Strange Age Restrictions on TV these days

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D_W

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I don't watch much TV (including not much Netflix, etc).

The other day, my 7 year old boy wanted to watch something on netflix, and I said "it has to be interesting to dad if we're going to sit here and do nothing".

We landed on WWII in color (which he didn't find that interesting). What I thought was humorous was that the ratings were PG 13 or TV 14 or whatever they call it here in the states for "little kids shouldn't watch".

Of course, it involved killing, because it was WWII, but we avoided the episodes that were way too heavy (by the way, he's reading "i survived" books with his mother, so he knows who hitler was and I acted as secondary monitor flipping episodes if they were headed into gore).

But...the comical part. The warning as to age restrictions at the beginning of the episodes had nothing to do with people laying on the ground sawed in half. It said "inappropriate for young viewers: smoking".

Last year when there was a compilation of popeye (3 hours straight), the kids were asking to see cartoons I watched as a kid. I was logged in under the kids' ID - no popeye. I figured they just didn't have the rights. Not long after, I was in under my ID and it suggested popeye, which was a little odd. I clicked on it, called the kids over, and again, it warned me that it wasn't appropriate for kids: smoking. Popeye had a pipe and at one point in one of the episodes, bluto was handing out cigars as he was trying to get elected mayor or something.

I may be old fashioned, but consider the battlefield gore in true footage a bit too much for kids. The holocaust episode was off limits for the kids at this point - they've vaguely heard of it (one of the i survived books is a holocaust survivor), but the video is WAY too heavy for them, and we have a huge number of Jewish friends. It's not happening until they learn more about it in school What was the disclaimer? "smoking/nudity".

What about the fact that there are piles of deceased. Showing photos or videos of the deceased used to be a no-no. I guess now it's WAY down the list compared to the mortal sin of showing someone in 1942 smoking a cigarette with helmet straps hanging down while they talk to someone else.

(besides, I can't remember of popeye's pipe handles anything other than spinach).

"that guy is sawn in half on the ground over there, but if he'd have been smoking, he'd be WAY worse off, kids!!"
 
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