We are very selective with what we let our kiddos watch. In fact, we are selective on what Christina and I choose to watch.
This is a very dynamic thing for your family too, because as you grow and walk with God you may eliminate certain types of movies, but eventually be more lenient in others. Kiddos make this even more tricky because there are a lot of factors that determine what age a nugget should be allowed to see something. For example, there is an intensity to movies that can frighten very small children. Note: This is a reason to be careful with personal recommendations, even from people you know have a solid spiritual walk… the factors for what is right for your family at a given time are varied are complicated.
Another reason to be cautious is that we romanticize the stuff we used to watch. You will be shocked if you end up watching things from your past. First off, the low production quality will stick out to you, but also honestly there are a lot of things that used to fly with movies that no longer do. This may surprise you. The way to think about it is this… the good in movies for companies that want to make good movies for children (typically Disney) has grown tremendously. Of course, the trashy “we don’t care” type factors in movies for the other companies has done the same in the other direction. Classic line: “whoops!…. I definitely forgot about that part”.
The answer for us is to be diligent about checking into movies. My favorite site is “Christian Spotlight on Entertainment” and the best way to search it is “<movie_name> Christian Spotlight”. The reason this one takes the top spot is for convenience. At the very top they have “Morality Ranking” . This ranges from “Extremely Offensive” to “Excellent”. Excellent is really reserved for Conservative Christian movies (think Fireproof). Honestly anything from Better than Average” and above you can consider safe without reading further. Anything rated “Average” (for kids movies) or “Offensive” for adult movies should be researched further by reading on. A tip on this… the first 60% is typically talking about the plot. I personally skip this. Below that is where it discusses any objectionable content. This will help understand the rating.
If it is a kiddo movie, and we are on the fence, Christina and I will typically rent it first and watch it to make a final call.
Also very important, the Christian Spotlight site also gives a Moviemaking Quality score of 1 to 5 stars right at the top. Sometimes you will find a movie that is plenty fine morally, but just terrible. Your time is valuable, don’t waste it on bad movies, even if they don’t curse. Again, the text can help explain why the rating was given.
Second up is Plugged In (a Focus on the Family site). This one is good too, but honestly often I want a quick summary of the morality and movie quality (like the other site has) and it takes a bit longer to extract out from this site. Occasionally I have to go with this if a movie was not reviewed yet on C.S.
If neither site has the movie I am looking for, usually this happens for older movies, I will search “<movie_name> Christian Review”. Sometimes this brings up sites like Crosswalk, but it is very hit or miss.
One word of caution. I have not used “common sense media”‘s site much. I don’t believe it is a Christian site and it seems to give every single movie 4-stars (at least from the preview results from Google).
Your kiddos cannot unwatch something. You and your spouse cannot unwatch something. Be selective. Don’t talk yourself into compromising on something. Listen to and follow that still small voice. Enjoy the show… enjoy the journey.
Hope this helps…