Tales from a Star Wars Dad

[PeepsMcJuggs]

Nice story.. BUT....

 

I'm a father myself, my oldest boy is turning 6 soon. We are both fans but I still don't let him see the movies. We have watched season 1 of clone wars though. But isn't it alittle to early to watch the movies at age 5? It's not just the violence, but the politics etc..

 

Or is it just me...?

 

Actually she started watching at age 4.

 

I think it depends on the kid, really. Like I said, I didn't originally intend for her to watch the movies that young, but I also knew that she was the kind of kid that could enjoy the movies without any negative repercussions. She's an incredibly caring, conscientious and selfless little kid, in spite of her parents. Seriously, we can't take credit for how awesome she is. Don't get me wrong, I think we're pretty good people, but she's practically saintly by comparison.

 

I think it's also important that, regardless of what age they start watching the films, you sit down with them and communicate the good and bad lessons while they're watching it. Stand up for what's right, don't be selfish, trust that when people are telling you you're misbehaving, they're doing it because they're looking out for your best interests. Oh, and nobody appreciates a whiner.

 

As for the politics...I'd argue those only apply to the prequels. And I don't think anybody's old enough to enjoy the politics of the prequels.

 

Edit: I'd also argue that season 1 of TCW is far more violent than the original trilogy, what with clones getting slaughtered in their escape pods, droids shooting up clones and posing as the dead troopers, clones getting eaten by giant worms, etc, etc.

Edited March 22, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[westraz]

now all you have to do is show her the star wars christmas special

[TPdavid]

Very nice post. I was about seven when I first saw Star Wars with my dad.

[Wire_Razors]

Love this post!

 

I have a 4-year old, who I indoctrinated early in the SW lore. He sits in my lap on a weekly basis, hitting 1, 2, 2, 3, 4 to kill the "dinosaurs" on Dromund Kaas (even though I'm level 50 =P).

 

Best night ever, I was fighting in a WZ, and he was sitting in my lap at the time, wanting to "play Star Wars." So I made the moves (WASD), and he hit the hotkeys. Long story short, he killed an enemy player in a WZ 1v1, and got so excited he bounced himself off my lap and under the desk. The player b*****d about the kill, but I didn't have the heart to tell him he was beaten by a 4-year old.

 

Good form, OP! And a cutie little gal! Let's hope she turns into a regular SW nut like the rest of us!

[TrueKalma]

This is the most heartwarming thing I've read this year, thanks for sharing it with us!

[Ancaglon]

My 2 1/2-year-old daughter loves Star Wars -- but she came to it after seeing the SW:TOR trailers. She says "I want to see scary" -- by which I think she mostly means Malgus -- I had to write a script to play the Video Trailers feed on a loop to keep her busy. She also finds "wookie" (Bowdaar) hilarious.

 

Then, a bit later, my 10-year-old daughter put my DVD of ANH on, and she loved that, and now watches the original trilogy compulsively. My older daughter never showed much interest in SW, even though she loves Fantasy (Harry Potter, the Narnia books, Coraline etc.) till the younger one got interested, now she's watched them a few times too

[bionamaster]

I was going to throw this in another thread, but it was getting long enough that I thought it deserved its own thread. It also gives others the opportunity to share their own stories. I've told this tale in various forms a few times on these boards, so I'm sure there's a couple of people that are already sick of hearing it, but screw them! They should spend less time on these boards anyway!

 

In a small way, this is also my giant middle finger shining in the night to those that claim I'm not a true Star Wars fan because I abhor the prequels and Special Editions:

 

My wife absolutely hates all forms of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, and it's all her dad's fault. He was a huge Trekkie and tried to indoctrinate her into a love of sci-fi, and it backfired. So I decided to take a different approach with my kids. I figured if they wanted to get interested in it, I'd let them. If not, that was their call.

 

(That's not to say I didn't drop some none-too-subtle hints: dressing them up as Yoda when they were too young to care, buying kid-sized luxeon lightsabers, etc.)

 

I wasn't planning on showing either of my kids the Star Wars movies until they were at least 7, because let's be honest: they're pretty damn violent at times. I wasn't even sure they knew there were any Star Wars movies, because I never talked about them. Then two summers ago, my 4-year-old daughter went to McDonald's and saw a Yoda toy that talked funny. So she came home and asked if she could watch the Star Wars movies.

 

Not one to squander such an opportunity, I sat her down and popped in Episode IV (the unedited, un-Special bonus DVD). I read her the opening crawl in the most melodramatic voice I could muster, and excitedly explained to her who the characters were (she was extremely interested in the fact there was a princess) and answered any questions she had along the way. By the time Luke and Han got their awards (and I pointed out that Chewie should've gotten one too), she was absolutely hooked. She asked if she could watch more, so the next day we ran through Empire, and the day after that was Jedi.

 

The next day was the first moment I felt true pride in my daughter's budding fandom. It was prequel time. Now, as a lot you know, I abhor the prequels. II and III were okay in my book, but not enough that I ever bother rewatching them. But, knowing that Episode I was very much intended for a child audience, I poured just as much excitement into watching that film as I did the others (hell, I tolerate stuff she watches that's a lot more annoying than the prequels).

 

I read her the opening crawl in the most melodramatic voice I could muster, and I saw her eyes glaze over as I started talking about politics, trade federations and blockades. I tried to excitedly describe what was happening, but she was decidedly uninterested. She sat there quietly for several minutes watching the movie. Right around the time they escaped Naboo and were thanking R2-D2 for fixing the ship, she turned to me and said "Dad, is it okay if we turned this off?"

 

I couldn't help but beam with pride. Grinning like an idiot, I said "Yes, honey, yes it is." I was on Cloud 9. Not only was I raising a fangirl, I was raising a fangirl with taste.

 

We moved on to Episodes II and III over the next couple of days, both of which she enjoyed. By the end of the week, she was a saber-packing, Force-wielding member of the Star Wars fanbase (No really! She wields the Force)!

 

Since then, she's watched The Clone Wars movie, as well as the first season of the cartoon (I've heard it gets pretty dark after that, so I'm holding off on the following seasons), and asks to watch Star Wars movies far more than she does princess movies. She rarely requests Eps II or III, as she prefers "the ones with Princess Leia," and the only time she asked to watch Episode I again was after reading one of her Learn 2 Read Star Wars books, and wanted to know what podracing was.

 

My proudest moments as a Star Wars Dad (in reference to her fandom, numbskulls; of course she does plenty of other things that make me proud!):

• Humming the Star Wars theme when she's playing
  
• Insisting the Star Wars theme be the first song on her birthday mix we gave to her friends as a party favor
  
• Using The Force to open doors (thank you, handicap button!)
  
• When asked who her favorite princess was, responded "Princess Leia!"
  
• While at Disneyland, asked "Where's Princess Leia?"
  
• After spending a week getting the full Disney experience, was far more excited getting her picture taken with the girl dressed as Princess Leia during a free concert in her school gym
  
• Made the connection on her own that "The bad guys have red lightsabers, the good guys have blue and green lightsabers...except for that bald guy! He has a purple lightsaber!"
  
• Refers to Episode IV as "The first movie" of her own volition
  
• While wearing her vintage Empire Strikes Back poster t-shirt to school (a family heirloom from her cousins), she was told by some classmates that "Star Wars is for BOYS!" She responded "No! Star Wars is for EVERYONE!"
  
• At Star Wars in Concert, was too nervous to approach Vader, but got up the nerve to pose with a Stormtrooper for my sake
  
• Decided to be Princess Leia for Halloween, insisted she bring her blaster because "Leia doesn't use a lightsaber!"
  
• When given the option of buying any one toy at the store as a major reward, bought a Han Solo action figure so her Princess Leia action figure had someone to play with.
  

 

The Force is strong with this one!

 

Lol, you have a very cute daughter. Who knows, maybe someday, she can create a SWTOR account, lol.

[bionamaster]

now all you have to do is show her the star wars christmas special

 

The christmas special of doom? DON'T LET ANYONE GO NEAR IT, IT'S TOXIC!

[PeepsMcJuggs]

Hahahaha...my wife's lack of Star Wars knowledge has now made the Failblog: http://menniumfackin.blogspot.com/2012/02/thats-just-wrong.html