Is the movie the Great Debaters appropriate for kids?

[mom2jrcsc]

It's rated PG-13. Before I spend a lot of time researching, can anyone who's seen it tell me whether it's appropriate for a 14, 12, & 6 yo? I got it from the library today and all the kids want to watch it (we were on a debate team this year).

[strider]

I thought this movie was profound, and it is one I would definitely recommend teens watch at some point. The historical lessons and the insight into the African-American experience are well done in this movie. Denzel Washington's performance was stellar.

Have you ever seen The Power of One? I would put this movie on par with that one--well done, profound ideas, with some difficult, painful scenes that make it more suitable for a mature audience.

I would be very, very careful about making sure your children have the maturity for this movie. There is a very, very frightening scene in which the debate team happens upon a lynching. There is not graphic violence--it shows the dead man in the tree from a distance, and it shows the white crowd trying to stop the car (the debate team cower inside while their coach tries to drive them to safety). Later one of the members of the team responds to the stress of this event by getting drunk. There are also a couple scenes that are s*xually suggestive--there is some kissing, and there is a bedroom scene. From what I remember the bedroom scene is not prolonged, is not shown close-up, but the viewer does see the two characters in bed together kissing. There is also a scene wherein a posse of white townsfolk break up a secret sharecroppers meeting rather violently. Even with the violence, the focus is not on beatings/fire but rather on the panic of one person, and his escape from that meeting. It is frightening but not gratuitously violent.

Your 6yo should DEFINITELY NOT watch this, and I would hesitate for the older two as well. The kid who watches this needs to be emotionally mature, will need to have some discussion/coaching with a parent, and needs to be able to handle some frightening scenes.

[Krista in LA]

I watch things like this first before deciding if my 12dd can watch it. I just commented to dh that there are only 2 scenes so far that make me think she shouldn't watch it. I could probably ignore the scene with 2 of the characters in bed together because it really doesn't show anything and isn't explicit. The lynching scene is a little gruesome though. I think it is a great movie though and there are lessons to be learned by it. I will probably let dd watch it but will encourage her to look away for those two scenes because it really is a good movie. Plus, it was filmed in our area which makes it a little more interesting for us.