Kung Fu Panda and the like - Page 5

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by hipumpkins

I have been pushing DH to try to do more family stuff with us. so last week he thought it would befun to go see Kung FU panda in a theatre that has tables and serves food.

Ooooh, you have to tell me where that theater is. I'd love to go to the movies AND get to sit and eat good food at the same time!

[MichaelsSahm]

Well I for one likes the movie. It was funny!!

[MichaelsSahm]

Originally Posted by Jessy1019

Angelina Jolie . . . she is an adopter and promoter of adoption, and I am against adoption.

OH MY GAWD! Are you fricken serious??? So because she adopts, you don't go see the movie???

[hipumpkins]

Originally Posted by Jessy1019

Ooooh, you have to tell me where that theater is. I'd love to go to the movies AND get to sit and eat good food at the same time!

It's in Dunellen. 25.00 gets you 2 movie tickets a large pizza and a pitcher of beer (or soda)
They also have a full menu (italian) and bar.

It's like regular theatre but every row is missing and there are coffee table style tables to sit on.

[forrestguy]

just goes to show all kids are different. my son is terrified of the grinch but has seen all the spidermans and lord of the rings, star wars, indiana jones. Sauron and Darth Vader are just fine but not the Grinch. He has had this fear since three y/o and is eight now. He has never been so afraid of any other character in a movie.

[momeg]

I spent every Saturday morning for most of my childhood watching "Movie Macabre" with Elvira on Superstation 17. If anything I think it helped my imagination and tolerance of "fearful" things. My kids are little, but they watch Godzilla, King Kong, basically whatever they want, within reason. They ain't scerred.

As far as being overprotective, my best childhood friend's parents never let her watch or do anything that even remotely involved sex, violence, or...well any kind of fun for that matter. Now, she does soft-core porn and poses for Nudie mags. I don't know if there is any real correlation, but you gotta wonder.

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by sahmnlovingit

OH MY GAWD! Are you fricken serious??? So because she adopts, you don't go see the movie???

I am really fricken serious.

Hipumpkins:

It's in Dunellen. 25.00 gets you 2 movie tickets a large pizza and a pitcher of beer (or soda)
They also have a full menu (italian) and bar.

It's like regular theatre but every row is missing and there are coffee table style tables to sit on.

I am so there! That sounds great!

[forrestguy]

I loved Elvira when I was a kid!

[Dandelionkid]

Originally Posted by blessed

Yes, I don't know anyone - adult or child - who didn't cry and perseverate over March of the Penguins. Actually, I haven't let dd watch it yet for that reason (she's 4 yo too). I know the baby abandonment themes would be hard for her to handle right now.

ETA: I guess that's in line with what many of us are saying. Real life is tremendously more violent and traumatic than kid's movies - which tend to be watered down, marginalized versions of some theme. If your kids are so sheltered that pretend wrestling scenes terrify them, I'm just not sure what service that does them.

Umm... Ok.... what DIS-service does it do to them. I was a sheltered kid in terms of media and the extent of my "dysfunction" in life is not being able to watch very violent movies. Yup- that is quite a disservice my parents did to me. I just don't get it :

[wytchywoman]

Originally Posted by hipumpkins

It's in Dunellen. 25.00 gets you 2 movie tickets a large pizza and a pitcher of beer (or soda)
They also have a full menu (italian) and bar.

It's like regular theatre but every row is missing and there are coffee table style tables to sit on.

That sounds like so much fun. Is this a chain of theaters or is it something special that just that theater does? I bet that would be a blast!

[hipumpkins]

Originally Posted by wytchywoman

That sounds like so much fun. Is this a chain of theaters or is it something special that just that theater does? I bet that would be a blast!

I have no idea. It doesn't look corporate at all. It looks like a little pizza place that attached itself to an old theatre.

BTW..I see in my quote that I said you sit on the tables. That isn't right...You sit in regular movie seats and have the coffee table to eat on

http://www.dunellen-theater.com/

[blessed]

Originally Posted by mumster

[/B]

Umm... Ok.... what DIS-service does it do to them. I was a sheltered kid in terms of media and the extent of my "dysfunction" in life is not being able to watch very violent movies. Yup- that is quite a disservice my parents did to me. I just don't get it :

Most of us don't like to watch slasher films. Or are you talking about popular mainstream movies?

I guess to get a sense of how well you have come to get by in the world, I'd have to know a whole lot more about you than just that you are a grown woman who can't watch adult moviies.

: back at ya.

[DocsNemesis]

My kids see whatever movies they want (well, not NC-17, but beyond that, I let them chose). I was given the same choices and it allowed me to learn what I wanted to watch and didnt. I LOVED horror movies, dont ask me why , but I didnt turn into a serial killer or something. I watched everything my mom did and she used it as an opportunity to explain what was wrong with certain things they did or didnt do and I also very much knew this was PRETEND. It wasnt real. I really never understood kids who were scared of these things since it wasnt real anyway and tbh, a lot of the violence in horror movies is so fakey.

Having said that, my son is not allowed to watch certain shows because he will start kicking and punching. We didnt have this issue with Kung Fu Panda, but we do when he watches Power Rangers, so thats a no no in our house. My kids also do not watch horror movies often or other real adult movies because, well, unlike myself, they dont like them. But it still seems to depend-I think they get scared of more realistic violence and arnt as scared of the real fake stuff. My 5 year old likes Resident Evil but wont watch most other horror movies, lol. In any case, I warn my kids that a movie is scary or violent and let them decide. My ds is very sensitive and gets nightmares so I will tell him he shouldnt watch something. But action movies he loves-like Indiana Jones. They also liked Kung Fu Panda. And we all love Shrek and Finding Nemo, both of which have a lot of adult humor too.

I grew up with kids that were kept sheltered and I dont want that for my kids. And honestly, I'd be worried about a kid that was scared of Kung Fu Panda (not enjoying it is one thing, although my kids did enjoy it *shrug*). Thats just...wow....

[lyttlewon]

Cari we weren't allowed to watch Karate Kid because it would have caused my brothers to start punching and kicking things. I have still never seen that movie. I tell ya I was pretty darn sheltered, my mom wouldn't let us watch Scooby Do, and I got nightmares easily. But not from kids movies I got them from real movies. I accidentally watched the beginning of the Color Purple once when I was little. I still remember it like I saw it yesterday.

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by DocsNemesis

I grew up with kids that were kept sheltered and I dont want that for my kids.

That sums it up for me, too. I was not a sheltered child, and I feel like I am much better for it. I also love that the media we enjoy gives us great things to talk about with our kids -- lots of films, tv, etc. raise issues that wouldn't come up in our day-to-day lives but that I definitely DO want to talk about with them. I'm a big proponent of a non-sheltered childhood. I appreciated mine, and I have two happy, healthy kids who seem to be loving theirs as well!

[Gray's Mommy]

My DH took our oldest to see KFP and he loved it. He is totally into the martial arts & that is what he got out of the movie--new moves he can use for his practice.

I am more hesitant to send him to movies that are PG rated than my husband.

[Dandelionkid]

Originally Posted by blessed

Most of us don't like to watch slasher films. Or are you talking about popular mainstream movies?

I guess to get a sense of how well you have come to get by in the world, I'd have to know a whole lot more about you than just that you are a grown woman who can't watch adult moviies.

: back at ya.

Just read your quote again:
So I guess you do shelter your kids to some extent, as you said, March of Penguins is too much for your child right now. What I felt objection too was your statement "If your kids are so sheltered that pretend wrestling scenes terrify them, I'm just not sure what service that does them." It seems as if you are saying that fear of pretend wrestling scenes is abnormal, caused by too much sheltering. It seems more true that one child's innate sensitivity to this type of "violence" will cause a parent to shelter him from movies such as Kung Foo Panda. Much like your response to your child's sensitivity to baby abandonment.
I think my sensitivity also came before my parents sheltering, not caused by it (I think I might be pretty messed up if I wasn't sheltered that way considering my sensitive nature) No : today just Bed is calling...

[TripMom]

You took your DDs to a movie called "KUNG FU" Panda . . . . of course there was violence - its KUNG FU?

That said - its totally mediocre IMHO. And I can't get very riled up about exposing them to violence in this one -- for Pete's sake - its a rat, snake, insect and a Panda? It couldn't have been more hokey? Save for the "bad guy" -- he was scary.

[Dandelionkid]

Originally Posted by Jessy1019

That sums it up for me, too. I was not a sheltered child, and I feel like I am much better for it. I also love that the media we enjoy gives us great things to talk about with our kids -- lots of films, tv, etc. raise issues that wouldn't come up in our day-to-day lives but that I definitely DO want to talk about with them. I'm a big proponent of a non-sheltered childhood. I appreciated mine, and I have two happy, healthy kids who seem to be loving theirs as well!

I see where you are coming from- a lot of movies do have something valuable to say. I just don't see how day-to-day life can't provide the exact same opportunities. My 4 yr old dd doesn't watch much at all. Although she may be "media-sheltered" she is definitly not "life-sheltered". Reality has caused us to discuss a lot of issues. Death, poverty, child labor, materialism, advertising gimics, generousity, fear, war, "unfairness" in many forms, you name it I am sure we have discussed some variation of it. Film, tv, etc are created to mirror real life issues, emotions, values etc. So it makes sense to me that the variety and richness of life provides everything we need to keep our kids well-informed and educated.

[blessed]

Originally Posted by mumster

Please tell me why you believe (if you do) that sheltering kids from certain movies is a disservice to them. I realize we are likely polar opposites so please help me understand your point of view. And yes, I am talking about popular mainstream movies as well. Can't watch gratuitous violence (i.e "no country for old men"), can't watch disturbing psychological films. Really have no idea how not filling my mind with dark images is a bad thing.

Well, I'll try.

The problem is, life is kind of a disturbing psychological experience at times.

Can a person who can't tolerate images of animated pandas fighting really get by in life? Can you drive in heavy traffic? Keep your head if your kid is bleeding and needs your help? Hold your own in a dispute? Survive as a single parent?

Could you be a surgeon if you were so inclined? A nurse? A police officer? A prison guard? A high school teacher? Can you hold a job at all?

I think there's a difference between not caring for a certain genre and simply being unable to deal with it. If your childhood experiences are so guarded that you never develop the emotional and psychological maturity to deal with life then that's a problem. I don't know if you feel that this applies to your case or not. But I would certainly worry about my own child if I kept her so limited that popular kids films caused her fear and anguish.