twooffour said:
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.
This is my POV as well. It's the sort of thing that if people not from OT.com were to come here and read would think that we are obsessive and crazy.
The Boost, no disrespect to you, but I don't believe you when you say you won't allow your kids to see "crap." This is the exact sort of thing I am talking about. You let your kids see crap every day, probably. If they watch kids films or kids TV shows, they will mostly see crap, because most of them are dumb. And that's okay. Almost all children's cartoons are dumb, and live action shows are usually unintelligent and juvenile. Other, more conservative parents, might also say they are unnecessarily violent, shorten children's attention spans, and overstimulate them with advertising and video media. If you are a good parent and pay close attention to what they watch, guess what? 90% of it is still likely to be as crappy than the prequels. There is nothing inherantly offensive in the prequels other than the fact that they disappointed us--they are fairly technically accomplished and well composed pieces of entertainment, way more than some movies your son sees. Children's programming even in the best examples is usually not very good by adult standards. That's because they aren't meant for adult standards but children's.
When I was a kid, I watched Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles. Bad acting, silly stories, dumb graphics, lots of violence, potty humour, whatever. They are in general dumb, shitty shows as far as adults are concerned. That is why they are for kids. They were dumb but also fun as hell, and formed a big part of my enjoyment of childhood, and the childhood of 100 million other kids in the early 1990s. Of course my dad would not have liked them. How many shows that kids watch are ones their parents would enjoy themselves, or even approve of in terms of dramatic quality? I can only think of two or three from my childhood. But it would have been infinitely silly and weird if he not only dissuaded me but prevented me from seeing them just because he didn't think they were well made. Every time you let your child select a show or movie they like or they would like to see, you are probably exposing them to a stupid, dumb program whose dramatic integrity you would question. Which is why it's self-serving to "hide" your kids from the "damage" of the "PT", totally unable to see the films beyond your own, adult-oriented experience from ten, twenty years earlier. Hell, the Droids cartoon show was fucking bad, bad acting, dated animation, and it doesn't really fit in with the OT storyline or world, but if your kid really, really, REALLY wanted to see Droids I am sure most people would say, "okay."
In fact, in a bizarre way, you are robbing them of the one thing everyone here wishes: a prequel trilogy that is good. Imagine having that? That's what kids have, and I am frankly jealous. I am also jealous that they have legitimately well-done SW cartoons like the Clone Wars. Well, when TPM came out I was 14 and I loved the film, thought it was awesome. I was young enough that I didn't see or care that it had elements questionable to adults. I laughed at Jar Jar a couple times. Lucasfilm sold the most toys this year out of any company without a movie--think about that. The PT-era is one designed for kids, and the one area where Lucas succeeded. When they are adults, they may realise the PT isn't as good as they thought, just like I realise now that Power Rangers is shitty, even though I watched Power Rangers ten times more than I watched Star Wars from 1993-1995.
I agree with not volunteering the PT on kids. You can show them much better things. And if they ask about it, I agree with offering the advice that they are better off without it. But if they are really into it and really show an interest, to actually go to any length to "shield" them from it, and in some cases reported here actually actively manipulate them into not seeing it despite their strong desire to--that strikes me as a super weird thing that most normal people might even say is selfish. Kids will love the prequels and the cartoons, the only real audience that will get the full enjoyment out of them is the one between the ages of five years old and fifteen. Just let them be kids and stop acting like weird adult-fanboys totally too wrapped up in an anti-PT crusade to stop and think that maybe your son or daughter might actually find enjoyment from it all.