Editorial: Not exactly family fare

Friday, Dec. 2, 2005 | 7:30 a.m.

The phenomenal box-office success of quality, family-oriented fare such as "The Lion King," "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo" has resulted in studios making an ever-increasing number of films in recent years directed at children.

For parents, however, this glut isn't necessarily a great thing. First, many so-called "children's" movies are just awful, possessing no redeeming quality. Second, the movie rating system itself is vague and doesn't adequately tell adults if a movie contains violent or sexually suggestive scenes inappropriate for children.

Some groups have sprung up to ostensibly provide more information than the official movie rating system, offering their seal of approval as to whether a film is acceptable for the entire family.

But, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week, one of these groups has awarded its blessing to a film that was produced by one of its financial backers. And another group lets filmmakers whose movies receive its "Award of Excellence" to use it in advertising -- for a $2,000 fee.

So much for an objective take.

Through aggressive marketing -- deals with fast-food restaurants, for instance, featuring toys in kids meals based on movie characters -- and a vague rating system, the studios are trying every trick to make money. But it's shameful that the movie industry, seeing how lucrative it can be to market movies to children, is pushing the envelope in this way.