History WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/{{Barbie|2023}}'' may be about a children's toy, but it's PG-13 and contains many innuendos, adult themes and a plot where the main character [[spoiler: goes through a depression]]. Despite this, some parents took their daughters to see it anyway. It should definitely be noted that the film was advertised before family-friendly movies such as ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie''.

** In addition, PG-13 has been the subject of ratings creep over the years, with greater amounts of sexual content and violence in PG-13 films of the 2010s compared to PG-13 films of the 1990s.

* Even though [[Creator/{{Disney}} Disney]] made ''Film/TheDevilAndMaxDevlin'' and it received a PG rating (the film came out a few years before the creation of the PG-13 rating), the movie is still not for kids because it revolves around a man who gets hit by a car and makes a deal with the devil to take three people's souls so that he won't end up in hell for eternity. This is why the movie [[BoxOfficeBomb failed at the box office]]. Parents assumed it was for kids because Disney made it, so they sent angry letters to Disney about the film's content, which damaged the movie's reputation and caused it to flop. This movie is one of the reasons why Disney created [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]]. What also doesn't help is the blurb on the 2006 DVD for the film, which claims it is something "the whole family will enjoy."

* Even though ''Film/TheDevilAndMaxDevlin'' was made by [[Creator/{{Disney}} Disney]] and was given a PG rating (the film was released a few years before the creation of the PG-13 rating), the movie is still not for kids as it is about a man getting hit by a car and having a deal with the devil to take three people’s souls so that we won’t end up in hell for eternity. This is the reason why the movie [[BoxOfficeBomb failed at the box office]]. Parents assumed that it was for kids because it was a Disney movie, and so they sent angry letters to Disney for the content in the film, which damaged the movie’s reputation and made it flop. This movie is one of the reasons why [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]] was created. What doesn’t help is that the blurb on the 2006 DVD for the film says that it is something that “the whole family will enjoy.”

* Even though ''Film/TheDevilAndMaxDevlin'' was made by [[Creator/{{Disney}} Disney]] and was given a PG rating (the film was released a few years before the creation of the PG-13 rating), the movie is still not for kids as it is about a man getting hit by a car and having a deal with the devil to take three people’s souls so that we won’t end up in hell for eternity. This is the reason why the movie [[BoxOfficeBomb failed at the box office]]. Parents assumed that it was for kids because it was a Disney movie, and so they sent angry letters to Disney for the content in the film, which damaged the movie’s reputation, which helped it flop. This movie is one of the reasons why [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]] was created. What doesn’t help is that the blurb on the 2006 DVD for the film says that it is something that “the whole family will enjoy.”

* Even though ''Film/TheDevilAndMaxDevlin'' was made by [[Creator/{{Disney}} Disney]] and was given a PG rating (the film was released a few years before the creation of the PG-13 rating), the movie is still not for kids as it is about a man getting hit by a car and having a deal with the devil to take three people’s souls so that we won’t end up in hell for eternity. This is the reason why the movie [[BoxOfficeBomb failed at the box office]]. Parents assumed that it was for kids because it was a Disney movie, and so they sent angry letters to Disney for the content in the film, which damaged the movie’s reputation. This movie is one of the reasons why [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]] was created. What doesn’t help is that the blurb on the 2006 DVD for the film says that it is something that “the whole family will enjoy.”

* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Although the first three films are largely targeted towards kids and pre-teens, the rest of the series is noticeably more geared towards teenagers and young adults. Some of the violence gets particularly dark and gruesome towards the end of the series, with pretty realistic and unpleasant blood and injury detail visible in multiple scenes. An example of a particularly nasty scene can be found within The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, where Hermione has the word "mudblood" carved into her arm with a knife while she screams in agony (although most of it off-screen, it's still way too dark and scary for children). Other non-kid-friendly scenes include Albus Dumbledore being horribly tortured by a toxic cursed potion in ''The Half-Blood Prince'', a sizable chunk of Ron's shoulder and upper arm being torn off in ''The Deathly Hallows: Part 1'', Harry being tortured by Voldemort (and briefly stabbed by a knife) in ''The Goblet of Fire'', a brief but graphic shot of Voldemort's bloodstained corpse in ''The Deathly Hallows: Part 2'', and so on. [[note]] Admittedly, the films were becoming darker and more mature as the primary audience - the children who'd read the books as they came out - aged into adulthood, and the director changed from [[Creator/ChrisColumbus the guy responsible for the first two]] ''Film/HomeAlone'' [[Creator/ChrisColumbus films &]] ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' to [[Creator/AlfonsoCuaron a more fantasy-oriented one]].

** In Italy, it was [[ValuesDissonance basically rated G(!)]] [[note]]Italy is notoriously lax with film ratings, and only has three: 'tutti' (General), [=VM14=] (not for children under 14) and [=VM18=] (not for children under 18. There are discussions to revise the system: For example, ''Paranormal Activity'' was rated 'tutti', and that did not sit well with audiences there, some of whom had panic attacks at the premiere.[[/note]]. The only notable controversies regarding the film there were from liberal Catholic organizations that thought it was at odds with Vatican II's promise ''not'' to paint the Jewish people as responsible for Jesus' death.

** In Italy, it was [[ValuesDissonance basically rated G(!)]] [[note]] Italy is notoriously lax with film ratings, and only has three: 'tutti' (General), [=VM14=] (not for children under 14) and [=VM18=] (not for children under 18. There are discussions to revise the system: For example, ''Paranormal Activity'' was rated 'tutti', and that did not sit well with audiences there, some of whom had panic attacks at the premiere.[[/note]]. The only notable controversies regarding the film there were from liberal Catholic organizations that thought it was at odds with Vatican II's promise ''not'' to paint the Jewish people as responsible for Jesus' death.

** One of the most egregious examples would be Creator/AnthonyNewley's semi-autobiographical ([[OverlyLongTitle and very-long-named]]) movie-musical ''Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?'' Newley being famous for the songs from ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' and for playing Matthew Mugg in ''Film/DoctorDolittle'', one might think ''Heironymus Merkin'' is family-friendly... until they find out not only is is '''Rated X''', but was apparently sleazy enough that his son, Sacha Newley, accused him of [[PedoHunt being a pedophile]] years after his death. (Although thankfully this is probably not true, since Newley's ex-wife Creator/JoanCollins, who actually divorced him over the film, did defend him from those allegations, as did Newley's daughter Tara.)

** In Italy, it was [[ValuesDissonance basically rated G(!)]][[note]] Italy is notoriously lax with film ratings, and only has three: 'tutti' (General), [=VM14=] (not for children under 14) and [=VM18=] (not for children under 18. There are discussions to revise the system: For example, ''Paranormal Activity'' was rated 'tutti', and that did not sit well with audiences there, some of whom had panic attacks at the premiere. [[/note]]. The only notable controversies regarding the film there were from liberal Catholic organizations that thought it was at odds with Vatican II's promise ''not'' to paint the Jewish people as responsible for Jesus' death.

* A lot of old classic cinema films get mistaken for this perhaps unintentionally to introduce children to the most popular cinema that existed from an early age. A lot of people just can't seem to understand that while UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode made films more "wholesome," it did not always make them more soothing for kids. Indeed, the Code was less stringent with horror films than with any other genre. The aforementioned ''Best Old Movies for Families'' book directly addresses this, and except for ''Film/HelloDolly'', the films below are described in detail so parents know what they're ''really'' about going in so they'll know if they want their kids to tackle it now or later.

* ''Atari: Game Over'' is a documentary about the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}}, Atari in general, and mainly the very infamous E.T. game. It's aimed at adult gamers, especially those who were youths in The80s; however, it is regularly aired on Showtime's family geared channel. Despite it being about video games it's TV-14 and contains heavy references to drugs.

** It's about Jesus and it's from Literature/TheBible and religious things are definitely family-friendly, so that makes it okay, right? Leaving aside that anyone who has read the Bible should recognize a difference between the real thing and "Bible Stories for Children", some parents still ignored the R rating (or intentionally [[AbusiveParents defied the R rating]]) and [[http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,600221,00.html took their tykes to theaters for this one]]. And it made Stephen King feel ashamed. {{Gorn}} to the point of {{squick}} not withstanding. Hopefully, they learned their lesson and didn't make the same mistake when ''Film/{{Apocalypto}}'' came out. Note that Mel Gibson himself recommended the film for people over 13 and Jim Caviezel (who played Christ in the film) warned that parents should consider the R-rating before letting their children watch it.