Jodie Foster talks about making a family-friendly film

She’s spoken before about the personal significance of making a movie her children Charles, 9 ½, and Kit, 6, could watch and feel good about, and now actress Jodie Foster explains why. 

I wanted to explore a lighter side of myself, because I’ve made so many dramas back to back. But I see a lot of kids’ films. I’m a big fan of them, and I wanted to make a film that we could all enjoy.

Mission accomplished!  Jodie’s new film Nim’s Island opens in theaters April 4th and carries a positive message for both girls and boys alike.  Its a depiction of adolescence that Jodie says has been missing in children’s movies as of late, and one that is "good for the whole family" to see.  She adds, 

What’s so nice about [Nim] is that it’s not heroism by virtual reality. She’s actually using her hands and trying harder and scaling volcanoes and fixing an infection and digging a meal out of roots.

It’s that sort of old-school idea of heroism that you learn through hard work. … I think parents will be reminded of some of the valuable lessons that they got from children’s entertainment that really aren’t available to their kids now.

For the rest of the interview click ‘continue reading.’

There are "a thousand" media rules in place in the Foster home, Jodie says, and the boys are both big fans of Guitar Hero and the Wii — Two indulgences Jodie says she doesn’t feel bad about because they keep both boys "jumping around a lot."  That said, the 45-year-old actress adds that she’s "pretty careful about what [the boys] see and what they don’t see and how much time they spend in front of electronics."  Another family favorite?  Rock Band!  Adds Jodie,

That is a gas, I have to say. So I think that’s going to be next on our list. My little one can’t read, so he can’t really follow what things are saying, so as the line comes up, he just says "banana." And what’s amazing is how well he scores! And all he does, is he just goes "banaaanaa," and he scores really high!

The "barrage" of advertising directed specifically at children has proven eye-opening to Jodie since she became a parent.  When it comes to mitigating the effects of such advertisements, Jodie says that sometimes the best defense is offense.

What’s amazing to me is how kids are marketed to in such a cynical way. They’re just marketed to at every single corner. You can’t really protect them from it, but the one thing you can do is make your kids aware of it.

You can say, ‘Oh, look at how they used that commercial’ or ‘Look at how they put that billboard up so that you could read it’ or ‘Look at what they’re trying to sell you.’ And then I think your kids can kind of become media-savvy.

Source:  Common Sense Media