Parents' Guide to

Descendants

Movie G 2015 112 minutes
Descendants Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Emily Ashby By Emily Ashby , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 8+

Energetic Disney movie's villains make likable role models.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 8+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 9+

Based on 75 parent reviews

age 12+

Cringe-worthy gender stereotypes

The worst stereotypes, particularly about girls & relationships between girls. Also, dating is a huge theme, so not a great fit for my 9 year old (I don’t understand common senses rating!!)
age 10+

Reinforces many damaging stereotypes

Where do I start. My seven year old watched this because her best friend was having a Descendants birthday party, and I immediately regret it. The movie reinforces so many damaging stereotypes in American culture. The girls use their magic skills to "fix" their friends to make them "more beautiful" - according to white Hollywood pop culture, while the boys play sports and learn how to be a team. Then there's the scene where the boys are playing sports while cute cheerleaders in short skirts cheer them on, culminating in the two rival girls fighting over a boy. This kind of content reinforces a very strong subliminal message to girls that what's important is "getting a man" and "being beautiful" according to an extremely narrow standard. Then there are the token minorities, with cringe-worthy costumes - Mulan's daugher, anyone? I could go on and on. If you are fine with our shallow American colonial, white-centric, heteronormative, patriarchal culture this is the movie for you. I know that sounds harsh, and it's probably in line with most other Disney content these days, but I'm just frustrated. There are some good messages in the film too, but in my view they are far outshadowed by the bad.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (75 ):
Kids say (165 ):

This much-anticipated fairy tale add-on isn't perfect, but it's highly entertaining in the kind of young-love, flash-mob, song-and-dance manner that tends to thrill the youngsters. Kids won't notice or care about such trivial plot inconsistencies as every classic character existing in the same time and place AND having kids at exactly the same time, for instance (really, what are the chances?), but parents might grit their teeth over some the rewrites. On the other hand, some aspects are welcome changes, namely some racial diversity that's a pleasant surprise.

Descendants is decent family fare, and with the exception of one tense scene, it's a fine pick for just about any age. Kids will love the creative play on classic characters, the unlikely relationship between Ben and Mal, and the handful of musical numbers that can feel a little cheesy to the older set. (Except for a reprisal of "Be Our Guest," that is. It's golden.) For adults, though, there's much joy to be found in Chenoweth's electrifying performance as the scheming Maleficent, and her constant bickering with Najimy's Evil Queen makes for many hilarious scenes.

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