Why is SW considered kids films?

I would really like to know why the hell SW is considered kids films?? A kid film is Spy kids, Chicken Little, Pokemon...How is SW a kids film and LOTR is not? I think Hobbits and Dwaves are more kiddie than Jedi and Sith...I mean SW has got deep major themes and dark undertones..The main hero turns evil and kills kids, etc..SW is so deep and so complicated and so well thought-out. From the politcis and the goverment to the ecomny, to species and planet logistics, and immserive complex characters, engaging story with adult meanings and spirtual undercurrents with elements that appeases all your senses and plays upon most of your emotions in eotic and awesome ways...Most things in SW are very grey...Ok, maybe some episodes have some kiddie jokes and little things, but just because SW can be ENJOYED by kids does not mean its a kid movie..just means it is a movie for all ages..I mean where is everyone's imagination and sense of wondor anymore? Does everything have to be all logical and 100% real? Why must we make life so boring? What determines what is a kids movie and whats not? If SW had an actrual sex-nudity scene and cursing and SHOWED Anakin's dark deeds in ROTS...then would it be an ADULT film? If so...I think I wanna be a kid again!


Please explain to me what makes SW a kids film in many people's eyes.

 

Because those people are high.

They ain't kids films. I've never seen them to be kids films. Ever.

 

George Lucas initially intended them for children, they really work for people of all ages--much like Disney World. In both cases it was devised for the youth, but in the end brings out the child in all of us.

No one said a child's film must be simple or stupid--it can have layers of complexity and such is the case with Star Wars.

-Seldon

 

I don't agree. If SW is a kid's film, its a bad one because most kids I know can't sit through SW. Espcially one of the best ones which is ANH IMHO.

 

Lucas designed Star Wars with young people in mind from the outset. While the original film of 1977 didn't include the brighter "juvenelia" (note: not meant to be derogatory) of Return of the Jedi or the prequels, Lucas was always leaning towards a mass audience. Lord of the Rings, by design, is intended for older readers; Peter Jackson's films essentially tread the same path. Both are very sophisticated works of mythology, but as far as I'm concerned, Star Wars has it in the bag.

That people frequently associate child-like qualities with inferiority says more about those people than it does of children or child-like things, in my opinion. There are some very fine works of art and literature geared toward children that are every bit as monumental and eloquent as works of art and literature geared toward adults. A great deal of thought and care must go into anything complex intended for both older and younger minds. Yet that horrific cliche of all things child-friendly being inherently inferior keeps cropping up. One can see it every time a Disney film is reviled or Lucas is accused of "selling out". That's not to say some complaints aren't or might not be legitimate, of course, but I have to take a step back and ponder the motive and intellect behind such remarks whenever I hear them.

Yes - Star Wars is complex. It is intelligently constructed and deals with weighty issues with dilligence and grace. Across six films and twelve hours of entertainment, a plethora of ideas and themes are woven together - some minutely and fleetingly, others more obviously and forcefully - that dip into various aspects of "the human condition": human history, human suffering, human absurdity, human imagination. It's no lean feat. If it was as easy to reproduce Lucas' tale as detractors claim, then why has no one been able to achieve anywhere near the same level of success or veneration?

 

I don't consider it to be so - far too complex and as someone has already said, a lot of younger children can't sit through it. I think it probably started being considered a kids film when Ewoks and Gungans were introduced. TPM has quite a Disney-like feel at times.

 

I'd say it's due to the fact that Star Wars is one of the few true family films in the sense that you can watch it as a child and get the basic story but as you get older you can get different things out of it. It also was originally created with children in mind though the Saga has some parts that parents might consider inappropriate such as Anakin's immoliation.

 

1] It complies with the express intent of the author (George Lucas)
2] It is comprised mostly of things appealing to a juvenile audience
3] It attracts a very young audience which *seems* to outnumber the adult audience

 

Because people are snobs who are old at heart?

I just can't stand, nor believe, the flak that SW gets. I mean, why does Lord of the Rings seem to be held to a higher standard? Isn't it the same sort of otherwordly saga about a battle between good and evil? Is Viggo Mortensen that much a better actor than Ewan MacGregor?

I agree that George Lucas wanted it to be lighthearted entertainment, at least the first trilogy (in earth chronology, lol). And I think that is what enables movie snobs to bash it. It's like literary critics who disdain "sub-genres" like Sci-Fi and Mystery. It's family entertainment, therefore, it's not worthy of respect, just amused observations.

 

It's the fickle and sicophantic nature of many critics. Once something's flavour of the month it becomes untouchable critically. It's very much the emperor's new clothes. Later on, that same person or thing becomes the fashionable thing to criticise and nothing they do çan change that. Look at Pater Jackson. Absolute God who can do no wrong throughout LOTR, but watch people turn on him as Kong continues to disappoint at the box office. Star Wars has spent six years as critic poison, no matter how good each subsequent film was. Just the way it goes.

Edit: Not only is Mortensen no better than McGregor, he's not as good.

 

Yeah, I really think Viggo is the worst actor in LOTR...the man puts me to sleep! He never has a differnt tone of voice...I was enver interested in his story when I watched the movies. It seems like he's only eye candy for the ladies.

 

Because thats the way Lucas wants it. They are his films.

 

They were never originally intended to be kids films, kids like myself, I was 5 in 1977, latched onto the SW bandwagon.

If you watch Empire of Dreams Documentary, before the original SW came out, they specifically advertised at Comic-Con, which is comprised of Scifi Teenager Fans. They were not going after younger kids, specifically under 10 years old, it was a scifi/fantasy movie, and at the time those type of movies did not appeal to little kids.

However, when kids like myself and everybody else latched on to the phenomenon, that is when merchandising became a key ingredient in the whole thing. Again, in Empire of Dreams Documentary, they didn't have enough toys for Christmas '77, cause they never anticipated the popularity of the movie, and every kid under the age of 10 loved it along with every teenager.

Lucas started saying this about SW always being kids films to justify the kiddie tone of TPM, but if you look at the history of what demographic they went after, that statement by Lucas is totally untrue.

 

it's the american mind set that you can't have an imagination once you hit 16.

and the age bar gets lower the more we feed kids with stuff like GTA or mtv materialism for entertianment.

 

I agree. Amercia can be very ignorant and stubborn sometimes..well alot of times. I should know..I am Amercian, lived here all my life.

 

1. Attention spans were a bit better in 1977 before the explosion of video games, CGI, modern blockbusters, cable, computers, etc.
2. I know plenty of children who love sitting through the Star Wars films (including the originals.) I was one of them.

-Seldon

 

Well, the SW film I watched last night featured a scene where a mystical warrior chased a robot/alien creature on his dragon friend. That may have a hand in it.

 

err..Fantasty does not equal kids movie. All movies are fiction unless they are based on true stories. Are you going to claim some brutal old fairy tales as childrens stotires too? Why is LOTR not kiddie? Last time I watched LOTR...There was a little hobbit with his hobbit friends on a journey fighting dragons and trolls to destroy a mystical ring with the help of wizards, Dwaves and Elves....Sounds more fansty than a Buddist monk type warrior riding a creature who was bred on another planet in a distant Galaxy chasing an alien with robotic implacements...


Don't us human beings have imagination and a sense of wonder to them anymore? Every has to be so scientific..life itself and why we are here makes little logic sense in the first place..I mean cmon!

 

My sister has also enjoyed Star Wars for the past 3-4 years. She's eleven years of age now.

Lucas knew what he was doing.

 

people tend to asociate imagination with immaturaty such shame.

 

I took it seriously as a kid, my kid takes it seriously ~ it opened up whole new worlds for me...
I think there's a little bit of kid in all of us who love these films.


MOYERS: Some critics scoff at this whole notion of a deeper layer of meaning to what they call strictly kid stuff. I come down on the side that kid stuff is the stuff dreams are made of.

LUCAS: Yes. It's much harder to write for kids than it is to write for adults. On one level, they will accept--they don't have constraints, and they're not locked into a particular dogma. On the other side, if something doesn't make sense to them, they're much more critical of it.

MOYERS: So when you write, do you see your audience, and is that audience a 13-year-old boy?

LUCAS: I make these films for myself more than I make them for anybody else. I'm lucky that the things that I believe in and the things that I enjoy and the things that entertain me entertain a large population. [...] I don't really make my films for an audience per se. I'm hoping that a 12-year-old boy or girl will enjoy it. But I'm not dumbing it down. I think I'm making it with enough credibility so that anybody can watch it.

~George Lucas
Of Myth And Men
A conversation between Bill Moyers and George Lucas on the meaning of the Force and the true theology of Star Wars
Time Magazine, April 1999

 

I agree that SW isn't a kid's film ...

None of the kids from these years are pretty much into SW like kids use to be back in the 70's. Now, those kids that were introduce to SW for the first time since 1977 have become old enough, and became fans of the saga ...

I do believe that these people are going to introduce SW to their sons, and some of them could become fans, and some other not

 

This reminds me of the Harry Potter movies. You start out with Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, which are total kids movies. But then you move into Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, not so much for kids anymore.

I think Star Wars is the same way. It progresses from a kid's story and into a adult tale. It's really for everyone, and everyone can enjoy/relate to a certain aspect of the Saga.

 

I despise labels and it doesn't make much sense to fret about them. They are imposed by others to organize trivial information. What remains important is whether you personally like the film--that is all that matters.

Lucas knows it appeals to many groups of people; the films transcend age and socio-economic differences and become well loved by a diverse sample of people.

-Seldon