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Brotherhood

(Rated TV-MA, Drama, Starring Jason Isaacs, Jason Clarke, Annabeth Gish, Where to watch: Showtime, DVD)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 17, age appropriate for kids over 17; suggested age 17.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Intense and intriguing, but not OK for kids.

Why We Rated This not for kids

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    The series explores the murky distinction between "good guys" and "bad guys," blurring the lines between heroes and villains. Virtually no character serves as a completely positive role model, although several characters are undeniably negative.

  • Violence:

    Real, explicit violence is a regular part of the plot, with graphic depictions of a woman having a dangling earring ripped out of her ear (and her attacker having his own ear cut off as punishment) and two innocent people getting brutally beaten on the street. One mentally challenged character is manipulated into playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun. Another is brutally murdered in public with a shovel. One male character threatens a female character with rape.

  • Sex:

    One character is engaging in an ongoing extramarital affair with a former high school flame, a storyline that often includes partial nudity and, in some cases, male and female frontal nudity. The tip of a man's penis is visible while he pees over the side of a boat. One male character is shown receiving oral sex from a scantily clad young woman.

  • Language:

    Both swear words (including "bastard," "piss," "p--sy," "bulls--t," and several variations of "f--k") and hate words ("darky," "spook," "nigger," "fag") are used liberally.

  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Bars occasionally serve as backdrops for important scenes. One character is a recovering alcoholic but still frequents bars to test his strength; other characters are mostly shown drinking socially. Two characters are occasionally shown smoking marijuana.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Brotherhood

Parents need to know that this Showtime series was written and produced for adults and isn't appropriate for children of any age -- not even most older teens. The first line of audible dialogue in the pilot is "I say pull your pants down 'cause I wanna f--k you up the ass." And it only gets worse from there, since that line is soon followed by a grisly scene of a man being beaten to death with a shovel. In addition to the serious language and graphic violence strewn throughout the series, there's also occasional drug use and explicit sex, including more than one shot of male frontal nudity.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the moral extremes of "good" and "bad" -- and the gray areas lurking in between. Why do we as a society often have the need to label someone as "good" or "bad"? Can a person be both? For example, can a good person have serious flaws and still be considered good? And do good deeds done by a bad person make him any less bad? What are some of the causes of sibling rivalry? And do childhood power struggles ever really go away?
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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 17
    BouncingOffCloud ...
    I rate this title iffy for age 2 and give it 5.0

    This review...

    Helped me decide | Had useful details | Read my mind
    Flag as inappropriate

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