After Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) ‘s opening weekend, multiple audience members have complained about the dramatic themes and graphic scenes, claiming the film shouldn’t be rated PG-13.
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Director James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Vin Diesel as Groot, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and Will Poulter as Adam Warlock.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 takes the series in a more mature direction, with themes of animal cruelty, trauma, grotesque experimentation, gory imagery, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first F-Bomb.
All of this has resulted in the movie receiving a PG-13 rating for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references, and thematic elements. However, some audiences don’t think it’s enough.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ is Too Much For Kids
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Multiple people have commented that “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 definitely earned its PG-13 rating” and “quite a lot of swearing for Disney/Marvel. Not for the very young or easily upset.”
Some were much more direct, saying, “How the f*** did they get away with a 12 rating? If you’ve seen it, you know exactly what scene is making me question this.” Another user even speculated that Guardians 3 only got away with it because James Gunn was leaving for DC Studios, elaborating, “Guardians Vol. 3 really pushed the boat out as far as rating/gore. By far the most expletive and graphic MCU project so far.”
However, there’s another group of people who disagree. In fact, they think that parents have gotten too relaxed with the PG-13 rating.
PG-13 Stands For “Parental Guidance” For A Reason
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Multiple audience members have complained about the PG-13 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 not being appropriate for young children. But according to some people on Twitter, that is the parents’ fault.
Created in 1984, the PG-13 rating is meant to indicate films that don’t contain the same level of mature content as an R-rated film but may be too much for younger children. Some movies that inspired the rating were Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Gremlins (1984).
Twitter users have commented that the rating works precisely as intended, but parents have gotten too comfortable with movies receiving a PG-13 rating and forget what it actually means.
the PG-13 rating is doing exactly what it was created for but parents have become so familiarized with the idea of it being fair game for kids that this conversation arises when one actually features content that goes further than characters just saying ‘shit’ pic.twitter.com/rRs47GEdPZ
— Blake ™ (@NeilNevins) May 7, 2023
One user elaborated, “I’m sympathetic to the idea that these movies have a gigantic kids’ audience but also want to point out that PG-13 means “may not be suitable for kids under 13” instead of “it’s totally cool to take a 5-year-old” like we’ve been treating it.”
No matter the movie’s age rating, it’s up to the parents or guardians of the children to do the research for themselves and determine whether or not they think the film is appropriate.
Do you think Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 should have been rated PG-13? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!