Just for the record, I don't think that taking *some* measures in order to avoid your kid bumping into giant spoilers in general is inherently "creepy" or anything, it's just this over-obsession with the "Star Wars experience" that should be "protected" from being "tainted" by the "exposure" to the "false and horrible prequels", that I find very odd, and very inviting for ruthless mockery.
No, you're not supposed to sit down with your kid and specifically tell him that "it was his sled" until you make sure he ain't gonna forget about it anytime soon - the problem is, you have to consider the amount of effort to actively SHIELD someone from the sheer amounts of omnipresent popcultural osmosis (which, in itself, is pretty much as fun a byproduct of the original work as the shocks and angst of a first, original, unprepared viewing of said original work), and whether it's really worth going through all the hard work just so the kid one day reads Harry Potter and is shocked by Dumbledore's death.
What if you give him a great bunch of other archetypal magic stories instead, so he'll just kinda read that part and think "ah, I recognize this trope from this work and that story, nod nod kewl"? Would you really take anything away from him and his experience of a bunch of fiction?
I mean, I'm glad that I've somehow magically avoided the knowledge about the plot of "Psycho" so I could experience that shock and surprise when I watched the film (basically, the female protagonist is unexpectedly stabbed to death in a shower halfway through the film - if you haven't seen the film yet, don't read the previous sentence), but on the other hand, the experience of a good chunk of the sheer amount of "split personality psycho villains" in thrillers, crime shows and superhero schlock in subsequent pop culture, left me pretty unimpressed and slightly amused by the guy's lengthy explanation of Bate's psyche and how "his one personality doesn't know of the other" or whatever. I suppose it was designed to come off as really cool and bold at that time?
What if I had accidentally bumped into a spoiler prior to viewing it? Couldn't I have still appreciated it for what it is, or maybe be left amazed and dazzled by how disturbing and shocking the murder scene was after having seen it lampooned in endless parodies? How about if I had taken a class in film history and cinematography prior to that, wouldn't that have opened a completely new level of appreciation for me when watching it for the first time, fully knowing the spoilers and osmosis?
I know the spoiler to Citizen Kane by now (it was his sled), but hey, I'm sure the film has a lot more going for it than "the reveal" and has some significant rewatching value, so why should I be upset about it? That's life, time passes on, things get out, new perspectives are opened. What was once shocking and radical, is now common knowledge and can be looked at as a piece of history and origin of subsequent references and ideas - is that really a bad thing?
Is the experience of viewing SW for the first time after hearing so much about it, and seeing the entertaining characters, humor and small chunks of camp and cheese, in their original form, really that much worse than being blown away by the effects on a large screen in 1977? How about you shield your kids from any special effects films until they've seen Star Wars, so they're blown away by it like you were back then?
Hey while we're on this page, why not first feed them a lot of 30s' SF with shiny environments, so they appreciate the "used universe" in Star Wars?
I've never watched the Flash Gordon serials, yet I enjoyed the movie - would you say I've gone the "wrong" path, and one should first show one's kids Flash Gordon before letting them know Star Wars exists? Isn't that the way it was conceived? Isn't that background as important to the viewing experience of this otherwise very well made movie that can stand on its own feet, than the lack of the prequels back then?
Well fuck you then, I still had a great time, and I'm sure I'll have a great time when I get around to those old serials and star recognizing the "origins" of so much of the SW imagery I'm familiar with.
Like 10 years ago, I remember being a complete 24 fanboi and drooling over the shocking "twists" without really paying attention to some of the political and narrative problems in the story - but does that mean if I ever have kids I'll make conscious efforts to prevent them from learning about the spoilers from TVTropers, just so they can have the experience I had as a naive kid? Why should they have?
Hey, how about I give them something to read about narrative techniques, so they recognize those twists for the cheap and sloppy plot devices they are the first time they view it (if they do at all)? Oh boo hoo, I've ruined the epic "twists" for them - so what, they've gained so much more.
The point I'm trying to make in this somewhat lengthy post with a lot of examples is that, there are many different perspectives you can view an artwork from, you can watch it wide-eyedly for the first time and be completely immersed in the experience, or you can approach it from above, analytically comparing it to lots of things you've seen and learned before, and with the large amount of films, books, music and so on, you'll ALWAYS take SOMETHING out of it, and it'll always contain a good chunk of either enjoyment or interest.
There's absolutely no point or sense in getting all obsessed about a particular set of films, and everyone having to view it from the exact same angle as you once did, or ending up with the same opinion of it - they'll watch it, or they won't, they'll get something out of it, and their views and opinions will inevitably change over the course of time, and good is.
No need for them to agree that "the OT was better and the PT sucked", especially if they don't end up being too much into writing or cinema.
I'm aware this thread isn't about spoilers, or all those other stories and films I've mentioned, but point is, if you take that "raising kids in a PT-free environment", nothing prevents you or anyone to take it further and, indeed, extend it to forcing 50s SciFi in your kid before he ever hears of Star Wars. I mean, why not? Are you up to it, as well? Or only as far as the PT is concerned? Why? Why go through all this effort in the first place?
Just throwing some perspective out there.