ST Get In Line - A Social Countdown to Episode VII

So I let my son watch ROTS for the first time last night and afterwards he had a bunch of great questions to ask. He asked why the clones betrayed the Jedi, why Anakin betrayed the Jedi, why the Republic gave Palpatine ultimate power, etc. I tried answering all his questions the best I could and he kept asking more! He really got into it and wanted to know every little detail of why this or that happened. It just reminded me of all the questions I had for my dad when I first saw the OT. I don't know of any other franchise that can inspire the kind of passion and imagination in children that Star Wars can. It made me even more excited for the ST so I can experience a brand new SW saga with my kids.

 

How old is your son? ROTS is my 7-year-old's favorite film. He hasn't asked me quite that many questions yet, probably because I always leave the room after the ruminations scene, but I've loved watching him explain to his 5-year-old brother that "Anakin is a good guy who turns into a bad guy then turns into a good guy again."

 

He's five and I was very hesitant to let him watch Episode III (he's already seen I and II) because of its very dark themes. I was very proud of the way he handled it (although I did skip through the part where he takes out his lightsaber on the children) and his understanding of Anakin's deeds. He told me while he thought Anakin was a good person he did some very bad things to save Padme and in the end betrayed his friends and himself. I thought it was pretty insightful for a five year old. I don't know when I'll let him watch the entire thing with the scenes of the children but I just didn't think he was ready for that yet.

 

My oldest was 5 when I first let him watch ROTS as well. I had shown him the other five films already but I was very reluctant and put up with about three months of begging and whining before I relented. He did well with it though.

 

I think we can underestimate children sometimes. They're pretty smart and most of them know the difference between right and wrong. I'm guilty of it and perhaps I should have allowed my son to watch that scene.

 

I think it depends on the kid too. Not much bothers my older one; my younger one is more sensitive. At this point I don't outright forbid any movie rated less than R, but I will give them an idea of what they'll see in it and let them decide if they still want to watch it. They're both pretty self-aware for their ages.

I have more trouble monitoring video games than movies; I just nixed some zombie game my oldest wanted for the iPad.

 

I agree. I didn't let my twins watch it until earlier this year (they're seven) and they got pretty upset about me letting him watch last night. I tried to explain to them that I just didn't think they were ready to watch it when they were five but they didn't like that. I've also had some trouble with which video games to let my kids play. They begged me to buy them a 360 for Christmas this year but I had them settle for a Super Nintendo instead. They were pretty happy with it.

 

Hi Tunick. May the greasy food and fruit juice be with you.

 

I really hope we get some news soon. The topics are getting pretty thin right now. I'm ready for them to announce that I'm the director of this thing. Oops, I shouldn't have said that.

 

The Panthers beat the Saints! W00t!

 

Pats handily defeated the Dolphins today. Great to have Gronk back.