked at me, and proudly announced, " Dirty hoe!" I about dropped the glass I was holding and asked her what she had just said. She could tell by my tone that I was not happy with what she said so she said it much quieter the second time. I asked her where she had heard that and she gave me the classic, "I don't know" which is total BS. She knew, she just didn't want to tell me.
J jumped in at that point and explained that it was in the Cat in the Hat movie and that The Cat was holding a dirty garden hoe when he said it. In that context it makes sense. But out of context, whoa. I then had to scramble to come up with a way to explain to my kids why they shouldn't say this without explaining the double meaning to that phrase. An almost 6 year old doesn't need to know the other meaning (nor does the almost 10 year old). The best I could come up with was that it sounded very similar to a word that isn't a nice word to say so please stop saying it. Both kids seemed okay with that explanation and didn't ask any questions.
After that I looked up the parent guide for the movie on IMDB and decided that perhaps this movie should be rated PG-13 instead of PG. Now, I don't have a problem with my kids watching PG-13 movies. Both kids have seen The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, among other movies and they've been fine with them. They've heard the "bad" words in those movies and they don't go running around the house repeating them because we've taught them what's appropriate for them to say at their ages.
I guess what bothers me the most about The Cat in the Hat movie is that it's based on a kids book - a book I read to S at bedtime. In the book there aren't any double-entendres - why the need to add them to the movie? The book is awesome. The original, animated version is awesome. Why the need to take something for kids and sexualize it (and after reading the parent's guide, the dirty hoe thing isn't the only sexual thing)? My kids see the Cat as a fun cartoon-type character. They think if he says something, it's okay for them. It reminds me of the old cigarette company that used a cartoon camel to sell their cigarettes. The cartoon characters says to kids "hey, this is for you!" even if it's not.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned or uptight for not wanting my almost 6 year old running around yelling ''dirty hoe!". Maybe I want to avoid the phone call from her kindergarten teacher when she says it at school. Maybe I want to preserve her innocence as long as I can and avoid explaining what certain words mean. She's in public school so she'll learn them soon enough. But for now I will be banning the Mike Myers' version of The Cat in the Hat in our house. Sorry, Mike, but I just don't think your "kids" movie is for my kids.
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