Not recommended under 8s, PG to 15 (Viol. Scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Due to the level of violence and scariness in this movie, it is not recommended for children under the age of 8. |
Children aged 8-13 | Parental guidance is recommended for children aged 8 to 13. |
Children aged 13-15 | Some children aged 13-15 may still need parental guidance to view this movie. |
Children over the age of 15 | Should be okay to see this movie with or without parental guidance |
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.
Name of movie: | Phantom of the Opera |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Medium level violence |
Length: | 141 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
When Christine Daaé’s father dies, he promises her he will not leave her as an orphan but will send an ‘angel of music’ to watch over her. Christine believes the man known as the Phantom of the Opera is her Angel of Music who has been coaching her as a singer. As such he is able to wield a strong hold over her. The Phantom never shows his face but all the members of the Opera House know he’s there and are terrified of him. The Phantom is in love with Christine, however he becomes extremely jealous when Raoul enters the scene and falls in love with Christine who in turn falls in love with Raoul. One night Christine gets locked in her dressing room and the Phantom appears in her mirror. He takes Christine by the hand and leads her through a backstairs passage to an underground, candle lit cave which is his home. Christine tries to remove the Phantom’s mask which greatly angers him. He finally lets her go.
The Phantom wants the Managers of the Opera House, André and Firmin, to perform an opera he’s written. When they refuse, he kills one of the members, Buquet, by hanging him from a rope during a ballet performance. André and Firmin are thus forced into producing the Phantom’s opera, the Don Juan Triumphant. The Phantom also insists that Christine takes the lead female role. Christine is terrified at the thought of playing the lead role but knows she has no choice. Piangi is to take the role of Don Juan. On the opening night Piangi begins the opera as Don Juan but during the performance the Phantom kills Piangi and takes the lead role himself. Christine realises it is the Phantom and pulls off his mask revealing his badly scarred face. The Phantom runs from the stage and up to the balcony where he causes a huge chandelier to fall on the audience. A fire then beaks out causing further chaos. The Phantom returns to the stage, grabs Christine and takes her back to his cave. Raoul follows after them and nearly drowns in an underwater cavern. The Phantom rescues him, ties him up and forces Christine to now choose between them.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is quite a lot of violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
There is a lot in this movie that would scare children in this age group. As well as the violent scenes mentioned above, the following would also scare young children:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group would also likely be scared by the above-mentioned scenes.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children in this age group would still be scared by the above mentioned scenes as they are very realistic.
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Some children in this age group could still be scared by this movie.
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The take home message is that human behaviour is set at an early age and is sometimes the result of how one is treated as a child.
Values parents may wish to encourage include empathy.
Parents could use aspects of the movie to discuss with their children what their own family’s values are, and what the real life consequences can be of some actions and attitudes such as violence as way to solve conflict, jealousy and vengeance.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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