Talking To Your Kids About Star Wars
POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Family, Movies & TV
A couple of weeks ago over Fall Break I was able to celebrate a huge milestone with my children that they will remember for years to come. I sat down and watched the Star Wars trilogy with my children. I had been waiting for the day when I knew they were ready to really get into the story and characters. Chloe has been asking to watch it for a couple of years now but my response was always, “Soon my dear, you’re almost old enough to appreciate it.”
Well, that day finally came! It made this Star Wars fan’s heart proud to sit down with his two daughters and see those blue letters on the screen, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
There are, of course, different schools of thought in regards to when and how you should introduce your children to the Star Wars universe. Here’s a Public Service Announcement about talking to your children about Star Wars (sent to me by my brother).
Regardless of when you choose to introduce your children to Star Wars, sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with the “other Star Wars.” You know, the one with Jar Jar Binks.
A week or two after watching the original trilogy with the girls, we sat down and watched Episode 1: The Phantom Menace because they had been asking about it. When it was over, I was almost afraid to ask what they thought. What if they liked it better than the original Star Wars? What if they *gulp* actually liked Jar Jar Binks?
My fears turned out to be unfounded. Both of them agreed that they liked the original Star Wars better. Emily said, “I liked the other guys better…Luke Skywalker…Dark Vader (as she calls him)…the shiny guy (C3P0)…princess Leia. I liked her hair.” It brought a tear to my eye.
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November 19, 2010
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Had “the talk” a couple years ago. Now every time it’s on TV we usually end up watching it. I’m pretty sure they prefer the originals over those “other ones”.
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November 19, 2010
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My son was actually watching Episode 1 last night again. He will be 4 in January and he said he like the “spaceship” races (the Pod race at the end). I don’t think he has seen Episode 2 yet and we will not let him watch Episode 3 until he is quite a bit older because of the violence when Anakin is killed. Thanks for the article, we need to watch episodes 4-6 soon. Maybe this weekend.
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November 19, 2010
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This post totally cracked me up. I am a MASSIVE fan of Star Wars. I LOVED the original trilogy and I know this might cause all other Star Wars fans to condemn me but I actually like Jar Jar Binks. I know craziness. A few years ago, some friends and I did an overnight event and watched all 6 episodes back to back from 1 all the way through to 6. It was loads of fun. I don’t have any kids yet but when I do I will definitely have the talk with them. Thanks for sharing.
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November 19, 2010
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Brad, you are so funny! I love reading your blog.
My kids have watched Star Wars from a young age and they have watched the movies over and over again. They like the “old” movies better! My husband had the talk w/ them years ago…thank goodness.
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November 19, 2010
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Ha! Love this!!!
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November 19, 2010
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Reckon I will have to ruin the party here. I have never seen Star Wars so that obviously means I have never had “the talk” with them. Yeah, I know. Call me names. Call me out of touch. Call me depraved, I mean, deprived. But that type of sci-fi never appealed to me. Now…Back to the Future and Lord of the Rings is another story!!
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November 19, 2010
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DH grew up on Star Wars, still has all the original action figures (or whatever you call them). I let him introduce it to the kids, it’s definitely “his thing”.
I liked young Anakin — he was adorable. My kids and I call the shiny guy “Brass Butt”, much to my husband’s dismay. We have Star Wars Monopoly board game, and I can’t pronounce the places we land on…
That’s about all I remember. TV/Movies aren’t my thing much.
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November 22, 2010
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My son was two days old when I started reading the original trilogy to him in the NICU. Now at six months old he just met peter Mayhew.
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December 5, 2010
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There are of course far worse things than Star Wars so this is not the big thing to sweat about with kids. Let’s worry about the movies that glorify bad things instead. I think that Star Wars is a good teacher of morality for kids. The violence is done in an appropriate way compared to many movies.
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February 5, 2011
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Star Wars looks so tame to some of the other “spiritual” movies out there now.. How about Harry Potter?
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April 25, 2011
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Echt geile Page. Super gemacht. Freue mich auf Updates.
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October 23, 2011
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Bob Revolution Duallie…
[...]Talking To Your Kids About Star Wars | Brad Ruggles[...]…
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October 28, 2011
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Talking To Your Kids About Star Wars | Brad Ruggles…
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November 2, 2011
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I’ll show them the OT first when they’re about 4 or 5, then I’ll wait till they’re around 9 (the same age I was at when I saw TPM) to show them the prequels. That way they’ll have grown up enough with the OT that they’ll be able to recognize how awful phantom menace is but still young enough to enjoy the spectacle and tragedy of the latter prequels.
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November 21, 2011
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Star Wars is a very nice movie and talking to your children about star wars is a big help to them. To let them how wonderful that movie is.
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December 4, 2011
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Letmewatchthis TV…
its wonderful how fascinating it is for me to visit your pretty frequently….