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Kick-Ass Movie Trailer Controversy Over Chloe Moretz Swearing

by Amy Judd | January 5, 2010 at 12:32 pm

6263 views | 3 Recommendations | 3 comments

The Kick-Ass movie trailer is starting to make the rounds on the internet, and although many fans are looking forward to this movie, as it's based on a popular comic book, many discussion threads are starting to pop up about whether it's appropriate for the 12-year-old star Chloe Moretz to be swearing so much in the film.

Chloe Moretz plays Hit-Girl in the movie, which also stars Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Mark Strong, and is directed by Matthew Vaughn, and in the movie Chloe uses the f-word and the c-word while shooting people in the head and cutting off limbs.

This is along the lines of the comic series, which is extremely violent, but some parents and groups are starting to get upset about the implications of so much swearing, so young, in a movie. The movie however, will be rated-R, but with so much available on the internet already, many are asking the question 'is Hollywood pushing the envelope too far?'

Hit-Girl has been trained from birth to fight crime with her father, Big Daddy, in the most violent ways possible. She's got no qualms about slicing off limbs or shooting people in the head.

One blogger had this to say:

Cursing kids are funny nowadays because of their rarity, for which we can thank the MPAA (remember all those PG-rated movies with swearing children in the '70s and '80s), and red-band trailers will totally exploit this humor, whether it's a film starring oft-foul-mouthed Bobb'e J. Thompson or the latest deconstruction of the superhero film.

In some discussion threads, many seem to think that the swearing is funny and that's it's ok if it takes place in an R-rated movie.

But perhaps it's not about the swearing, which was ok for her parents to allow her to act the part, so it should be ok to other moive-goers as well, but for some it's about the fact that a child who is still so young is delighting is so much violence.

Acting or not, is this appropriate? Are you going to see Kick-Ass? Does the swearing matter to you?

Just a note that the trailer is not safe for work or for young children.

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JB Early (not verified)

at 07:49 on January 7th, 2010

The pony was out of the corral on this topic many moons ago. Debatable? sure. The ongoing desensitizing of violence is a bit more scary. But someday, when these words have no impact due to devaluing them, what might take their @#%&*! place? I don't want to know. Meanwhile, if I could find a way to collect a dollar from every kid who just used one of those words in the last 24 hours, I could buy me a villa on the Riviera. A Ferrari. And get me one of them nice starlets who likes to go to Cannes. . ..

Spoony Spoonerson (not verified)

at 03:47 on March 3rd, 2010

I don't see a problem, many 12 year olds already use this language with no qualms. I could see an issue if a child swore in a film for children (bad role models, kids thinking it's ok etc) but this is an 18 (I'm in the UK) so responsible parents won't be letting their 9 year old watch it.Even worries about the actress playing her are void, as I mentioned her friends probably say all of that stuff at school. And the actress has publicly stated that if she talked at home like she did in the movie she'd be "grounded for the rest of her life".

Prescott (not verified)

at 20:27 on March 16th, 2010

The problem is not so much the the movie, because it is rated for adults/young adults. (It looks like much fun and my lady and I are looking forward to seeing it.) It is the asinine parents who will take their much-too-young children to see it due to pressure or ignorance (of the requirements of being a good parent). After which, some will vilify a movie which they never should have viewed.