I refuse to show my 5 year old the PT

This is an interesting thread. First of all, that people take this so seriously is a surprise (I mean, these are not Tarantino movies), but it's interesting to read what the different takes are on kids movie watching in general.

There are only so many hours in the day, so when my kids were little, I chose to expose them to things I thought were worthwhile- including things I don't know much about but thought they might benefit from. Parents are supposed to be curators of sorts. There's no great advantage in showing kids something just for variety's sake, just to say you did it. Some people might call it "imposing my views" but I call it "guidance". I've been around- they haven't.

So I'd say to the OP, or any parent who wonders what to expose their kid to- do what you think is right. That's your job as a parent. I think you handled the whole thing just right. Using your best judgment regarding preserving the wonder & general awesomeness of the Star Wars saga for her, you didn't show her the PT right away. You just waited for her to ask on her own accord, and let her see it when she asked. You didn't hide it from her, which would be a big mistake, as she might be very mad at some point if you went out of your way to keep it from her, even to the point of planting seeds of distrust.

Parents are so concerned that they not stifle children, or allow them to become who they're meant to be, that they just get lost in a wilderness of choices. But it's okay to show them a path so they don't have to bushwhack on their own. Might as well start now, there are going to be much bigger issues ahead where you'll have to decide what to choose for her rather than just whether to see The Phantom Menace.

 

I don't have kids yet, but I will never show my kids the PT. I hate them and they're too violent. The argument that "these are kids movies" falls flat for the PT. The OT, definitely kids movies that were slightly edgy. They're a little violent, but in the end, the main character chooses non-violence. How many action movies do that?

The PT shows the main character commit wanton slaughter twice and then choke his pregnant wife. Not kids movies.

When they can figure out how to stream it or download it on their own, they can watch it and come to their own conclusions.

 

PT movies are part of SW saga. They are part of the same story and supposed to watched together with OT. Story of PT does not end on EP III it ends on EP VI, or EP IX ( when we get these movies ).

Also all Star Wars movies are actualy rated PG. Only ROTS has PG-13 rating.

So Star wars in general is not for very small childrens.

 

That's how you like to watch the Star Wars saga. I just like to watch the movies I like and not the ones I don't. I do the same thing with other franchises.

I don't really care what the MPAA ratings are, I think they're pretty arbitrary. There are some PG-13 movies I think little kids would be fine watching, and some PG movies that they shouldn't.

 

You'r right about that. I didn't think of that, but that's just another reason to wait for kids to watch the prequels on their own initiative. As mentioned in another thread somewhere in this forum, killing the Padawans was just a bridge too far for the Star Wars franchise. And probably choking Padme, too, (though at that point I think he was half out of his mind).

Still, it was a TV show that blindsided me- I think an episode of Law & Order when my daughter was in the room. Not to condone violent Star Wars fare, but TV is much worse IMHO.

 

Well regarding violence, exept for maybe Anakin burning, I really don't think nothing in the prequels can compare to this:

Then there are many other things like Ponda Baba's bloody hand, Luke busted up by the Wompa, the Wompa eating the bloody remains of the Taun Taun, the Rancor eating the Gammorean guard and all the dudes the Sarlacc munched. Then there are other things......

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 4, 2015, Original Post Date: Oct 4, 2015 ---

Everyone has their own opinion regarding the movies my friend. To this day the movie I least like is Empire Strikes Back and many fans see it as the holy grail of SW. Even as a little kid I found it the weakest of all the movies.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 4, 2015 ---

My friend are you really talking about OT vs PT? As I quoted on another coment, have you forgotten seeing Luke's uncles explicitly burned to a crisp? How about Threepio burning the dead remains of the Jawas? Anakin is violent because he choked his pregnant wife (who lived by the way) but Vader wasn't for breaking the neck of a rebel officer and choking two Imperial officers to death? Do Ponda Baba's bloody hand, Luke beaten and bloodied by a Wampa, or the Rancor eating a Gammorean ring any bells? How about watching a furry little bear moaning the death of his little friend who was just killed next to him? Dude you are talking about movies where even a Droid was screaming as he was being tortured while another was being dismembered! If you wanna hate the PT that's fine by me but using violence as an excuse is just sad.

 

My friend the OT has many MANY things that were more adult oriented than the prequels. First of all, Dookys head was shown explicity? Where was that? In a deleted scene? Didn't you see Vader snap the soldiers neck and even hear the sound? And while we are on the subject how about it if we talk about Jabba's lusty behavior towards Oola and Leia. What do you tell your kids when they ask you what Jabba wanted to do to Oola when he was licking his mouth and yanking her chain? That he wanted to eat her? Or how about that nice movement with his tongue as he tells Leia that she will soon learn to apreciate him? In the special edition we can now cleraly see Oolas nipples dude! I love the OT with all my heart my friend but you have to see these things and admit that the OT had lots more adult elements than the prequels. That some things are implied? Of course they are but that doesn't eliminate the fact that they happened and many things are indeed shown on screen like when the Rancor gobbled up the screaming Gammorean Guard. They show him bite him and even shew him down!

 

You don't do your argument any favors using a behind the-scenes-shot that is much more explicit than what's in the movie- in fact it was only in the past few years that I even recognized what that was burned there in the fleeting, smoky shot of the compound entrance (and being a doctor one would think I'd recognize it straight away). I do agree that the crispy Aunt & Uncle was still pretty bad, but that's the worst it got in the OT. The PT wasn't very violent, either, in my opinion. As you say, there are other reasons why people might not like it.

 

My friend were do you get the idea that this was a behind the scenes shot? Can it be you don't remember? Here's a pic frozen from the movie:

and here's the link so that you can see it up close:

 

Right. When one sees it on film it's not nearly so bad- we don't see it with the smoke removed (that's what made me think the shot was behind-the-scenes, but really it's just that the smoke is gone) OR up close, as you showed in that first picture. It's really a fleeting, partially obscured shot as seen in the movie.

 

I dont think so, its pretty clear to me what they are.

 

It is to me now, too. I'm just remembering back to the first time I saw it, as a kid (since that's the topic at hand). I had the vague idea something was burnt up over there, and it wasn't good, but it never struck me as very graphic.

Lol, maybe my eyes were just bad or I was very sheltered- it could have been either of those things, to be honest! I did end up getting glasses a couple of years later.

 

Have two SW obsessed sons (5 and 7 yrs old) running around the house.
Showed them the films in order of release; 456, 123.
No surprises: they love the OT more, think episode 6 is the best one, do not take offence with the CGI in the PT (I do) or Jar Jar (they think he's stupid in a funny way, I do not) but think there is too much boring 'blah blah blah' in episodes 1 and 2. They like 3 the best of the ST ...

Kids are smart enough to make up their own mind.
Another example: I only had to show them Totoro once to turn them into Myazaki fans. No need for brainwashing. Kids know.