BoyTown

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about BoyTown's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of BoyTown completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 23 October 2006 .

Overall comments and recommendations

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 BoyTown contains the following information:

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

A synopsis of the story

BoyTown was a huge hit, boy band, back in the eighties but now the band members are all in mundane jobs including Benny G (Glen Robbins) who teaches dance at a high school. Benny hits on the idea of reforming the band but, and while initially other members are rather reluctant, particularly Tommy Boy (Mick Molloy), they all eventually agree to give it a go. Thus BoyTown re-emerges and Benny persuades their old manager Marty Boomstein (Lachy Hulme ) to produce a couple of records. These two records flop but then Benny realises that they need to reach the more mature woman who would have been a teenage fan back in the 80's. And so they start writing songs such as Taking the Kids to School, Cellulite Lady and Special Time of the Month.

BoyTown becomes as popular as ever and starts to tour the world on their ‘Love Handles' Tour. However problems emerge, including Benny finding out that his daughter Katie (Sarah Walker) could be Tommy Boy's daughter, and frictions develop between the band members.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Paternity issues

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 one violent scene in this movie in which Benny rejects a female singer's advances after taking her back to his hotel room. She turns very nasty, swearing at him and hitting him.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under five

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

Apart from the above-mentioned violent scene, it is unlikely that anything in this movie would scare or disturb children under the age of five.

Aged five to thirteen

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters. 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 aged five to thirteen could be concerned by the idea that Katie's paternity is in question, and Benny's reaction to this. When Benny finds out, he goes into an alcoholic daze for some days, appearing unshaven, unclothed apart from jocks and behaving in a spaced out manner.

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.

It is unlikely that anything in this movie would scare or disturb children over the age of thirteen.

Product placement

None

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Carl (Wayne Hope) is gay and at the end of the movie he invites a man up on the stage to dance with him (the others often invite girls up).
• a girl appears from beneath Marty's desk implying some sexual activity has been going on between them.
• a girl lifts up her T-shirt to expose her bra and women throw their underwear at the band.
• a woman meets Tommy Boy while they are on tour. He can't remember her, but she reminds him that he ‘shagged her' when he was there last.
• a female singer tries to seduce Benny and asks him if she can have sex with him. She sings “Do me” repeatedly to him and puts her hands down his trousers.

Nudity and sexual activity

None

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• a lot of drinking of alcohol in pubs, at parties, at home, in a limo.
• Benny gets into an alcoholic (or drug induced?) daze for several days.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• frequent use of the word ‘fuck', and

occasional use of:

• shit
• Jesus
• crap
• bugger
• arse
• bastard
• dickhead

The movie's message

BoyTown is a light comedy, without much substance, which older adolescents may find entertaining. Parents could discuss Benny's reaction to the paternity issue and the lifestyles often lived by popular entertainers, including how they deal with fame and their adoring fans.