CT Childrens Reaction To Watching TESB

This is here because the focus is on TESB, but it does branch out in a generic way to the entire sage.

As most of you I have thought long and hard as to what order to show the movies to people that have never watched them.

The reaction of these children that don't know about the "No, I am your father" line in TESB scene is typical for a person who doesn't know, even today the cinematic shock for new people watching these movies happens.

So with Episode VII coming out there might be people that have never watched the movies but maybe might get interested in it this round. I guess the value of showing the OT before the PT is made very clear in these videos.







Some of the comments on YouTube show that even as late as 16 some saw this and were shocked long after the movies were released. It seems amazing to me through popular culture, people may not know this, but I guess some don't. Thus TESB continues to be one of the best movies of all time because of that one line. And should be shown to first time viewers before any of the PT.

Imagine we had to wait three years to find out from Yoda in ROTJ back in the 80's, what the true answer was. Some of us had the reaction of the little girl in the second video. In denial because bad guys lie, to trick people. And like Luke said "That's Impossible", we tended to agree with him back then. And not much has changed for the first time viewer today.

Rotten Tomato score for TESB is huge 97/94, the Godfather has the highest combined score at 100/97 by comparison. I think the surprise is the major contributing factor to this score.

 

I'm assuming that most children don't see Vader as a human. True, we get to see the back of his head briefly, but I don't think that is enough for children to rationalize,"Oh, yeah he's human he could be someone's father."

 

Cheating death, anyone?

 

Ive seen these vids before, very funny.

Also for kids who have not seen ESB but have heard of darth vader it is interesting seeing their reaction to the reveal in episode 3

 

I don't remember my exact reaction in 1980 (I was six years old) - but I don't think I ever doubted it was true. I know the filmmakers claimed that smaller children would think Vader was lying (as many did), but the communication between Luke & Vader right before the end all but much confirms he was telling the truth.

What I wanted to find out in ROTJ was how & why it happened (in fact, it was after that first viewing that my cousin's boyfriend told me that there would a total of nine episodes, and that three would be about Vader, Obi-Wan & Yoda - they're the films I was really looking forward to, even more than ROTJ, and the wait turned out to be 19 years, instead of 6).

 

I can't remember if I believed it or not. But that was the longest three years of my life after that!

 

Obviously those videos only have value if you can compare them to videos of kids who watched the series in episode order. I don't have such videos, but I did watch the series in episode order with a small group of preteens who had never seen any of the movies before, and based on that experience I have to say that episode order is absolutely the best viewing order with the best and most intense plot twists.

 

Machete order preserves the most mystery possible. Here is a link to the full explanation. http://static.nomachetejuggling.com/machete_order.html a quick summary is that it doesn't ruin the Vader/father reveal or the Anakin/Vader reveal by viewing them in the following order: IV, V, II, III, VI

 

I don't even recall caring about the twist. Maybe because ESB as a whole kind of bored me as a kid.

 

Yep, my cousins kids watched all 6 films and when episode 3 came around they were totally shocked palpatine was a bad guy and that anakin became vader

 

I'm having a hard time seeing how luke so easily believes a guy who just chopped his hand that he is his father?

 

Biggest Bombshell EVER!

 

I remember a kid recently watching ESB for the first time. When she saw Yoda she exclaimed, "Wow! Yoda's real in this one!"

Says it all really...

 

he doesn't easily believe it. he doesn't believe that Vader is his father until the next movie when he is told by bem and yoda... months later.

 

he doesn't easily believe it. he doesn't believe that Vader is his father until the next movie when he is told by ben and yoda... months later.

 

he doesn't easily believe it. he doesn't believe that Vader is his father until the next movie when he is told by ben and yoda... months later.

 

he doesn't easily believe it. he doesn't believe that Vader is his father until the next movie when he is told by ben and yoda... months later.

 

Wow. major malfunction with the phone. Sorry about the multiple posts.

 

I was about 10 when I first saw TESB. At that time I was watching it on TV and the third episode was going to show the next week. I know that I had some sleepless nights during that week, refusing to believe it.

 

This twist is overrated and some videos don't prove anything. A lot of kids didn't even believe it. I'd say it's a three year wait for ROTJ that made it more famous.

My future kids will be watching the saga in the episode order (with TCW thrown in between). A hero becoming a villain is more shocking than a bad guy claiming he's a hero father. It's not as if Luke joins him, after all.

And it's not just kids. I've read some posts on another board by adults who were surprised by the turn of events in ROTS. They thought the Republic was winning and certainly didn't expect Anakin to turn (unlike some PT haters here, they thought he was a decent guy for the most part).

 

Is he watching TCW too?

 

I was 11 at the time, and while I assumed it was a lie, I did allow for the "what if"... And then the "what if" is indeed the truth.