Potty-Mouthed Kids Latest Trend in Trashy Trailers

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. And we're definitely not on the good ship Lollipop -- unless it's been taken over by longshoremen.

Have you heard the way children talk in movies lately?

Nowadays, a smart-mouthed Dorothy would tell the witch where to go and what to do with herself once she got there. And Shirley Temple? She'd probably use her feet less for dancing and more for kicking butt.

The New York Times reports many adults are concerned kids are growing up a little too fast with a boost from Hollywood.No one, for example, will ever confuse Chloe Moritz in the upcoming movie "Kick-Ass" with Darla Hood in "The Little Rascals."

In "Kick-Ass," Moritz, 13, plays an 11-year-old character named Hit Girl. An online preview shows her brandishing a gun and a severe case of potty mouth. She shoots one guy in the face and uses a whip to kill another.

"Pollyanna," this is not.

And it is igniting a debate about how movie studios market R-rated movies on the Web. Limited as to the amount of nudity, violence and profanity they can show on TV, the studios go all out online.

Sometimes these "red band" previews include children.

Images featuring Moritz have become an Internet sensation since Lionsgate, the studio behind the movie, released the trailer in December. What this says about people having a taste for this sort of thing disturbs Nell Minow, a lawyer who reviews movies for radio stations and Belief.net under under name Movie Mom.

"Studios hide behind the notion of an age requirement for these trailers, but it's pure fiction," Minow tells the Times. "It's easy for kids to access, and that's exactly how the industry wants it."

Raunchy trailers are available to everyone, regardless of age. Fans copy them to their blogs and Facebook profiles and post them outside of YouTube's supposed age barriers.

Minow, the daughter of Newton Minow, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and pop culture critic who famously called television a "vast wasteland," tells the Times she's on a mission against red band trailers exploiting children. She adds that she's lodged multiple complaints with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in recent weeks.

"These particular trailers are even worse than normal because they depict a child and so are more interesting to children," Minow tells the newspaper.

In a statement, Lionsgate execs tell yhe Times: "It's really important for people to know what kind of movie this is so they can make an appropriate decision about whether or not they want to see it."

Steamy online previews aren't the only things raising concerns about kids and R-rated movies. Few people would put "Kick-Ass" in the same league as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List."

The World War II movies are too mature for kids, Marysville School District officials in Ohio suspect. The Columbus Distpach reports Superintendent Larry Zimmerman has announced district schools will quit showing showing scenes from these and other R-rated movies, even for educational purposes.

Students were never shown the entire movies, but more than two dozen parents showed up at a recent school board meeting to protest their kids seeing graphic clips.

Zimmerman tells the Dispatch he's shelving the clips while the issue is examined.

"The issue is, are we doing the things we need to do to notify parents, and are we fulfilling educational purposes even in showing just clips?" Zimmerman tells the newspaper.

School board Chairman Doug Lassiter sides with parents in not wanting the clips shown. "The things you watch sometimes get in your brain, and it's hard to get it out," he tells the Dispatch.

What do you think? Where do you draw the line between protecting children and censoring important ideas?

Related: Movie Trailer Features a 12-Year-Old Saying the C-Word