Not recommended under 13s, PG to 15 (Themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Due to the mature nature of the content of this movie, it is not recommend for children under the age of thirteen. |
Children aged 13-15 | Children between the ages of thirteen to fifteen could see this film with parental guidance. |
Children over the age of 15 | Children over the age of 15 could see this film 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: | Vanity Fair |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Adult themes, Low level violence |
Length: | 141 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Vanity Fair is the story of Becky Sharp, a young, early 19th century woman, who is determined to rise above the low social status of her family and be accepted by England’s social elite. Her journey is intertwined with that of her close childhood friend, Amelia, who, although brought up in a well to do family, must later face many of the same social and economic situations that Becky does.
Becky begins her journey to fortune working as a governess for the family of Sir Pitt Crawley. Through her frankness, wit and charm she slowly wins the family over. Cantankerous Aunt Matilda is especially taken with her and invites her to London where Becky secretly marries her nephew Rawdon Crawley, heir to the vast family fortune. Rawdon goes off to war and when he returns learns that Aunt Matilda has died and that he has been disinherited. In attempting to maintain the lifestyle that they have been accustomed to Becky uses her feminine wiles and accepts assistance from the Marques de Styne who promises to help open doors to the highest ranks of society. Yet for his assistance Becky pays a heavy price and in many ways winds up losing more than she stood to gain.
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.
The few instances of violence in this film were all quite realistic.
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
Two of the above scenes in particular could potentially disturb young viewers:
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 could also be disturbed 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.
Some older children could also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes.
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 older children could also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes.
During one scene Rawdon and Becky are in bed, Rawdon is breathing heavily and sexual activity is implied.
Alcohol is widely used throughout the film:
There was no coarse language in the film, although a small amount of name-calling and other colourful phrases were used:
The main take-home message from Vanity Fair is that money can’t buy the things in life that are truly worth having. It also cautions us to be careful about what we wish for and how we go about getting it, because the final result may not be what we had hoped for.
Some issues and themes that parents may wish to discuss with their children are as follows:
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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