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Freaky Friday |
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This topic contains:
Overall comments and recommendationsFreaky Friday is an up to date remake of the original film with a slightly different story. Anna is much more aggressive and into heavy rock music and body piercing which conflicts greatly with her Mother’s overly controlled lifestyle. Role swapping is a really good way for each of them to understand each other’s points of view and the movie suggests that parents should try and remember what it was like to be teenagers themselves and to understand what causes such aggressive behaviour in young people. It is very well acted by Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan and is very entertaining for the young and adults who are young at heart.
About the movieThis section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.
YMA reviewThis review of the movie Freaky Friday contains the following information:
A synopsis of the storyAnna Coleman is a 15 year old rebellious, troubled teenager with attitude. She constantly fights with her mother, psychiatrist Tess Coleman and her younger brother Harry who is always taunting her. Anna vents her anger by playing guitar in a heavy rock band with her friends from school. Anna also dislikes her mother’s fiancé Ryan who she sees as trying to replace her father who died three years previously. Tess Coleman on the other hand is an obsessively organised control freak who does yoga in the mornings while applying nail varnish. After discovering that Anna has been placed in detention twice in one day and obtained an F for an English assignment, Tess removes Anna’s bedroom door saying that ‘privacy is a privilege’. Anna of course is infuriated; however she agrees to go out with the family for a Chinese meal. The following day is the wedding rehearsal which clashes with an important audition for Anna’s band. Tess of course refuses to let her go and while they argue loudly in the restaurant the Chinese owner gives them each a fortune cookie to eat. After eating the cookie the two of them experience an earthquake which no-one else feels. That night is a stormy, restless night for Tess and Anna and when they wake up the following morning they discover that they are in each other’s bodies. This results in much hilarity as Tess goes off to school in Anna’s body and Anna goes to her Mother’s practice in Tess’s body. Anna has a great time spending her Mum’s money and using her credit cards on new punk clothes, getting her hair cut, getting a stud in her ear and driving her Mother’s car. Tess manages to alienate all of Anna’s friends with her new mature attitude but she discovers why Anna is having such a hard time at school. The two of them eventually come to see things from each other’s perspective with Tess even trying to play the guitar for Anna’s important audition. It is only when this happens that the ‘fortune’ can be reversed. Use of violenceResearch shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another. Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world. There is some violence in this movie, mostly set in a comic context, including the following scenes:
Material that may scare childrenUnder eight Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters. There is a little in this movie that might scare young children including:
Aged eight to thirteen Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened Younger children in this age group might still be confused that mother and daughter have “changed bodies”; however most would probably be able to cope with this. Over the age of thirteen Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult. There is nothing in this movie that would scare children in this age group. Sexual referencesThere are no sexual references. Nudity and sexual activityThere is no nudity or sexual activity however “Tess” (Anna) wears a G-string and Harry and his mates dress up in Anna’s bras.
Use of substancesThere is some drinking of alcohol in the restaurant and at the wedding. Coarse languageThere are several uses of ‘Oh God’ and ‘Oh my God’. Also the Grandfather is referred to as an ‘old fart’. The movie's messageThe take home message of this movie is that when family conflicts arise it’s really important to try to see things from the other person’s perspective. Values parents may wish to encourage include:
Values parents may wish to discourage include:
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Copyright 2002 Young Media Australia
Page Modified
22-May-2002