I did let my boys watch The Lost Boys. The more I think about it I'm convinced I saw it when it was new release on video which would make me about 7 and as much as the old phrase "but it didn't do me any harm" is of course anecdotal nonsense, the fact is I loved movies like that from a young age. Both boys absolutely loved it, they asked heaps more questions about vampire mythology and then went straight to bed and slept well, no nightmares or concerns about sleeping. The next day then were playing at being vampires again. So I guess, like so many other aspects of parenting, I need to stop worrying about what society thinks and instead trust that I know my kids best
I can remember seeing scary movies when I was little. My dad always took us to the movies on his weekend and it was usually to watch what he wanted to see.
I remember watching Terminator 2 at the movies and I was 8. I remember being scared but not that scared. The nightmares I had as a kid were mainly about crocodiles. Go figure. Maybe from watching Crocodile Dundee LOL!
i remember watching scary movies early on too - never got nightmares from it.
DD is only three, and has already been around while we watched all the HP movies (i won't say she watched them, but she was in the room so watched parts of them) - she asked q's about what was happening, and we told her what was going on, that it was a movie, and they were pretending and this is what they are pretending to do. i tried to distract her on a couple of the more graphic bits (the snake etc) but she ended up seeing some of it with no ill effects.
i have anatomy books at home (full texts with cadaver shots/skeletons etc) which she likes to ask about, so we don't hide it from her - we put it in the simplest terms possible. she "watches" medical/crime shows (Bones, NCIS/CSI, ER) when they come on tv, and isn't afraid to ask what is going on. i think i'm taking her lead with it all - if it seemed to be distressing her, i'd pull the pin and not have it on any more kwim? i'm taking it based on her understanding and reactions. that's what my folks did....
Admittedly it's not vampires or anything like that - but i've been watching cartoons in the mornings lately, and waaaaay too many of them are loaded with violence in some way or another, so i figure, without eliminating TV completely (impossible given i can't dictate what my folks do at their house when DD is there), I figure we need to base our viewing in DD's waking hours upon what she can cope with...
FWIW - i think having seen all this stuff has been AWESOME for us in the last 12 months - she didn't freak out when she found me surrounded by blood when i was miscarrying - just called Daddy and asked him to get something to help me clean up. She coped amazingly well in the lead up and post-op period of her own surgery, more curious about what was happening than freaked out. even in post-op recovery with others who had more noticable surgeries etc - she didn't get wigged out at all. and now, with DH having dressing changed, large open wound, bleeding all the time - she isn't at all distressed by it. It gives me confidence that taking her lead and trusting that we'll see signs if something is too much for her has worked so far...
i guess, after all that waffle, we all have to go with our gut about what is appropriate for our own kidlets.
lol, the scariest film I remember being upset by as a child was Return To Oz, those wheelie people freak me out to this day. I was also frequently upset by Wurzel Gummidge and scarecrows scare me even now. Terminator, not so much!
Having a look at the rating, The Lost Boys is the same rating as Harry Potter and the Dealthly Hallows which is a film a large amount of even 4 and 5 year olds have seen. Don't know why I worried
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