• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 9, age appropriate for kids over 10; suggested age 10.

• Is it any good?

  3.0

• Common Sense says

  First talkie may lead to good discussion on race.

Why We Rated This for Ages 10 and Up

What to watch out for

• Messages:

  The most troubling issue in this otherwise squeaky-clean film is the use of blackface in performance. The genre of minstrelsy -- white stage performers imitating African Americans for the entertainment of white audiences -- was prevalent at the time this movie was made (the 1920s). The depictions here aren't the overt racist caricatures often presented by performers in blackface. In fact, the first scene -- in which viewers see Jolson's character applying his makeup -- is an artfully choreographed underscoring of his own status as an ethnic minority. A later scene in which he sings "My Mammy" is a more traditional (and racist) use of blackface on stage. The mammy archetype is an image of the black nanny and maid. In this scene, Jolson's character is singing to his teary-eyed mother, a woman he's been devoted to and has returned to as a good son and a star.
• Violence:

  The father whips the son (off camera).
• Sex:

  Not an issue.
• Language:

  The mother worries that her son is romantically linked to a "shiksa," a mildly pejorative Yiddish word for a non-Jewish woman.
• Consumerism:

  Not an issue.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Not an issue.

What Parents Need to Know

About The Jazz Singer

Families Can Talk About