My Kid Could Paint That

 

This is an incredible film.  It’s a documentary about a little girl who paints beatiful abstract paintings that have been selling for tens of thousands of dollars in galleries.  But there’s controversy…

The question is: is the girl really painting by herself, or is someone helping her?

Anyway, this is why you go to the movies.  This was very well done, interesting, entertaining, and thought provoking.  It’s the kind of film you can’t stop thinking about when it’s over.  As soon as it ends you’ll want to discuss it at length with whoever saw it with you.  Seriously, it should come up in Oscar discussions. 

So, now that I’ve plugged this thing (I had to go to a theater in downtown SLC to see it, but it’s worth it),  let’s talk about the rating: pg-13.  Unlike some of the other posts I’ve written, where I’ve sort of been pointing out the flaws of the rating system, I think they got it just right with this movie.  After it was over (and I think this is the mark of a tastefully done film) I couldn’t remember anythng offensive whatsoever about it.  No language, no nudity, no violence.  But then I looked on IMDB and remembered that they did show some scenes in art galleries that included a few nude paintings and a flashing neon sign of the f-word that was supposed to be modern art. 

I guess they could have slapped this thing with an R rating if they wanted, but the context of the art gallery scenes didn’t warrant it.  REally, it was kind of just pointing out how absurd some “art” is and exploring the idea of how to define what’s art and what isn’t. 

In this case, pg-13 was perfect becuse the movie probably wasn’t right for small children (those few art gallery scenes, and the overall them would probably be over their heads anyway) but I think any 14 year old would benefit from seeing this movie.  It really raises some interesting questions about art, honesty, genius, and life.  I’m very glad they didn’t arbitrarily exclude people for incidental things.