I didn’t know people were opposed to showing Grave of the Fireflies to kids. I always thought it was one of the better war movies to show to kids because there isn’t much explicit violence and the main characters are children.
There’s a rightwing push in Japan to censor Barefoot Gen in schools because even though the Japanese civilians are depicted as victims, it ostensibly anti-war and they want more military spending. I wouldn’t be surprised if Grave of the Fireflies is in their crosshairs as well.
I was an adult when I watched it. I still regret that decision.
I’ve seen it referred to as “The greatest film I’ll never watch again.”
Me too, but I rarely see regret for having seen it the one time they did.
I can’t bring myself to rewatch the damn thing, how can I expose my children to it?!
Well shit, a Studio Ghibli movie I haven’t seen. I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend. My wife and 16 year old have already said they are down for it. Not sure if I want my 9 year old to sit in on this.
A skim of the article shows that it was not written from the viewpoint of a parent having to calm a hysterical crying child after having watched the movie. GotF is an emotional gut-punch even for adults. Incredibly powerful film, but that means it has to be treated with care and respect. That doesn’t mean it can’t be shown to children, but anyone who does so needs to be prepared for the consequences.
(As for me, I was in grad school when I saw it. I’m glad I did, but I don’t think I will ever be able to bring myself to watch it again.)
The second paragraph literally discusses creating a self care plan surrounding watching the movie. It links out to several studies by child psychologists and articles discussing watching scary/sad media with kids and how to do so. It shows examples of how kids are interacting with stories like this safely. It recommends showing kids things like this in safe environments so they don’t suddenly come to you broken and scared when horrors are thrust upon them when they are alone or unsupervised.
As a kid, I was “trolled” with fake links that sent me to beheading videos online. Tons of folks I know watched 9/11 happen live in their classrooms. Hell, the post talks about how pictures and videos from Gaza keep showing up on feeds on Instagram and TikTok. The whole point is parents should do that work and teach kids these skills and that it’s okay to ask for help if they run into an emotional brick wall BEFORE they hit the brick wall.
But this is why ya shouldn’t skim! Read deeply! (P.S. I wrote the post, I’m also literally a parent. If that matters to you.)
I probably shouldn’t be posting when I feel too awful to concentrate, either. Apologies.
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Depends on how old your kids are… Are they old enough to understand suffering and loss? Then it’s time to make your kids suffer and lose some of their free time in order to learn something important; like any good parent!
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Ahem… The film is rated…
- USA: Not rated by the MPAA. Considered “suitable for all audiences” on the Central Park Media VHS release. TV-PG on the Sentai Filmworks release.
- Germany: 6+ (Apropriate for ages 6 and up.)
- France: Tous publics (General Audiences)
- India: U (Unrestricted public exhibition, suitable for all ages.)
- Hong Kong: Level 1 (Suitable for All Ages.)
- Canada: G and PG for Quebec and Manitoba respectively.
- Japan: G
- Saudi Arabia: PG
- Singapore: PG
- Italy: T (Recommended for persons of all age groups.)
- Taiwan: 0+ (Suitable for all ages)
- Netherlands: 9 (Ages 9 and up)
- Nigeria: PG
You’d know that if you read the post! Funnily enough, it also links out to an neat article discussing a study showing parents aren’t reading scary stories to their kids… And why that’s bad. Here it is just in case ya need it! Heck, on other bits of social media, I heard about schools showing kids the movie in 5th to 6th grade, in the US even!
