History WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids / LiveActionFilms

* ''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 TheEighties; 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.

* ''Film/TankGirl''. Has a scene implying that the title character had sex with a mutated kangaroo, one in which a little girl is dropped into a pipe to slowly drown, and some horror in which the BigBad drains the water out of one of his {{mooks}} and drinks it. Of course, nobody who is remotely familiar with [[ComicBook/TankGirl the source material)]] would have imagined that the film would be family-friendly.

* In the UK, a number of parents apparently took young children to see ''Film/TheWomanInBlack'' because it starred Creator/DanielRadcliffe and it was rated 12A (albeit edited to tone down the horrific imagery[[note]]mostly remixing the background music to get rid of the scare chords, lowering the volume to half on a scene of a dead boy shown caked in mud and shrieking, digitally darkening any scene showing the rotting corpses of dead children, cutting the scene of a woman on a chair preparing to hang herself, and cutting another scene of a girl being set on fire[[/note]]), so it couldn't be that bad. The resulting protests over the film's terrifying nature and DownerEnding led the [[CensorshipBureau BBFC]] to change its rules about horror to pay more attention to a film's mood and plot, as opposed to simply going by the level of graphic violence and gore.

* ''Film/TheStraightStory'' is a G-Rated Disney flick directed by Creator/DavidLynch. But it's still not for kids, many of whom would be bored to tears. As a story of a sick old man, traveling hundreds of miles on his lawnmower to reconcile with his estranged brother, it's been described as a David Lynch film one could take one's ''parents'' to.

* This trope is the main reason why ''Creator/RobertRodriguez'' made ''Film/SpyKids'' because he wanted to make a family oriented film after in an interview where he states that a guy told him his 6 year old son loved ''Film/{{Desperado}}'' despite the R rating which led to Robert explaining he never intended for kids to watch it so later he ended up making the [[Film/SpyKids the first film of the series that is a family spy movie]] released in 2001 and thus the rest is history.

* This trope is the main reason why ''Creator/RobertRodriguez'' made ''Film/SpyKids'' because he wanted to make a family oriented film after in an interview where he states that a guy told him his 6 year old son loved ''Film/{{Desperado}}'' despite the R rating which led to him explaining he never intended for kids to watch it so he ended up making the [[Film/SpyKids the first film of the series that is a family spy movie]] released in 2001 and thus the rest is history.

* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' has a PG rating on the DVD cover and was shown on the Creator/DisneyChannel for a while, despite the sex references ("That was my virgin alarm! It's programmed to go off before YOU DO!"), constant bad language ("I knew it, I'm surrounded by assholes!"; "We ain't found shit!") and occasional [[FantasticRacism fantastically racist]] remarks ("Funny! She doesn't look Druish [Jewish]!").

* ''Film/Strays2023'' seems like a fun movie about talking dogs on an adventure in the vein of ''Film/AirBuddies'' right? WRONG. The movie is rated R and contains many F-bombs and several penis jokes (both human and dog) the goal of the movie even being Reggie wanting to bite his abusive owner's penis off [[spoiler:(which it is fulfilled as a bloody and graphic permanent organ removal]].

* ''Film/Strays2023'' seems like a fun movie about talking dogs on an adventure in the vein of ''Film/AirBuddies'' right? WRONG. The movie is rated R and contains many F-bombs and several penis jokes (both human and dog) the goal of the movie even being Reggie wanting to bite his abusive owner's penis off.
* ''Film/TankGirl''. Has a scene implying that the title character had sex with a mutated kangaroo, one in which a little girl is dropped into a pipe to slowly drown, and some horror in which the BigBad drains the water out of one of his {{mooks}} and drinks it. Of course, nobody who is remotely familiar with [[ComicBook/TankGirl the source material]] would have imagined that the film would be family-friendly.

* ''Film/LoveActually'' seems like a nice little family Christmas movie that could be fun to take the kids to, and even gets frequently aired on ABC Family. But then there's the subplot with two stand-ins for a sex scene in a movie (complete with nudity) and an implied five-some with four American girls and one British guy. And the F-words. ''And'' several restrained but emotionally intense scenes about a superficially happily-married father of elementary-school aged children [[spoiler:whose wife finds he's having an affair with another woman]]. Just the thing for Christmas with the kids! To make matters worse, it's rated "for all ages" in Spain and the Netherlands!

* Hey, ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' is a comedy about cowboys! All little boys love westerns, right? Well, if you weren't tipped off by the fact that it's made by the same team behind the aforementioned ''Ted'' (and stars Creator/SethMacFarlane, who, despite working on kids' cartoons [[note]] some of which had risqué content early in his career, has made bank with more adult-oriented animation, like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''[[/note]]), be prepared for the constant sex jokes, prostitutes, bodily fluids, [[GrossUpCloseUp sheep penis close-ups]], ToiletHumor galore, cartoonishly violent deaths, and drunkenness.

* Hey, ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' is a comedy about cowboys! All little boys love westerns, right? Well, if you weren't tipped off by the fact that it's made by the same team behind the aforementioned ''Ted'' (and stars Creator/SethMacFarlane, who, despite working on kids' cartoons [[note]]some of which had risqué content early in his career, has made bank with more adult-oriented animation, like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''[[/note]]), be prepared for the constant sex jokes, prostitutes, bodily fluids, [[GrossUpCloseUp sheep penis close-ups]], ToiletHumor galore, cartoonishly violent deaths, and drunkenness.

* Hey, ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' is a comedy about cowboys! All little boys love westerns, right? Well, if you weren't tipped off by the fact that it's made by the same team behind the aforementioned ''Ted'' (and stars Creator/SethMacFarlane, who, despite working on kids' cartoons [[note]]some of which had risqué content] early in his career, has made bank with more adult-oriented animation, like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''[[/note]]), be prepared for the constant sex jokes, prostitutes, bodily fluids, [[GrossUpCloseUp sheep penis close-ups]], ToiletHumor galore, cartoonishly violent deaths, and drunkenness.

* Hey, ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' is a comedy about cowboys! All little boys love westerns, right? Well, if you weren't tipped off by the fact that it's made by the same team behind the aforementioned ''Ted'' (and stars Creator/SethMacFarlane, who, despite working on kids' cartoons [[note]]some of which had risqué content] early in his career, has made bank with more adult-oriented animation, like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''[[note/]]), be prepared for the constant sex jokes, prostitutes, bodily fluids, [[GrossUpCloseUp sheep penis close-ups]], ToiletHumor galore, cartoonishly violent deaths, and drunkenness.

* Hey, ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' is a comedy about cowboys! All little boys love westerns, right? Well, if you weren't tipped off by the fact that it's made by the same team behind the aforementioned ''Ted'' (and stars Creator/SethMacFarlane, who, despite working on kids' cartoons [some of which had risqué content] early in his career, has made bank with more adult-oriented animation, like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''), be prepared for the constant sex jokes, prostitutes, bodily fluids, [[GrossUpCloseUp sheep penis close-ups]], ToiletHumor galore, cartoonishly violent deaths, and drunkenness.

* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' series (yet another Spielberg effort!) is a victim to this. Nothing screams Family Friendly like melting Nazis, [[HelicopterBlender mooks chopped up by aircraft propellers]], and man-eating ants, right? In particular, controversy over the particularly high level of gore and horror in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' (along with ''{{Film/Gremlins|1984}}'' strongly contributed to the creation of both the PG-13 rating in the USA and the "12" rating in the UK.

* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' series (yet another Spielberg effort!) is a victim to this. Nothing screams Family Friendly like melting Nazis, [[HelicopterBlender mooks chopped up by aircraft propellers]], and man-eating ants, right? In particular, controversy over the particularly high level of gore and horror in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' strongly contributed to the creation of both the PG-13 rating in the USA and the "12" rating in the UK.

* ''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.

* ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'' (and its 2007 remake) is somewhat family friendly with its pro-acceptance message, which has led people to pick up other Creator/JohnWaters films thinking they were similar. This has led to Waters getting massive amounts of hate mail despite his reputation as "The Sultan of Sleaze." In one case, a woman made the news when she [[DisproportionateRetribution called 911]] after putting on ''Film/PinkFlamingos'' for her kids.

[[folder:Series, Genres & Misc]]
* In his book ''The Best Old Movies for Families'', critic Ty Burr complains that many other PG-13 rated films are regarded as family fare thanks to intentional MisaimedMarketing, which means parents will happily take toddlers to films like ''Film/VanHelsing'' without a second thought.
** 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.
* Canada has the PG rating for most provinces, and although most films released with the rating are generally okay for older kids (nearly every Marvel movie gets it, as does every ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie), some cause [[ValuesDissonance confusion for American viewers due to different ratings standards]] (who will notice the PG logo on the back of most DVD covers). [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/parentalguide According to IMDB]] ''Film/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'', of all films, was rated PG in Canada.
** It's not uncommon to see Canadian 14A and PG video ratings applied to films that would have received R ratings in the US. Sexual content and violence needs to be pretty extreme to trigger the 18A rating these days.
* Parents, just because a film is a musical doesn't mean that it's kid-friendly. ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'', ''Film/{{Chicago}}'', ''Film/MoulinRouge'', ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'', ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', ''Film/TheBestLittleWhorehouseInTexas'' and ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' come to mind. Musicals, yes they are. Kid friendly, far from it:
** Granted, for ''Sweeney Todd'', some parents may remember the much less gory [[Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet stage version]]. Most performances keep the child molestation, rape, suicide and cannibalism puns--while they aren't graphically shown, it can still be unsettling to hear it described.
** Almost all adaptations of ''Literature/LesMiserables''. Parents should notice the story includes prostitution, extreme poverty, massacres, kids killed off, teens killed off, suicide, and other not-for-children things.
** ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' is no less troublesome for those seeking family-friendly entertainment. After all, it takes place in Prohibition-era Chicago, home of gangsters, flappers, illegal booze, and murder. Several numbers take place in a murderer's prison, and there's cursing in some of the lyrics. This doesn't deter some middle schools from performing it.
** There are many little kids who are fans of ''Rocky Horror'', but there is a ton of sex and several scary scenes, including two scenes involving [[spoiler:four deaths]], but it's not as bad as most R rated movies nowadays. Its sequel, ''Shock Treatment'', although it is rated PG, contains more cursing and suggestive language than in ''Rocky Horror''.
** Speaking of musicals, take the 2000 adaptation of ''Theatre/LovesLaboursLost''. It may be a silly 1930's-esque musical about 3 men and a king trying to not be with women, but the rule of "No Women" is soon broken, and due to this, some sexual jokes are in the movie, including one sexy musical number with people in masks. Plus, the ending has [[spoiler:very disturbing images of World War 2, including burning buildings and concentration camps.]] Despite this, it got a PG rating in America and a U rating in the UK.
** ''Film/TheProducers''. Yeah, the protagonists have also voiced [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Timon and Simba]],[[note]]Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick play Bialystock and Bloom respectively[[/note]] and it's a wacky musical that also co-stars Creator/WillFerrell. Hell, it's even rated PG-13 in most countries, and was even "suitable for all ages" in Iceland, Norway, Malaysia, and Finland. Did we mention it contains innumerable amounts of sexual innuendos, several [[LastSecondWordSwap implied]] f-bombs, plenty of bad language, [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi and WWII humor]], and [[QueerAsTropes almost every gay stereotype under the sun]].
** ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' is a bunch of fun! Your kids will love the songs, and in the end Seymour and Audrey have a happy ending, right? They're sure to love the DepravedDentist, the protagonist chopping a dead man up and feeding him to a laughing plant, watching a man get chomped and swallowed whole by a plant and the female lead almost getting swallowed herself! And that's the lighter and happier ending, as opposed to the stage version, wherein everybody dies.
* 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.
** ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', as inspirational as it is as a holiday film, still has a man trying to kill himself.
** ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', featuring a good ol' gang stabbin', attempted gang rape, and the blatant racism of the cops and the Jets.
** ''Film/HelloDolly'': The fact that it got a G-rating in America makes this example even worse.
** ''Film/KingKong1933''. The effects might have aged, but the dinosaurs and giant ape are still scary as hell.
** ''Film/TheRedShoes1948''. It's based on a fairy tale! And ballet! High culture! Never mind the ballet-within-a-film is avant-garde expressionist horror where (just like the story) the heroine dances herself to death in the red shoes, and that's before the real-world framing story ends [[spoiler: with the heroine, torn between her love for her husband and her love for ballet, who commits suicide by leaping off a balcony [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill in front of a train]]]].
** Granted, people almost never claim it's a film for children. But a good number of fans of classic comedy and/or Creator/MarilynMonroe seem to like her famous film ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' because it's supposedly "innocent" and "charming" - not crude like romantic comedies are today. [[PraisingShowsYouDontWatch You have to wonder if such people have actually watched the movie.]] Never mind [[MarilynManeuver the skirt scene]]: ''The Seven Year Itch'' features jokes and innuendos about adultery, [[BlackComedyRape rape]], murder, [[SuicideAsComedy suicide]], [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale spousal abuse]], lung cancer, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking senseless book-burning]] - and all of this in the mid-1950s, no less! ''The Seven Year Itch'' isn't innocent; it's ''seemingly'' innocent, which arguably makes it even edgier than the modern comedies to which it's compared.
* ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'' (and its 2007 remake) is somewhat family friendly with its pro-acceptance message, which has led people to pick up other Creator/JohnWaters films thinking they were similar. This has led to Waters getting massive amounts of hate mail despite his reputation as "The Sultan of Sleaze." In one case, a woman made the news when she [[DisproportionateRetribution called 911]] after putting on ''Film/PinkFlamingos'' for her kids.
* "Family" geared channels such as Showtime Fam Zone and Starz Kids tend to show anything under the R rating even if they're not really family friendly. Thus we get more risque PG and PG-13 movies like ''Film/LookWhosTalking'' or ''Film/ThreeMenAndABaby'' alongside more "kid-friendly" material.
* There have been numerous examples of family-friendly TV series being adapted as raunchier and/or more violent PG-13 and R-rated films. Recent examples include ''Film/TheATeam'', ''Film/CHiPs'', ''Film/{{Baywatch}}'' (the original series might have featured sexy actors in swimwear, but it was still considered a family show), and ''definitely'' the movies based upon ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' which even led original TV cast members to complain. In December 2017, it was announced that Creator/QuentinTarantino was planning to direct an R-rated ''Franchise/StarTrek'' film, so that may be added to the list in the future.
* Due to their educational nature, documentaries don't follow the same ratings criteria as fictional films. A documentary can be given a "TV-14" rating despite featuring graphic photos and footage of dead bodies. This is especially common in war documentaries or [[NatureIsNotNice nature]] documentaries. Similarly, it leads to nudity and sexual situations in "PG" or "TV-PG" documentaries (hence the NationalGeographicNudity trope).
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* ''Film/{{Barbie}}'' 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.

* ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' is a bunch of fun! Your kids will love the songs, and in the end Seymour and Audrey have a happy ending, right? They're sure to love the DepravedDentist, the protagonist chopping a dead man up and feeding him to a laughing plant, watching a man get chomped and swallowed whole by a plant and the female lead almost getting swallowed herself! And that's the lighter and happier ending, as opposed to the stage version, wherein everybody dies.

* Hey, ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' is a comedy about cowboys! All little boys love westerns, right? Well, if you weren't tipped off by the fact that it's made by the same team behind the aforementioned ''Ted'' (and stars Creator/SethMacFarlane, who, despite working on kids' cartoons[[note]]some of which had risqué content[[/note]] early in his career, has made bank with more adult-oriented animation, like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''), be prepared for the constant sex jokes, prostitutes, bodily fluids, [[GrossUpCloseUp sheep penis close-ups]], ToiletHumor galore, cartoonishly violent deaths, and drunkenness.

* Hey, ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' is a comedy about cowboys! All little boys love westerns, right? Well, if you weren't tipped off by the fact that it's made by the same team behind the aforementioned ''Ted'' (and stars Creator/SethMacFarlane, who, despite working on kids' cartoons[[note]]some of which had risqué content[[/note]] early in his career, has made bank with more adult-oriented animation, like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''), be prepared for the constant sex jokes, prostitutes, bodily fluids, [[GrossUpCloseUp sheep penis close-ups]], ToiletHumor galore, cartoonishly violent deaths, and drunkenness.