Monster-in-Law

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Monster-in-Law's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Monster-in-Law completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 30 July 05.

Overall comments and recommendations

Centred around the planning of a wedding, featuring elegant sets, a fairly predictable story-line, and lots of emotional madness, Monster-in-Law will generally appeal to a female demographic from older teens to older women.

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 Monster-in-Law contains the following information:

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

A synopsis of the story

Lonely, romantic, Charlie (Jennifer Lopez) finally meets the man of her dreams, Kevin (Michael Vartan). Kevin is a gifted surgeon who, in addition to being kind-hearted and chivalrous, is utterly devoted to Charlie. Everything is perfect until Charlie meets Kevin’s mother Viola (Jane Fonda). Viola doesn’t want to lose the only family she has left and decides to do anything and everything she can to hold on to her son. Charlie just wants to be liked and to finally have a family of her own, but she soon discovers the lengths to which her would be mother-in-law is going to in an attempt to make her life miserable. Charlie hatches her own plan for revenge, and Viola then steps up her own vindictive schemes, until the two of them completely lose sight of what is really important and what is really at stake. It takes a long lost person from Viola’s past to help the two women set boundaries and come to an understanding that benefits them all.

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.

The film contains a fair amount of violence, some of which, if used in a real life context, could be fatal. However, the seriousness is downplayed and the consequences are often non-existent.

• Viola envisions herself repeatedly slamming Charlie’s face into a cake.
  
• Charlie envisions herself slamming a frying pan into Viola’s face and knocking her down.
  
• Viola’s assistant advises Charlie to get a gun when Viola comes to stay at her house.
  
• Viola attacks Charlie in her sleep.
  
• Charlie allows a bunch of dogs to demolish Viola’s room.
  
• Charlie drugs Viola and lets her sleep face down in plate of soup.
  
• Viola deliberately adds nuts to the food when she knows that Charlie is allergic to them. Charlie begins to have difficulty breathing, her tongue and lips swell. Although Viola momentarily believes that Charlie might die, she never admits to anything. Charlie is better the following day.
  
• Viola repeatedly kicks her assistant in the stomach.
  
• Charlie and Viola repeatedly pinch, slap and punch each other in the face.

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.

Many of the above mentioned violent scenes could frighten and confuse children under eight. In addition, the following scene, including an excerpt from a horror movie, could disturb very young viewers:

• Charlie is watching a horror film late one night. In the movie, a young girl is asking “Who is there?” into the darkness. Moments later we see her running down the street, screaming in terror as she is being chased by a robe-wearing slayer.
  
• At this moment Viola appears, wearing an Asian costume, and with long dagger like fingernails. She scares the wits out of Charlie.

The tension, the terror and the shadowy, claw-like creature sneaking up behind Charlie could be quite frightening for children under eight.

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 of the above mentioned scenes could also frighten children between the ages of eight to thirteen.

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.

Aside from the horror scene mentioned above, there is nothing in this film that would frighten children over the age of thirteen.

Sexual references

The film contains a lot of sexual references, including:

• “We think you’re turning into a freak from not having sex.”
  
• Charlie’s neighbour uses his hands to symbolise having sex.
  
• “That boy has got a fine piece of ass.”
  
• “Men only think straight when they have an erection.”
  
• “That slut is practically fornicating.”
  
• Charlie is having a telephone conversation with Kevin while having a bath. She tells him how much she misses him “especially when I am in the tub, wet and naked.” She puts a special emphasis on ‘naked’ and Kevin begins to tell her what he would like to do to her if he was there. Viola interrupts them.
  
• A reference is made that Charlie has slept with fewer guys in her life than Viola has slept with in one night.
  
• Kevin asks Charlie is she wants to take a break and picks her up and carries her into the bedroom.

Nudity and sexual activity

The film contains a moderate amount of nudity and sexual activity, including:

• Charlie tries to squeeze into a dress that is too tight and ends up ripping the fabric at the panty line and exposing her underwear. She walks around during one scene showing a lot of cleavage, and also a lot of leg, as the dress is stuck around her backside, and part of her panties.
  
• During one scene Kevin and Charlie are rolling around on the couch together. Kevin is kissing and groping her while she attempts to talk on the phone.

Use of substances

There is quite a bit of substance use throughout the movie:

• Viola has a drinking problem and is rarely without a drink nearby. She is often seen drinking martinis, champagne, vodka and even mouthwash containing alcohol when nothing better is available.
  
• Drinks are served at restaurants, parties, at home, at the rehearsal dinner, and at the wedding.
  
• Charlie substitutes sleeping pills for Viola’s Vitamin C.
  
• Viola is supposedly on a variety of pharmaceutical drugs throughout the film.

Coarse language

There is coarse language throughout the movie, including frequent use of:

• shit
  
• bullshit
  

• bitch
  
• slut
  
• God damn
  

• Hell
  
• mother fucker.

The movie's message

The main message from this movie is that stereotypes and simple plans can easily get blown out of proportion when seen from only one perspective or taken to the extreme. If seeing this film with older teens, parents could stress the importance of honesty and communication when dealing with difficult circumstances or challenging individuals, rather than plots and schemes to exact revenge. Children should be reminded that a number of the attempts at revenge in this film could, in reality, end someone’s life.