Harry Potter movie--how old? do they want to see it? did you let them? - Page 2

[joycenjackiesmom]

My 7 year old went to see it yesterday with her daddy after I had a long talk with my sister about the movie which she had already seen with her kids. She didn't seem bothered by it at all--she said it was a little scary a few times. She has seen all of the HP movies in the theater--the first one under my duress as we had out of town visitors who were going to see it--she did spend much of the first one on my lap but that was more because it was where she wanted to sit not because she was scared. We do talk to her a lot about what is real and what is fiction. I stayed home with my almost 3 year old because I felt it was not even close to appropriate for her.

[CarrieMF]

I plan on taking my 7yo, but not my 3 and 4yo's. They have all seen the first 3 at home. My 3yo could care less, my 4yo likes them but not the scary parts. IMO the big screen vs our small 27" screen is too much for my younger kids.lol

[jensoko]

We didn't take my 4 yo for several reasons. He's seen the first three on DVD, and when he was two, didn't seem bothered at all by anything in the first two. He doesn't care for the werewolf parts of the third movie, and asks what the dementors are every time they show up, but he largely doesn't get them, and usually asks to go back to the bus scene and Aunt Marge blowing up, which are his favorite parts.

Mostly, what I've noticed is that PG13 violence doesn't bother him at all...unless it's some sort of violence that happens to a kid. He didn't like it when Harry was being given the Dementors' kiss, and we stopped the movie and talked about it.

But the main reason we didn't take him to GoF is likely one of the reasons they made it PG13 - there was no way he would sit still through the whole movie! The third movie was long as well, and to expect him to sit still and stay quiet for that long is a bit much. I know his limits. As it was, my six month old was getting mighty fidgety and she's about as laid-back as a baby can be. Heck, my rear end was starting to hurt, and we went to the good theater with the comfy seats! :

[sapphire_chan]

There was at least one 3 year old in the theater when I watched it. I know this because she and her mom left twice during the movie. (It occurs to me now that her mom may have known scary parts were coming and taken her out, but at the time it looked like the girl was wanting the potty.) Both times I saw her leave and when I saw her after the movie she looked fine. Of course, I have no idea whether she had nightmares that night.

[angela&avery]

I saw and didnt, glad I didnt take my four year old. We love harry potter, Dh and I have read all the books and I knew this one would be darker. Ds who is 4 has seen the first two movies, the second one just recently and is not scared at all, though the frequency of monster dreams have risen recently. He just tells me about them though and says he isnt scared : , so Im not concerned. I thought the 3rd movie was darker as it is and not appropriate for him, though i was concerned about the second one with teh whole snake scene at the end, and it didnt bother him.... I dont know. I am definately not planning on letting him see the newer one right away when it comes out on video. He is not easily scared as yet, but I dont want to find out the hard way that it is too much for him. May as well give him something to look forward to...

[huggingmama]

Honestly, if this were an issue for us (DS is only 3 months), I think I might consider the boredom factor over the scary factor. The kids under 6-ish who saw it when I was there didn't seem too interested and weren't focused on the movie the whole time... it's a long film with several new characters and plot lines to introduce, and imho, all of the films are so much better when you've read the books. I was scared myself at certain points, but having read the book, sort of knew it was coming... not sure that the young ones had.

[Tupelo Honey]

At 7, I think most kids will decide on their own if something is too scary. My ds is almost 8 and he thinks HP is way scary (I'm a huge fan of the books) and did not want to go to the movie with me. But if he had felt ready to handle it, I would have taken him. Probably not any younger than 7, though. This movie (and book) really had a darker tone and the death at the end and Voldemort being reborn were pretty scary.

[karinasusy]

I took my 7 year old last Saturday. No problems.

I wouldn't have taken him at age 5 or younger, because I think the concepts in the movie would have gone right over his head (so why bother taking him - although at age 7, I think he was still a little young for it; this is clearly a pre-early-teen movie) and, at 3ish hours, he would never have lasted sitting there that long (i.e. waste of time and money).

[e.naomisandoval]

After reading about Highly Sensitive Children (HSCs), it makes sense why this is being discussed. I would have been overwhelmed, I think. But I took my 6 year old. We have read all the books aloud and I warn her well in advance of anything horrible so she has time to get used to it. I warned her about the movie, reminded her of the plot. We have all the movies and she's been to them all as soon as they came out. I think that she knows the storyline certainly helped her deal with this last one. With a previous one, we saw it in the theaters and then not again until we bought it and she knew when each and ever scary scene was coming after only one viewing months earlier. So clearly this stuff affects her very deeply. I know her well and see how she reacts and I feel this movie and books are okay. My husband has let her see some stuff on TV when I'm out that has left her with nightmares for months. HP never did that to her.

[Teensy]

Wow - I am surprised that so many of you have DC under ten that you thought the movie was appropriate for. I guess my 6 year old is just not that into scary things, but I think it will be a long time before he is ready for GOF, especially with the storyline about children being murdered and tortured.

[mamato3cherubs]

I have read all the books aloud to my oldest begining when he was like 5yo I guess. Well, we havnt finished the newest one yet. we own the first 3 movies and watchthem whenever we feel like it..
mybe I am a bit strange but I see nothing wrong with taking the kids. we took My 2 ds' age 9 and 4 last week and we all enjoyed it. My 4 year old has enjoyed all the movies even though he doesnt fully understand all teh concepts. oh well. How does he learn about things he doesnt know if he isnt exposed? anyways, i didn ttake my d dbecause at 2 i figured she just wouldn't sit stil and I would have to entertain her instaed of being able to enjoy it.

Just my input!

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by Teensy

Wow - I am surprised that so many of you have DC under ten that you thought the movie was appropriate for. I guess my 6 year old is just not that into scary things, but I think it will be a long time before he is ready for GOF, especially with the storyline about children being murdered and tortured.

Hey, my dd is only 5 months under the age of 10!! She's also a voracious reader and has read the entire HP series more than I have.

[UmmBnB]

My mom took my almost 5 year old last weekend. I figured he'd fall asleep (it's 2 1/2 hrs long) but he didn't and he LOVED it. Mom didn't think it was too frightening for him and she is super sensitive to that - moreso than I am.

He can't wait for it to come out on dvd so he can see it again!

[mattemma04]

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[e.naomisandoval]

It's so much better on the big screen!
Ellen

[candipooh]

I took my 2 year old my 4 year old and my 6 year old. They loved it.There were more scared in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.



My kids also love Lord of the Rings (but we waited for DVD for that one)

[marybethorama]

My 4 yo saw it. I wouldn't have taken him by himself but his brothers and I really wanted to see it and he wants to go wherever they go.

He was a little bored at times but he's very good at sitting quietly.

It didn't bother him at all but he's a kid who loves the Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the West is his favorite character.

[Linda on the move]

My kids are 7 and 9. We've read the whole series outloud as a family and my kids love HP. We talked about the movie a great deal ahead a time, visited the WEB site to watch clips etc. but left it up to each child to decide for themselves if they wanted to go. Both my kids decided to go and they both really enjoyed the film. They would like to see it again. Neither of my kids would have enjoyed this movie when they were much younger and the other HP films they only saw after they came out on DVD and we could fastfoward through the scary parts.

We saw GofF with our neighbors and their 10 year old had a much harder time with the film than either of my kids, but she has neither read the book nor had it read to her, so she had no idea what to expect. She found it hard to follow with random scary things happening.

[Girl Named Sandoz]

We took my 3 year old son to see it. He really wanted too (he's a huge Harry Potter fan) and he doesn't get phased/ scared by movies at all. He's seen the other HP movies on DVD and he understands the plot. We did leave before the graveyard scene in the end, because he couldn't sit still any longer by then.

He hasn't stopped talking about 'the Goblet of Fire' ever since. He loved it.