Not recommended under 15 (language, sexual references, risky behaviours)
This topic contains:
Children under 15 | Not recommended due to sexual references, coarse language and risky behaviours that might be imitated |
Children 15 and over | OK for this age group |
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: | Whip It |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Coarse language and sexual references |
Length: | 111 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Bliss (Ellen Page) and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawakat) live in the tiny Texas town of Bodeen and dream of growing up and getting out. Pressured by her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) to participate in beauty pageants and feeling like a misfit at school, Bliss takes a chance and tries out for a roller derby team in Austin. She pushes herself, makes the team and finds that, despite its violent and aggressive nature, she really loves the game. She is also very good.
With the help of a dedicated coach (Andrew Wilson) the Scouts go from last place to playing in the grand finals. Things look pretty sweet, until Bliss’ relationship with a rocker (Landon Pigg) goes downhill, her friendship with Pash takes a turn for the worse and her family discovers that she has been lying to them in order to play in the roller derby.
Bliss runs away and turns to her team mates for help. Although their advice is not what she wants to hear, she heads back home to make amends and tries to put the pieces of her life back together again.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Adolescent struggles for independence; dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships
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 some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
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 may also be disturbed by some of 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 are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.
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.
Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Whip It is an unusual drama that takes a look at a less common sport and brings it to life. This movie may appeal to a range of ages but, due to its content, the movie is really only suitable for mature audiences.
The main messages from this movie are to be true to yourself and to have the courage to make your own path no matter how impossible it may seem.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with older children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as
The film also provides parents with an opportunity to discuss a number of behaviours that might be imitated by their children. There were a number of unfortunate examples involving sex and drinking but there were more subtle ones as well, such as the fact that not once did Bliss or any of her friends ever wear a seatbelt when driving in a car.
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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