Jane Goldman’s film, Kick-Ass, has already caused controversy in the United States because children were allowed to see violent previews of the film online. The film faces criticism in Britain amid concern about the role models presented to children by the media.
Ross was widely criticised in October 2008 after he and the comedian Russell Brand made obscene calls to Andrew Sachs, the former Fawlty Towers actor. Ross announced in January that he would not be renegotiating his contract with the BBC when it ends in July.
Many may find his wife’s film even more repellent. One of the characters is an 11-year-old called Hit-Girl, who shoots bullets through a man’s cheek and slices people’s legs off. Chloë Moretz, the 13-year-old American actress who plays the part, screams at her opponents: “Okay, you c***s, let’s see what you can do now.”
In another scene the character tells her vigilante father that she wants a puppy for her birthday. When he looks surprised she says: “I’m just f****** with you, Daddy,” and asks for a new weapon — a gleaming, razor-sharp knife.
In an interview, Moretz said of her character: “She’s an assassin, but at the same time she is still just an 11-year-old girl. She doesn’t know any better; it’s just how she was raised.”
The film’s fans say it has the verve, wit and extreme violence of a Quentin Tarantino movie. It will, however, have a 15 certificate in Britain.
Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at Kent University, said the film industry was blurring the lines between adult and child entertainment. “This promotes the idea that infantilising adulthood is okay and that we are no longer expected to draw lines between
us and kids,” he said. Criticism of the film, which is due to be released in April, comes after a Home Office report last week highlighted the unsuitable images to which children are routinely exposed. The report condemned the exposure of children to pornography and violence, and called for stricter controls on the increased use of “sexualised imagery” in advertising.
Kick-Ass is based on comics created by Mark Millar, a Scottish writer, and John Romita Jr, an American illustrator. They are marketed with the slogan “sickening violence: just the way you like it”.
Goldman’s script, co-written with the director Matthew Vaughn, tells the story of an ordinary American teenage boy who decides to turn himself into a superhero. It stars Aaron Johnson, 19, who played John Lennon in Nowhere Boy, and Nicolas Cage, who plays Hit-Girl’s father.
When scenes from the film were shown in San Diego last July at an annual comic-book convention, Millar said: “The weird thing about this film is that you come out of it wanting to be an 11-year-old girl because she’s so cool. You think, ‘I’d love to kill all those guys’.”
However, there have been complaints in America about the graphic trailers for the film now being shown on the internet. The official trailers contain content unsuitable for young children, but are, say critics, readily available to children under 15.
However, there have been complaints in America about the graphic trailers for the film now being shown on the internet. The official trailers contain content unsuitable for young children, but are, say critics, readily available to children under 15.
“These particular trailers are even worse than normal because they depict a child and so are more interesting to a child,” Nell Minow, a lawyer and one of the complainants, told The New York Times last week. “Isn’t there a limit to what we can ask children to do on screen?”
Those involved in Kick-Ass are steeling themselves for a backlash. When asked by one US interviewer about the suitability of an 11-year-old using the word “c***”, Goldman said: “I think that’s the least of our worries.”
Goldman met Ross when she was a young newspaper columnist and married him when she was just 18. She has forged her own successful career as a television presenter, author and screenwriter. She co-wrote an award-winning script with Vaughn for the 2007 film Stardust, which starred Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer. She has also written a novel, Dreamworld.
Commenting on the film, Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in New York state, said: “It’s still enough of a real taboo that when you hear some of those words coming out of the mouth of an 11-year-old kid, it’s really shocking. But that’s the whole point.”
Cat's comment
This has got to be the best mind fuck yet
here we go again dick heads dissing something they havent seen yet and who has complained in America about it and in Britain the fact that its aimed at Teenager's in the UK it has been given a 15 rating however under 15's will see this on DVD parents etc will go out and buy it this has been going on for years my folks have watched films when they were younger they weren't actually old enough to see but lets just have a look at Kick Ass this is not an 18 rated move it is 15 rated R in USA it is comic violence take sean of the dead that was Zombies but it was comedy aswell Kick Ass is a comedy action movie of course there is some scenes of language and violence it is a f*cking action movie for goodness sake oh and before i continue the Banana Splitz Theme isn't the actual version from the kids tv show that used to be on tv my dad has the Dickies version himself this is a punk rock band that are American
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