It must be so complex trying to decide how to rate a film. I would love to know what percentage of families take note of the ratings when it comes to seeing movies at home. In our case we tried, but sometimes it was like swimming up a waterfall, the higher ratings only making the film more tempting to any youngsters we thought we might have had a chance of influencing.

Was I grateful for the ratings? Yes, although some of them left me completely baffled, especially when our children were younger and without a television in the house. Like teddy bears at a picnic they’d be looking forward to the movie treat, when suddenly some gory, or tragic, universal ‘U’-rated film, would put them through a whole shock level of trauma that most of their ‘sophisticated’ contemporaries didn’t even register. Makes me laugh now looking back, but I remember the stress then. I think it was probably far worse for me imagining how bad it might be for them, than it actually was for them!

Our parental life had not begun in 1978, but it seems viewing trauma still lingers for those parenting then, and, as if in recognition of the stress suffered, either by parents from that time or by their children, and just in case it happens again, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has, after 45 years, raised the rating of Watership Down from ‘U’ (suitable for all) to parental guidance (PG).

In the United Kingdom the recently released film Barbie is rated as 12A meaning anyone under twelve should be accompanied by an adult.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023