Is new Batman movie too violent?

by Matthew Martin matthew.martin@dailypost.co.nz
The new Batman movie The Dark Knight is today under fire in Rotorua for being too violent for children - sparking calls for it to be given a restricted classification.

Rotorua grandmother Lois Oats said there was no way she would let her grandchildren see The Dark Knight, saying it was too violent.

"Children don't realise what happens in real life when they see movie violence," she said.

Lakes District Health Board professional adviser for psychology George Furstenburg backs up Mrs Oats, saying younger children cannot necessarily differentiate between reality and fantasy.

"Younger children will also find it difficult to weave this very adult narrative into a storyline and would therefore remember the movie as a disjointed set of violent and disturbing images.

"This can potentially lead to increased fear behaviour and nightmares in younger children," he said.

The film has an M rating which means it is recommended as more suitable for audiences aged over 16 but does not stop people of any age watching it.

Mrs Oats said the film should be rated R13.

"The Joker character is violent and psychologically disturbed, it was a brilliant piece of acting that children would not be able to grasp," she said.

Reviewers have described Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker as "pure evil" and the movie as "not a film that pre-adolescent children should watch."

After opening in New Zealand last Thursday, the film took $1.8 million at the box office in its first weekend.

Rotorua's Reading Cinema complex manager Adam Morrison said the film has had a positive opening week in Rotorua and is right up there with the highest revenue earners this year. Nightly sittings of the film were sold out for its first three days.

"It's not your typical superhero movie, it is very dark and gritty and there is a lot of realistic violence. The film has definitely lived up to the hype after the death of Heath Ledger. He does an amazing job as a deeply disturbed Joker."

Mr Morrison said he had not received any complaints by movie-goers but would not recommend the film to anyone under 13."Staff have been informing parents about the film's content and we have not had any problems," Mr Morrison said.

An adviser for the Office of Film and Literature Classification, Michelle Baker, said the office had not received any complaints regarding the films M rating. Ms Baker recommended parents taking children to see The Dark Knight check reviews of the film and take heed of the film's M rating and descriptive note - "frequent moderate violence."

She said if people wanted to have the rating changed they could apply to the chief censor.

The M classification rating for the film was given by the Australian Classification Board, and as a result the same rating was automatically given in New Zealand. Ms Baker said this is standard practice for films under an R13 rating.