Monday, October 15, 2012

Ask JKM a Question #41: Kids and Horror Movies


A reader named Sean writes:

“Hi John, have a question for you. I know we have children about the same age and I was curious about which (or any) horror films you have shown him. I also have a son 14 years of age who loves horror films and has seen pretty much every classic horror film (that I view as acceptable). For some reason I feel more protective of my younger boy and just wanted your opinion on what you view as appropriate.”

Sean, since Halloween is approaching, your question is a timely, as well as very interesting one. 

I sense from your question that you may feel that younger boy isn’t quite ready at this point for a diet of the classic horror films, so I would say first, go with your gut. 

Nobody knows your son better than you do, and if something is holding you back or making you think twice, pay that instinct heed.

My son, Joel, just turned six, and he is a horror movie fan who has not watched any horror movies, which sounds weird.  Basically, he loves for me to tell him horror movie stories on the drive to school, and also at bedtime.  Instead of fairy tales, we do prequels, sequels and re-boots.

I have told him the stories of all the Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Chucky movies, for instance. 

Also, he often asks me to tell him an X-Files, or a Twilight Zone episode. The Twilight Zone stories are probably his favorites of all.  Joel even attended the horror convention with me, Mad Monster Party, for a little while last spring.

In terms of what he actually watches, Joel loves Scooby Doo, The Drac Pack, and The Real Ghostbusters.  We saw ParaNorman in theaters together last month, and he liked it but didn’t love it. 

Two days ago we saw Hotel Transylvania and he loved that one.

I would like to show Joel more horror films and TV episodes, but as his mother reminds me, once a scary image is seen, it can’t be unseen.  I’ve written about this incident before, but I made a bad mistake some time back and let Joel see the Michael Jackson video Thriller on YouTube. I just didn’t think he would find it scary, especially because he loved the “Are You Ready for Freddy” Fat Boys video. 

But when Michael Jackson’s eyes started to glow and he looked like a ravenous zombie, Joel was indeed scared.  And I was mortified and guilt-ridden.

And my wife was not happy.

So I have decided to take it slow in terms of exposing Joel to the genre I love so much.  The horror movies will still be there when Joel is a little older, so there’s no need to rush.  I do think that though Joel has a great vocabulary and a keen mind, not to mention good social skills, he’s a little younger at six than I was, if that makes sense. I can’t imagine him watching the “Dragon’s Domain” episode of Space: 1999, even now, and I saw it first when I was five. 

I suspect this difference arises because we have a much clearer delineation today between family movies and adult movies than we did in the 1970s.  When I was a kid, it was natural for parents to take kids to see Logan’s Run and Invasion of the Body Snatchers in the theaters simply because there weren’t many suitable children’s movies as alternatives.  Today there is a veritable industry of kid-themed entertainment, and I would wager that’s a very good thing.  So I’m just going to watch mindfully while Joel is on that track, and not push him into anything too adult that might disturb him.

That established, I feel like I’m dying for him to watch “Dragon’s Domain” and some classics (like The Mummy or Frankenstein) with me.  But every time I push, I remember my lesson vis-à-vis Thriller.

It sounds like you are feeling very much the same way.  You want to share your love of horror with your younger son, but some gut instinct is holding you back.

Sounds like you’re a very good dad.

Unlike little kids, we can be patient.  I’m living for the day I can watch the “Space Vampire” episode of Buck Rogers with Joel, but in the meantime just enjoying The Real Ghostbusters and movie fare like Hotel Transylvania.

Don’t forget to ask me questions at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com

1 comment:

  1. I am personally so glad that I grew up in the 70's and was a 13 year old in 1982 as opposed to today. It is doubtful, with the kid-industrial-movie-complex that exists today, that I would have been exposed to classic horror as a kid. I was taken to 'Alien' when I was 10, 'Friday the 13th' at age 11, 'The Howling' at 12, and 'The Thing' when I was 13. Visceral horror films early and often. As a matter of fact, the ticket guy in the theater actually tried to talk my mother out of taking me inside to see the 'The Thing', saying it was scarier than 'The Exorcist'.

    One method that was employed with my young nephew, who is now 16 is that he was allowed to look at all the horror films like 'The Ring' and 'Blair Witch Project' on dvd only, the caveat being that upon completion of the film, he had to watch the making of special features to reinforce the fact that it is just a movie, with actors, directors and special fx. It seems to have helped because he was never scared past the initial viewing of the film. This is a tactic that I would employ if ever I am to become a parent.

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