‘Appropriate’ Red Dwarf

[Asclepius]

Hi.

Our 10 and 8 year old have begun to expand the TV they watch in the last year or so. Wednesday, Heartstopper, Ghosts etc. and we tried a bit of Bang Bang Reeves and Mortimer but came a little unstuck with Paul Baron’s Erotic Night, and Damien Hill being asked if he checks out the fanny whilst driving around a race track.

So, Red Dwarf, then. I know many of us watched it too young (distinctly remember the week before I turned 16 reading *that* scene in Backwards) but I was wondering if, outside of Yvonne Gruder, Cat thinking he’s ‘found’ sex in the form of an unconscious Lister, 12 year olds losing their virginity, Lisa Yates etc. there’s much out there that we could watch with them without deep cringing. Or having to answer questions we’re not keen on yet. Absolutely fine with them hearing any of the language used in RD (apart from the slags and the trollops and similar) but outside of that, what episodes aren’t going to make us cringe from a sexual-content and sexual-phrases point of view.

All advice welcome, thanks! Anyone suggesting Pete Pt II won’t be, for many reasons.

Topic

[Dave]

Based on the stuff you’ve already listed, I think the vast majority of Red Dwarf is fine – although the crudeness ramps up a bit in VII and VIII so it might be best to avoid those (for that reason and many others).

In terms of episodes to avoid, depending on your threshold for this stuff there’s maybe Thanks For The Memory given that there’s a fair amount of talk about sexual relationships; Parallel Universe as there’s a lot of sexual politics in there; Marooned for the virginity conversation; Polymorph for the stuff with Rimmer’s mum; DNA for all the stuff about Kryten’s penis; Holoship for the recreational sex stuff; maybe Gunmen for the VR sex; and probably some others that I’m forgetting.

But the trouble is that then you’re obviously missing out on a lot of the best episodes!

Personally I’m happy for my kids to watch all that stuff and talk to them about it as none of it is particularly explicit or inappropriately handled, in my opinion. But all families/kids are different and have different levels of comfort with this stuff.

The only episodes I’ve ever actively avoided for this reason are VIII episodes, and that’s because the standpoint of the show itself seems pretty unpleasant in episodes like BITR or Krytie TV, rather than just the content itself.

[Unrumble]

The only episodes I’ve ever actively avoided for this reason are VIII episodes, and that’s because the standpoint of the show itself seems pretty unpleasant in episodes like BITR or Krytie TV, rather than just the content itself.

You meant you don’t want to teach your kids that it’s ok to film people showering without their consent as long as it’s all a bit of a laugh?

[desbug]

One of the tricky aspects of parenting… holding off on all the nostalgic stuff from your childhood and hoping it interests the kids when you do show them… I’m trying to hold off on Dwarf until at least 10 I think, because that must be about the age I was when I last saw it (I have an enduring memory of Lister being thrown over the console by an explosion in Queeg at a fairly young age). A lot depends on how developed the kids’ sense of humour are though, my son is currently 7 and still very much at the slapstick stage.

Queeg seems like it is probably a fairly safe and well contained episode though so maybe I was lucky with that…

[Dave]

You meant you don’t want to teach your kids that it’s ok to film people showering without their consent as long as it’s all a bit of a laugh?

Well by that point in VIII they’ll already be trying to chemically coerce people into otherwise unwanted sex, so it’ll be a moot point.

[Formica]

Demons & Angels has the bit where he’s going to lash you to within an inch of your life and hhen he’s going to have you. But if they’re not old enough to know what he means by that they’ll just mishear it as ‘hurt’ and wonder why the line’s so redundant

[Warbodog]

I mainly saw series VI when I was 8, and the quest/survival arc made it seem like a great, grown-up cartoon (I didn’t see Psirens at that time though, which may be a bit dark/kinky).

I didn’t see much more until I was 11 and almost in secondary school, at which point I also found the novels and was ready for deeper Dwarf.

My three-year-old overheard my dad quoting the “smeeeg, heeead” from Camille a while ago and found it hilarious out of context, and now always calls him a smeg head when he comes around. It’s lucky he wasn’t quoting Dear Dave.

[International Debris]

You meant you don’t want to teach your kids that it’s ok to film people showering without their consent as long as it’s all a bit of a laugh?

No, he’s just going to wait until they’re a bit older to teach them that.

[Asclepius]

Thanks all for the really helpful feedback, and not for having a go at what I’m comfortable with/not comfortable with! Like some of you have said, it’s really hard to gauge, and all kids and what they’ll cope with is different.

Might give it a try with the first series. Apart from the stuff with the Cat in Confidence and Paranoia, I’m not sure there’s much else in there that would be too much of an issue.

[Jenuall]

I would have been 9 when I first started watching it and by 10/11 would have got through the whole of the bubble via a combination of official VHS release and on-air recordings.

I think there’s absolutely a parental responsibility in being mindful of what we expose our children to, we should be aware of what media they are consuming and consider whether we need to limit what they see to “safer” content.

But on the flip side I think there is huge value in allowing them to see things that are more diverse and potentially exposing them to concepts/situations which would not naturally come up if left to their own devices and typical media consumption. Most of the more “adult” content will likely just go over their heads, but it might also bring to their attention some aspects of relationships etc. that will benefit them and spark discussion and maturity that might otherwise have taken longer or been encountered in a setting where you as a parent are not there to assist with the exploration of those concepts.

I often think that seeing something like Red Dwarf was hugely beneficial to me as a kid, not only in developing a better sense of humour but also generally developing as a person – it’s not heavy handed about things but I think there’s actually a lot of good stuff in the early era regarding morals, ethical concepts, and just generally not being a twat (or seeing the comeuppance of someone being a twat of course!) 

As a very basic example – race is front and centre in the show through the cast. Less of a big deal in this day and age where more diverse casting is seen in many shows, but I genuinely think that a show giving us a core cast containing two black guys and making zero deal of it was an amazing thing to expose young minds to. Now I’m not saying I would have become a massive racist dickhead if I hadn’t watched Red Dwarf as a kid, but having something like this in front of you when you’re starting to form your own world view can only have been a good thing I think!

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Thanks all for the really helpful feedback, and not for having a go at what I’m comfortable with/not comfortable with! Like some of you have said, it’s really hard to gauge, and all kids and what they’ll cope with is different.
Might give it a try with the first series. Apart from the stuff with the Cat in Confidence and Paranoia, I’m not sure there’s much else in there that would be too much of an issue.

[Moonlight]

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

[Nick R]

[Unrumble]

[Stabbim]

 As a very basic example – race is front and centre in the show through the cast. Less of a big deal in this day and age where more diverse casting is seen in many shows, but I genuinely think that a show giving us a core cast containing two black guys and making zero deal of it was an amazing thing to expose young minds to. Now I’m not saying I would have become a massive racist dickhead if I hadn’t watched Red Dwarf as a kid, but having something like this in front of you when you’re starting to form your own world view can only have been a good thing I think!

Well, Holly abruptly becoming a girl and the show/characters being completely blase about it still packs some of that punch, I suppose.

[Author]

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