Abuse framed as love story in mature book-based drama.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Sex, Romance & Nudity
a lot
Adult characters flirt and make subtle references to sleeping together. Two people kiss and cuddle in bed. Men are shirtless and underage girls in swimsuits are portrayed in a sexual way by a camera that tracks up their bodies. An adult man is sexually infatuated with a 14-year-old girl, and they flirt and share a hotel room.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Brief talk of suicide and murder. Characters brandish guns, and someone is shot off-screen. A woman dies after being hit by a car. An adult man takes guardianship of a 14-year-old girl he's sexually infatuated with; he's controlling and sometimes yells at and grabs her. Veiled references to him having an illegal sexual relationship with her that he has to hide.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
"Damn," "hell," "shut up," and "God" used as an exclamation. Name-calling such as "jerk," "brat," and "creep." Set in the 1950s, outdated terms like "colored" and "oriental" are used by White characters. A character jokingly says "sieg heil" while making a Nazi salute.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Strong emotions aren't always appropriate to act on and can harm others. People who are selfishly motivated don't change, even if they appear kind or caring. It's OK to leave a bad situation, even if it upsets others.
Positive Role Models
very little
Dolores is resourceful and eventually escapes her situation by deceiving her abuser. But most characters care more about their own needs and desires than the wellbeing of others.
Diverse Representations
very little
Dolores Haze, nicknamed Lolita, is a resourceful central character, but the film doesn't focus much on her emotions or motivations. Though she's only 14, she's portrayed -- by a male director and male screenwriters -- as being sexually savvy and in control of her abusive situation. Another female character, Charlotte, is also important but is characterized as overbearing and jealous, and her death is treated like a joke. All characters are White except for a few Black support staff.
Parents need to know that Lolita is director Stanley Kubrick's dark "comedy" based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel about a man who fantasizes about and sexually abuses a teenage girl. While most of the sexual content is heavily veiled and implied, the plot makes light of Humbert Humbert (James Mason)'s obsession with 14-year-old Dolores (Sue Lyon, who was also 14 at the time of filming) and frames her flirtation as consent. Two women are central characters, but Dolores is inappropriately portrayed as being sexually savvy and in control of her abusive situation. Two people die off-screen. There's virtually no racial diversity, and outdated terms "colored" and "oriental" are used by White characters. Other language includes "damn," "hell," "shut up," "God," "jerk," "brat," and "creep." Casual drinking and smoking and two characters are shown in a drunken stupor. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
This is a book about pedophilia. I am horrified by CSM 4 star "expert" review. Was the reviewer male? I have a hard time thinking a woman would be ok with this book.
This is NOT a love story. This is about the kidnapping and repeated rape of a 12 year old child.
Humbert the creep is sexually attracted to children. The‘nymphets’ that he describes are not women, they are pre-teen girls. Pedophilia, when acted on, is a horrendous thing that traumatizes it’s victims. Humbert acts on his fantasies. Humbert is a child molesting rapist.
Humber meets her when he comes to see a vacant room at her mother’s house and decides to stay because of her. Marries the mom to be close to the child. Classic pedophile move. Mom commits suicide, so he kidnaps child and rapes her repeatedly. What is WRONG with those of you that think this is a good book???? And especially disturbing is it being on a list of approved reading for high school students. I just don't know what is wrong with people that think this is ok. I don't care how "well written" this book is considered to be. I wouldn't recommend it to any age,, but I had to put an age to write the review. Very disappointed in CSM for this review. I can't even check "too much sex", because it isn't sex, it is rape of a 12 year old child. That isn't sex. And I didn't read it, just the synopsis and editorials that I researched when I found out it was on my grandson's approved reading list. So disturbing.
LOLITA follows Humbert Humbert (James Mason) as he rents a room from Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters) in the resort town of Ramsdale, New Hampshire. Humbert becomes sexually infatuated with Charlotte's daughter, 14-year-old Dolores (Sue Lyon), nicknamed Lolita, and marries Charlotte to stay close to the girl. After finding his diary containing sexual fantasies about Dolores, Charlotte runs into the street and is killed by a car. Humbert takes guardianship of Dolores, pulls her from summer camp (he tells her that her mother is sick), and takes her to a hotel, where it's implied that he begins a sexual relationship with her. A long and somewhat tense road trip follows, during which Humbert eventually reveals the truth about Charlotte and is pursued by law enforcement and other community members investigating his illegal relationship.
Stanley Kubrick's poor film adaptation rewrites Vladimir Nabokov's novel about a sexual abuser into a darkly comedic "love story" between an adult man and a teenage girl. At the time of its initial release in 1962, Lolita received critical acclaim for avoiding censorship by heavily veiling its sexual references and removing the novel's most disturbing events (Nabokov is credited with Lolita's screenplay, but Kubrick and producer James Harris rewrote almost all of it). While this film isn't remembered as Kubrick's best, it's surprising in its ability to make viewers sympathize with such an ill-intentioned character as Humbert. It's also known for popularizing the perception that Lolita was a sexually savvy girl in control of her abusive situation.
Lyon, only 14 at the time of filming, turns in a compelling performance as a resourceful teen who can also be childish. So does Peter Sellers as Clare Quilty, who takes on several different personas throughout the film to fool Humbert -- a preview of his multiple roles in Kubrick's next film, Dr. Strangelove. The danger of this film isn't in the acting or cinematography: Both deliver in that classic black-and-white movie way. It's in the depiction of Humbert as a bumbling-but-earnest guy, even when he's laughing about his wife's death or acting on his inappropriate fantasies toward a child.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the abuse in Lolita. Why do some people interpret Humbert's obsession with a teenage girl as romantic affection?
Why are representations of teen girl sexuality, from Lolita's sunglasses to Britney Spears' school uniform, popular in our culture? Do you think they're powerful or inappropriate?
How does Lolita deal with the sudden loss of her mother and her new life on the road with Humbert? What does she do to cope?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
