As the mother of two small kids let me tell you they absolutely do copy what they see in videos. Just saying'. It's a pretty bad idea to do this in a movie targeted at kids.

However, based on the previews, this is about the most innocuous thing in the movie. The whole thing looks like a pile of crap and obnoxious behaviours. I will not be bringing my kids to see it. On the other hand if they see it at someone's house so be it.

People need to get a life.

I cannot identify my first exposure to the notion of the "artisanal grudge farmer," but I remember thinking I'd found my people when it appeared.

We imagine slow, unhurried work, outdoors in the breezy sunshine until the shadows come, with attentive handicraft behind reading glasses as the beloved brings a restorative glass of lemonade. There's no rush. Everything must be perfect, and just as our forebears taught.

Just to be clear, is the objection to the rabbits intentionally throwing the object of Mr. McGregor's allergies at him, Mr. McGregor's having an allergy, or that a food allergy is depicted as an object of humor?

Plenty of shows and movies have portrayed character with a food allergy in the middle of an episode of anaphylactic shock, mostly as a humorous episode or transition to move a story along. Was there an objection to them as well?

I have to agree with Nicole. Kids do copy what they see in videos. When I was a kid, I thought allergies were just things that made people sneeze and it was used to comedic effect. Someone trying to hide, but their allergen happens to be present? "Achoo!"

Busted. Comedy ensues.

I'm concerned that kids might not understand that allergies can be very serious, even life-threatening.

In fact, in the scene described (forgetting that this is animation depicting animals), if Peter Rabbit and friends had any knowledge of Mr. MacGregor's allergy, then they could be charged with attempted murder.

I'd hate to think that some of the kids seeing this movie might have a classmate with a deathly allergy to peanuts so they start throwing peanuts at him, thinking it's just a funny joke, and it will okay since he carries his epi-pen.

And by the way, comparisons to Hitler are "out there." The producers had a lapse in judgment. There is no need to make a federal case out of it.

And before anyone brings up other violent cartoons like Tom and Jerry or the Road Runner, I would point that Jerry and the Road Runner are not depicted as humans. They're barely even anthropomorphic creatures, since neither one of them can speak.

Also, Tom and Wile E. Coyote are predators, trying to satisfy hunger or at least doing what predators do with their natural prey.

The rabbits, by contrast, are doing this purely out of mischief. The problem is, since Farmer MacGregor is a human being and in very real danger of dying, the rabbits' mischief becomes malice.

They're not predators satisfying their urges. Their genuinely trying to harm someone purely out of malice. Someone who is presumably (since I haven't seen this adaptation) trying only to protect what is rightfully his from thieving rabbits.

And again, when I was five or six (the age of the target audience), I didn't understand that allergies can be fatal.

There is an important life lesson for the kids:

Your weaknesses will be used against you when stuff gets real.

Farmer MacGregor has no amenable authority he can appeal to who will fight his battle for him - whether that's mom, Big Sister, or the school principal.

There's also a similar scene in the movie Mrs Doubtfire, and there's obviously dire consequences of said prank:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0l2T7iF0Ro

Oh, for f***s sake people, these are animated creations that have obviously been altered from their (also fictional) origins. I have read lots of Beatrix Potter and there is not an Epipen in sight. You could try to teach your kids to not bully others (if you're concerned about the peanut allergic having peanuts thrown at them). Or just don't expose your kids to any fiction?

I often just despair about the seemingly total and complete loss of common sense and perspective evident everywhere now.

Farmer MacGregor has no amenable authority he can appeal to who will fight his battle for him - whether that's mom, Big Sister, or the school principal. ~ El Verde Loco at February 12, 2018 10:58 AM

Well, he can always retain the services of the firm of Mossberg, Browning, Remington and Ithaca.

As a kid we watched every three stooges movie, and except for saying "Nyuck nyuck nycuk" we never did any of the things in the shows because they were obviously idiotic. We never dug up the yard or poked each other's eyes out. We could likewise say Superman is dangerous because kids might try to fly, but kids try to fly anyway and that is what parents are for (to stop them, not to make them fly). If we think kids will blindly imitate anything they see, then don't let them see any super hero movie or any slapstick comedy or hell, anything at all. Keep em locked up.
The rabbits are in fact "predators" but they are after the carrots in the garden, and thus are absolved of evil intentions.
If you think the rabbits should be charged with attempted murder, do you think the same of a 7 yr old who offers his pbj sandwich to a friend? Of course not, kids are idiots. It says so right on the label.

"f we think kids will blindly imitate anything they see, then don't let them see any super hero movie or any slapstick comedy or hell, anything at all. Keep em locked up."

But, by all means, let them watch the thug at halftime grab his crotch and yell obscenities, because "rap" is a vital cultural element.

Just look to our former POTUS and FLOTUS for leadership in this regard.

And again, when I was five or six (the age of the target audience), I didn't understand that allergies can be fatal.

I wonder if you saw such a thing depicted in a movie if t maight have taught you?

Nicely said, NicoleK.

First, let me say that fatal allergies are nothing to joke about when kids are around.

But I think that, given that a movie based on a book is almost ALWAYS intellectually inferior to the book in one way or another (or, at least, more about instant gratification than anything else), kids who ASK to see it should be told: "Well, it's your idea, so it will have to be your money too. If you don't have enough money, forget it." (They'll get used to it, even if they cry buckets first.)

Kids are quite capable of enjoying almost any free treats chosen by the PARENTS. That includes healthful snacks as well. Having to work for trashy products will help them think twice.

Of course!

But maybe ...

As the mother of two small kids let me tell you they absolutely do copy what they see in videos.

Can someone make a popular video in which kids shut up, sit down and don't bother adults?

Kids are quite capable of enjoying almost any free treats chosen by the PARENTS. That includes healthful snacks as well. Having to work for trashy products will help them think twice.

Kids are pretty resourceful, ask mom, then ask dad, then if dad asks if mom said something about it? Tell the truth the first time, or say I don't know, or lie about it. The best thing dad can do is tell them to ask mom, and you can tell you won this time because they slump their shoulders and head towards mom in a faux-tired kind of way.

Then, they ask grandma and/or grandpa. Whether they're your parents or your inlaws, that's irrelevant. They just seem to enjoy from time to time to trample the authority of the parents of their grandchildren.

Don't forget there's no shortage of single mothers who don't necessarily live near other relatives. So finding someone else may not be easy.

lujlp: I wonder if you saw such a thing depicted in a movie if t maight have taught you?

That's a good point. Nowadays, the death-by-fatal-allergy has been used, even in family movies, such as "My Girl" when Macauley Culkin's character died when he disturbed a bee's nest.

Of course, now with the invention of the Epi-pen, that particular convention might have to go by the wayside.

Wrote Robin:

I often just despair about the seemingly total and complete loss of common sense and perspective evident everywhere now.

Common sense has been RIP for a while. When a teenager eats a Tide Pod or a busybusy parent leaves a child in a hot car to fry like bacon, about all one can do is hope that it's the end of that gene pool and move on to something of more consequence.

Kevin:

Common sense has been RIP for a while. When a teenager eats a Tide Pod or a busybusy parent leaves a child in a hot car to fry like bacon, about all one can do is hope that it's the end of that gene pool and move on to something of more consequence.

And don't forget those rocket scientists to dry their helpless pets after a bath by sticking them in a microwave.

Kevin, if you ever see such a movie please let me know!