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Oct. 17th, 2009 08:37 amThe NYT is all up about what makes a scary kid's movie. They're talking about Where the Wild Things Are, a film my cousin Heather has repeatedly reminded me that I'm going to see with her (but probably without her three-year-old). And the folks at the NYT are all on about what makes a kid's movie scary like they even know.
Kids find things scary that adults do not, and the other way 'round, too. I was watching Finding Nemo (for the first time) with my brother's kids and was bloody well horrified that Nemo's mom and his siblings were basically decimated in the first couple of minutes of the film. My brother's son was pretty unfazed by all that-- he'd seen the movie before but apparently never got hung up on the clownfish massacre at the beginning of the movie. He was going on with the adventure of Nemo and his dad while I was still stuck at "They're all dead." "It'll be OK, Aunt Jessica." "No, you don't seem to get it. THEY'RE ALL DEAD!!!." "It's OK, Aunt Jessica." No. Not okay. NOT OK. Horrific. How the hell can they show Finding Nemo to kids? Because what kids find scary and what adults find scary are not the same. (I get that the "they're all dead" thing is important to frame the story. It explains why Nemo's dad is so overprotective and why he worries so much. I understand why it's in the movie. But still. It's horrific. I was not prepared for that in Finding Nemo and it really knocked me for a loop.)
Kids find things scary that adults do not, and the other way 'round, too. I was watching Finding Nemo (for the first time) with my brother's kids and was bloody well horrified that Nemo's mom and his siblings were basically decimated in the first couple of minutes of the film. My brother's son was pretty unfazed by all that-- he'd seen the movie before but apparently never got hung up on the clownfish massacre at the beginning of the movie. He was going on with the adventure of Nemo and his dad while I was still stuck at "They're all dead." "It'll be OK, Aunt Jessica." "No, you don't seem to get it. THEY'RE ALL DEAD!!!." "It's OK, Aunt Jessica." No. Not okay. NOT OK. Horrific. How the hell can they show Finding Nemo to kids? Because what kids find scary and what adults find scary are not the same. (I get that the "they're all dead" thing is important to frame the story. It explains why Nemo's dad is so overprotective and why he worries so much. I understand why it's in the movie. But still. It's horrific. I was not prepared for that in Finding Nemo and it really knocked me for a loop.)
