Embrace Kids

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Embrace Kids
• a review of Embrace Kids completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 5 September 2022.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Writer and director, Taryn Brumfitt, who is also the founder of ‘The Body Image Movement’, takes viewers on a journey to wholeheartedly embrace themselves in this documentary aimed at kids. Taryn worked with a wide range of children to gain insights into some of the problems facing kids today and how these aspects, even the subtle ones, influence our lives and our choices. Taryn is joined by actors, comedians, influencers, sports stars, teachers and speakers who all lend a unique perspective to the global problems of body shaming, superficial judgements, bullying and feelings of helplessness and unhappiness. Through these positive and, at times, hilarious interviews, children will begin to understand the effects of the media in driving these issues, they will be able to recognise stereotypes and unhealthy habits and, ultimately, they will learn that they have the power to choose. That is, children have the power to choose gratitude and happiness; they have the power to choose to love themselves and their bodies for everything they can do; and they have the power to choose how they exist and where their dreams will take them. They, and they alone, should determine how they feel about their bodies, remembering that they are defined by their spirit, their heart and who they are as a person, not who the media think they should be. Children will learn that they each have a voice and that they have the power to change the environment around them, simply by remembering to love, not loathe, their bodies and simply by being themselves.

Body shaming; Bullying due to race, ethnicity, physical appearance, disability, gender etc; The impact of advertising and how the media uses it, as well as the impact of influencers, to teach us that we are broken; The business of making people feel unhappy so that we will buy more, while striving for a standard that is impossible to achieve; The negative effects of social media and how it contributes to the general unhappiness of millions of people.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• An athlete describes how, as he was running in a game, his arm was grabbed and pulled straight down and how this contributed to the accident that left him paralysed.
• A young girl describes how bullies spit at her.

Material that may scare or disturb children

• Nothing further of concern.

• Nothing further of concern.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Numerous brands, logos, shows and products are shown or mentioned including: Google, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, BTN, The Ellen and Jimmy Fallon Shows, The Good Place, My Little Pony, Barbie, CAT, Levis, Avico, Action Man, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Vogue, Gucci, Grazia, Marie Claire, Electric Fields, and Marvel (specifically Captain America and Black Panther).

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• When talking about gender identity the words vagina and penis are used.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• A comedian posts photos of herself in bikinis (among other things) in comparison to influencers and models, some of whom wear very skimpy and revealing clothing or swimwear.
• A group of very diverse women celebrate their bodies by dancing around in their underwear and bras.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Bloody
• BS
• Screwed
• Ass.

In a nutshell

Embrace Kids is an eye-opening, Australian, documentary from writer, director and positive body image crusader, Taryn Brumfitt. The film is aimed at children between the ages of 8-14, though its powerful messages are also important for older teens as well as slightly younger kids, as more and more children, from earlier ages, are being exposed to the subtle and pernicious effects of social influence and marketing.

The main messages from this movie are to be yourself, and to believe in yourself and in your own individual potential to make a difference in the world. Through the film, kids will be reminded that the happiest people are not the ones who are striving to meet impossible standards or who are even simply trying to fit in; the happiest people are following their dreams and their hearts, regardless of what anyone else thinks or says. The film teaches that you are beautiful, unique and enough, exactly as you.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Self-acceptance
• Tolerance
• Love
• Compassion
• Persistence
• Wisdom.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Believing what the media wants us to think: believing that we need to change ourselves or buy certain products or be like other people in order to be happy.
• The effects of bullying, whether it happens to you or to someone you love.
• Discriminating against or judging others based on ethnicity, physical attributes or gender.
• The insidious nature of advertising, how it has changed over time and how it subtly affects us all.