Home Alone 2 vs Saving Private Ryan (violence)

“On a summer’s morning of Aug 18th 1998 approximately 9:00 a small group of children attempted to re-enact the beginning of the Normandy invasion as depicted in the devastating opening of Saving Private Ryan.
This incident occurred without the supervision of adults in a small seaside town of Seaton in Devon. Illegal machine gun nests were planted in the sides of beach heads and foreign pupils were encouraged to play the Germans.
At 12:03 the re-ennactment was discovered and brought to a halt but unfortunately not in time to save the lives of three children.
A pirated copy of Saving Private Ryan was found washed ashore in a satchel covered in blood and sand and is believed to be the property of Chan Ling a Chinese pupil whose obsession for Spielberg is unprecedented.
During the aftermath of such a tragic and senseless loss of life the grief is slowly turning to anger as the finger is slowly pointing to Spielberg as the catalyst for such wanton violence.”

This sensationalist tabloid article does not exist. It’s not feasible to re-ennact the D-Day landings unless you have a suitable budget.
The violence in Saving Private Ryan is brutally realistic and full of consequence. No child would watch this movie and feel desensitized to its violence they would be shocked and appalled by war and in the mindset to avoid it at all costs.
In fact this film is anti-propaganda for the war machine. There will be no John Wayne posturing here. War veterans watched this movie and were brought to tears through its inherent realism.
Despite the film’s violent content it is displayed without any glamourisation in a historical context of war and so is worthy of its 15 rating. I understand that certain children need to be shielded from the true nature of horror but this film would not inspire anybody to commit any form of crime.

Which brings me to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York despite it’s PG rating the film shows a ten year old boy playing with matches, playing with power tools, playing with bare electrical wires, playing with kerosene and other toxic substances and throwing bricks at people from the roof of a three-story building.
Not only does the 10-year-old leading character play with these things, but his sole intent is to hurt others using Ninja Turtles as an example, it is a fact that children like to “act out” their favourite movies.
It’s a wonder that the local A&E units aren’t full of kids who have had access to certain materials and re-ennact scenes from this movie.
Throwing a brick in a persons face from a three-storey building has a consequence and is not considered a “funny” act yet in Home alone 2 that is the opposite when in truth the cartoonish violence just doesn’t appeal in it’s bone crushing realism.
When a body is blown into pieces on a Normandy beach there is no laughter yet a nail gun shot at full blank range in the face is justifiably hilarious in the world of Home alone.
It is easier to throw a brick from a building than it is to construct a machine gun nest. It is easier for children to play with dangerous materials than be blown up from a landmine or avoid artillery fire.
Home alone 2 is one of the more violent movies which has more detrimental effects on the wayward mind of a child than that of a movie like Saving Private Ryan; yet this film will go undetected under the ratings radar as it masquerades as a children’s movie.
Do yourself a favour, fellow readers keep your matches under lock and key watch Saving private Ryan with your child take delight in their horrified expression for it may deter them from a career in the armed forces and instead of watching Home Alone 2 watch It’s a wonderful life at xmas a film that will inspire seasonal cheer without the need for cartoonish violence.