On Sunday I saw a movie that I was forbidden to watch as a child, The Blue Lagoon. I can understand why any parent would not want a 12 year-old to see this thing in 1980, with its extensive nudity and theme of sexual awakening. On the other hand, I'm a bit puzzled about my parents' reluctance to let me watch a film released a few years later (one I saw for the first time earlier this year), the 1983 TV movie The Day After. One would think that a 15 year-old honor student would be encouraged to watch a movie that questioned the wisdom of a nuclear arms race. I should probably remember, though, that while the movie is tame by 2005 standards, it was graphic in 1983, and the network's extensive promotion of free grief counseling phone services woud only increase parents' concern. But still, I coulda handled it....
Posted by wrjacobs at August 16, 2005 01:21 PM | TrackBackI'll have to put that one on my Must See list.
The only movie I was ever forbidden to watch when I was a kid was The Silence of the Lambs. Anything else was fair game; I remember being very confused by Bachelor Party, among others...
Posted by: vix at August 21, 2005 01:23 PMThe Day After originally aired when I was 11, and I was allowed to watch it. It terrified me -- I had trouble sleeping and nightmares when I did sleep for months afterwards. I think my mom felt bad, but she thought I could handle it. I couldn't.
Posted by: stacie at August 18, 2005 11:16 AM