First Daughter

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about First Daughter's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of First Daughter completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 6 February 2005.

Overall comments and recommendations

First Daughter is a romantic movie that is a little different to others, and the part of Samantha is played very well by Katie Holmes. However it would have limited appeal.

About the movie

This 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 review

This review of the movie First Daughter contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Samantha Mackenzie is the daughter of the President of the United States and has always known a privileged life. She dreams of going to College as a normal teenager and driving herself there in a yellow Volkswagen. However she arrives at College in an entourage and is met by a band performing for her benefit. Her new room mate Mia, is unimpressed that she has to share her room with the President's daughter and would have preferred someone that she could have fun with. However the two girls get along and soon become friends. Samantha's friendly nature and her position ensure she gets lots of attention and invitations to parties. At times this becomes a problem for Mia who can be jealous of the attention Sam receives.

Sam's life is not her own however as she is constantly followed by two burly bodyguards Bob and Dylan. Sam is attracted to James who she thinks is a fellow student and who has been put in charge of her dormitory area. The two of them manage to sneak out for a day together leaving the bodyguards behind. They spend the day fishing on a lake, going to a funfair and generally enjoying each other's company. However the relationship is spoilt when Sam discovers that James is not who she thinks he is. Hurt by his deception, Sam sets out to make him jealous by flirting with other boys and getting drunk at a nightclub where she dances on the tables. Her time at College is cut short however due to the Presidential elections as Sam is summoned home to help on the electoral trail.

Use of violence

Research 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:

• Someone at a party has a water gun which Samantha's bodyguards think is a real gun. They punch the boy, knocking him out and point their guns at the other students.
• A car crashes into the one in which Samantha is travelling. This causes a drama and Samantha is whisked away.
• James punches a man who has been touching Samantha's legs at a nightclub.

Material that may scare children

Under 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.

Children in this age group might be scared by the above mentioned scenes.

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.

Some children in this age group might still be scared by the above mentioned scenes.

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.

Children in this age group would not be scared by this movie.

Product placement

The following product was displayed or used in this movie:

• Dr. Pepper

Sexual references

There are some sexual references:

• Mia thinks Bob (the bodyguard) is sexy
• Boys at a party put on a provocative dance.
• When Samantha is trying to make James jealous, she attends a birth control unit and asks for lots of condoms.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity. However:

• plenty of girls are shown wearing skimpy bikinis
• when Sam gets drunk at a nightclub, she starts dancing provocatively on tables. Men cheer her on and start touching her legs and bottom. This makes the news headlines as “Sam's striptease”.

Use of substances

There is some drinking at functions. Sam gets drunk at the nightclub, resulting in her dancing on the tables.

Coarse language

There is a little coarse language, with occasional use of the following:

• arse
• crap
• oh my God
• for Christ's sake

The movie's message

The message of this movie is that being in the public eye means that it's very difficult to be one's self and to have any kind of private life.

Values parents may wish to encourage include family loyalty and putting others first.