Family Friendly Audio Tracks

From the Dove Foundation

We recently rented "We Bought A Zoo" for a family movie night. It looked like an adorable story, and it was rated PG. I may not have investigated enough. Sometimes I'm just too trusting. It WAS an adorable story. However, I was floored at the language. It was prolific for a "family movie", and I just couldn't see how it got a PG rating.
There were other elements that would have been disturbing for young children as well, like the artwork of the struggling teenager. The value is that as their family heals, his artwork changes; but the images could still be considered disturbing if your boys aren't already used to watching blood and guts and warlike movies.

Getting back go my point....when I turned the movie in, the customer service agent asked me what I thought of the movie...AND I told him - as I'm prone to doing.

He apologized and pointed to a little symbol on the back of the case (as seen above) that alerted a movie renter to the fact that movie contained an alternative "family friendly" audio track. Oops!

Now honestly, I still don't see how a movie advertised as a family movie should require an alternative audio track. NOR do I understand why that "family friendly" version isn't the default version and you could alternatively choose to listen to the garbage can version if you choose....but I will take this as a lesson learned.

(I will say, though, that after a little research on one of my favorite sites, it doesn't sound like the "family friendly" version covered all of the holes. So sometimes it is good to research, follow your instincts, and be the parent.)