Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Rejoice! The poster boy for all you people out there hoping to one day cast a spell on yourselves and make your lives interesting is back in theaters. (Warning for all you Potter freaks out there - there are slight spoilers in this headline!)

In this installment, directed by Mike Newell (picture), Harry competes in the Triwizard Tournament and confronts his nemesis, the evil Voldemort.

People are cautioning that the new Potter movie may be to 'dark' for children who read the book. It's the first of the Potter movies to carry a PG-13 rating -- for "sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images" -- which may have some adults wondering if the movie is suitable for young fans.

To help you decide if the film is right for children younger than 13, here's a look at some of the scenes that contributed to the rating. Oh this should be good. Adults these days are more terrified than children. Here comes the uproar.

• Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione attend the Quidditch World Cup. At the campground (which looks like a Boy Scout National Jamboree), the Dark Mark, the sinister and frightening sign of Voldemort in the form of a skull with a snake, ignites the sky. Tents begin to burn, setting off a panic. Death Eaters, Voldemort's henchmen, search for a battered Harry, who is knocked to the ground and bleeding. Don't know about you but I spent most my childhood battered and bleeding on the ground. This is not scary. This is cool. I want to see that little Radcliff kid get the shit knocked out of him. Next please.

• During a Triwizard Tournament, Harry must face a fire-breathing dragon, develop gills and stay underwater and fight off mermen while trying to save his friends, who appear to have drowned. He also must navigate a deadly maze that is closing in on and swallowing up competitors. Sounds like my last birthday party. Next!

• A popular contestant in the tournament is killed, and Harry promises that he'll bring the body back to the boy's father in an emotionally intense scene. People die. That's life. Can't shield your kids from that. They need to understand life and death or they're going to kill themselves doing something stupid. Hey, remember Bambi. Didn't that have a death scene too?

• Harry finds himself immobilized and at the mercy of the snake-like Lord Voldemort, who collects some of Harry's blood and causes him much pain. Voldemort battles with Harry, nearly killing him. Sounds like an experience I had with a hobo in a New York alley.

Seriously though, when did we start shielding our children from the realities of everyday life? Not one scene mentioned above was something I hadn't seen by about five-years old. I was sitting with my father watching the scene in Poltergeist where the guy rips his face off in the bathroom mirror when I was eight and laughing as my father would replay the scene in slow motion. That prepared me for life...I guess...if anyone ever rips their face off. Point is, fear is healthy. Death is natural and blood is everywhere. Exposing children to it in a controlled environment is good for them. This way when their turtle dies when they're eleven they don't hang themselves.