“There are too many kids in here!” my friend texted from the movie theatre. The movie? Deadpool 2.
When Deadpool first came out I went to see it opening weekend and felt hella guilty. After all, my then-8 year old was possibly the most superhero-obsessed child ever. And my guy shares Deadpool’s sharp wit (well, as much as a 10-year-old can). He was pretty sad.
As anyone who’s seen it knows, this isn’t just your average crash-boom-bash movie. The “R” rating is earned for more than just a random swear word… it’s a truly gory raunchfest. I suspect most of the jokes would sail RIGHT OVER kids’ heads and even the most aggressive kid might flinch at the amount of arm-ripping that takes place.
However, I’m sure anyone who works in a movie theatre will tell you that people are taking kids of all ages, even as young as 4 or 5. There’s been a bit of discussion on social media and many people feel that it’s no worse than a video game and that their kids know that they aren’t supposed to use the cuss words.
I honestly don’t judge anyone for their parenting choices in cases like these. Honestly, I’d love to share the out-there humour of Deadpool with my witty 10-year-old. But, even though I think he knows not to use that language… it’s pretty funny when Deadpool uses some extremely creative name-calling. It’s hard for me as a “grown-up” (term used loosely) not to walk out of the theatre wanting to use the same hilarious names… I’m pretty sure these would be some fresh phrases that would get a lot of good laughs at the playground.
The nice thing about my kids getting older is that they know that they won’t be allowed to see it. They don’t even ask! So I’m not put in the position where I have to say “no” – and to be totally honest, the number one reason I would say “no” is because we are new to our school and I don’t want to be known as “the mom who let her kids watch Deadpool”!