We’re trying to toughen up Dillon a bit. It occurs to me that perhaps a kid shouldn’t get super-offended and tear up at a professional soccer game because some rabble-rousing fans are holding up signs that says “the Wave sucks.” (He turned to his grandpa and said, “That is just SO inappropriate!”)
Don’t get me wrong, I love that he is a sweet, sensitive kid. But he’ll be entering 6th grade (maybe at a new school next year) and probably he should be able to handle unsportsmanlike behavior and just let it roll off, you know?
So what is my strategy for this, you ask? [Drumroll….]  I am making him watch movies.
We don’t watch a lot of TV as a rule, no screens on school nights pretty much ever, unless you need to type up some homework or something. And when D does have screen time, he’d rather play a videogame than watch a movie. But I am forcing the issue a little (in a very nice way), and so we’ve watched Ghostbusters, Goonies, Star Wars: ANH (that’s Episode 4 if you don’t know), and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship and the first disk of Twin Towers (it’s the 3+hour director’s cut, so we had to stop midway through because it just got too late). Basically, we’re nerding it up by watching all my favorite movies.
I’ll let you know if he learns the important life lessons from Han Solo and Gandalf and Mikey and Egon. In the meantime, it’s just pretty fun to watch these again with my kid.
So as a Star Wars nerd, which version of Episode IV was watched? I just want D to come away with one simple fact – Han shot first. Thankfully Lucas pretty much kept his hands off of Ep. V – speaking of which, if you don’t have a Blu-Ray of ESB, I will happily purchase one for you just so D can watch a quality copy of the greatest movie ever made. The ‘machete order’ referenced in someone else’s comment actually makes a great deal of sense as well, once you get to the difficult decision of “when is it right to tell my child about Ep. 1?”
I assume Raiders of the Lost Ark will be an upcoming feature as well?
Also, as far as a good movie to teach kids how to deal with unsportsmanlike behavior, how about Back to the Future? Not only is it a classic 80s movie, but the series is at least partially about just tolerating bullies, as they always get their comeuppance (I hate that word) in the end.
We watched the newer version (checked it out of the library, so…) and as I had blocked it from my memory, I had completely forgotten that it would be the version where Greedo shoots first. Which, by the way, is the least believable thing ever. They are literally three feet apart. How in the world do you miss?
I am completely going to implement the machete order (http://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/). I love that idea so much. I mean, D knows most of the plotline so the Vader thing won’t be a surprise to him (though it will likely be to Rose as she hasn’t read the comics and played a bunch of videogames about it), but it still really makes sense to me and I think I will enjoy the movies more that way. Either way, ESB is next on our list, and so we’ll call you and you can come watch with. Probably next weekend since we are finishing LOTR this weekend, and D’s slated to watch ANH again at his buddy’s birthday party on Saturday night.
Good ideas with Raiders and Back to the Future. Though Raiders scared the crap out of my cousin when he was about D’s age (melting Nazi face). That was his recurring movie-created nightmare as a kid – mine was Vader injecting Leia with that syringe thing in ANH.
I can’t believe I forgot about this movie suggestion – The Princess Bride!!!
Absolute classic, and a solid fixture of nerd culture without us even realizing it! So many great lines – I’m tempted to recite a bunch here, but I’ll refrain. Though it’s been ages since I last saw it, in my mind it remains as far more swashbuckling than any of those Caribbean Pirate things. Hopefully D and Rose will agree.