Year’s best movies for US and British children through the lenses of film advisory boards

Media contents and their suitability for consumption by the young are a source of ongoing concern. The current investigation has assessed how movies later nominated for or awarded the best movie of the year by US and British children were evaluated by the US, British and Australian film advisory boards, and the US media advocacy and education organization Common Sense Media (CSM). The findings indicate that the movies these two populations of children consider the year’s finest differ considerably, that the movies chosen are assigned to different age classifications, with each board using a different dominant combination of justifications to explain these age restrictions. CSM ratings reveal that British children prefer movies with positive messages, and their US peers prefer those infused with profanity, sex, and consumerism.