Beavis And Butt-Head Do America Parent Guide

Created and introduced on MTV, Beavis and his buddy Butt-Head’s first movie has one thing going for it: It’s only 82 minutes. For those parents who don’t have that much time and think anything animated is safe for kids, I viewed this movie just for you.

Beavis and Butt-Head are two highschool dropouts that have consumed a steady diet of television and go into withdrawal when the tube is stolen from their living room. One thing leads to nothing in this movie, and somehow these two wind up getting involved with a guy who wants them to ?do? his wife. The rest of the film hinges on their misinterpretation of this order as they tour across America hoping to have sex with her or any other woman that can stand them.

Like any animation, many young children are attracted to this movie even though most of the gags are for the boomers, not the babies. For adults, the satire in this film may be obvious, but younger children will take its meaning much more literally, and instead will feast on jokes that center on masturbation, demeaning elderly people, and undermining anyone with authority. The language will offend many viewers, although it stops short of major sexual obscenities.

Defenders of Beavis and Butt-Head will testify that I have missed the vision. ?This is cutting commentary on the social fabric of our society,? they will say. ?It is a reflection of who and what we have become,? or the popular, ?Loosen up! It’s only a movie!?

My response? One scene shows Beavis and Butt-Head growing up, year after year, in front of the TV. Their creator Mike Judge obviously blames television for these illiterate, sexually obsessed beings. But these guys are media. As our children absorb movies like this, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now they have the opportunity of becoming our future Beavises and Butt-Heads. With many of our homes already ablaze with negative media influences, Judge just showed up with a fire extinguisher full of gasoline.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.