So say the ads for Spider-man 3, which I saw Monday afternoon. Or more specifically, which I saw on a rainy holiday afternoon, at a movie theater packed with parents and children. Yes, the kiddie matinee.
The kids were overwhelmingly under 12. More like seven to eight years old. How did they take the “fantasy violence”? They sat rapt. They squirmed. They talked. They ate popcorn. The fantasy violence - Green Goblin, Jr., flying around on his aerial skateboard, Sandman attacking an armored car - didn’t faze them. But one act of aggression did.
(Mild spoiler follows.)
When Peter Parker, laid low by heartbreak and emotionally warped by an evil black meteroid blob (hey, it’s Spider-man), gets into a fight with bouncers at the jazz club where MJ is working, she tries to break it up. Half-frenzied, he shoves her to the ground.
Every single kid in the theater jerked, gasped, and went absolutely still.
They felt it, viscerally: good guys aren’t supposed to do that. It caused a lump in my throat. The fantasy violence seemed fake to them. The characters felt real. And Peter is never, ever supposed to hurt MJ or anybody else who isn’t causing mayhem. The theater was quiet for a long time after that.
Oh - and I did like the movie. Another time I’ll talk about character development, the use of humor in action/adventure flicks, and this movie’s wild over-use of deus ex machina, aka coincidence. But for now: the kids are all right.
6 responses so far ↓
Snart // May 30, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Great commentary, Meg O’Death. This is something that parents, educators and pundits need to take to heart: kids know what is real and what is not, and they have a built-in morality-meter.
At our paper, we use a movie review service, which I am ready to deep six. They’ve gone overboard on their warnings: for Shrek 3, they warned “implied ogre nudity” — as if that would keep parents from letting their kids see the flick! O my, was he in bed naked? Heaven forbid! Turn a blind eye, children.
Not one of the reviewers would have thought to warn about Spidey pushing MJ, though, I’d wager.
Leave it to the kids to find the true emotion, the appropriate response.
Again, great commentary (you who recommended movies to your godson over his mother’s –later unfounded– protestations).
Meg // May 30, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Thanks, Snart. (Especially for forgiving me after I forgot about the luvv-talk in “Murderball”.)
Yes, what’s next on the warning list? “Implied nakie-ness under their clothes”? “Pets may be nude beneath fur”? The children! Won’t somebody think of the children!
daveg // May 30, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I don’t think you can beat the actual parental guidance label for Team America: World Police - “Contains adult themes, violence, strong langauge and gratuitous sexuality. All involving puppets”.
Kate // May 30, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I hear gratuitous puppet sexuality can scar kids for life. Almost as badly as animal nudity.
Ken // May 31, 2007 at 5:49 am
When Poland’s children’s rights watchdog questions the sexual orientation of Tinky Winky (Teletubby) and the implied nakedness of an ogre raises concerns at a newspaper we have to be very concerned. I grew up with an animated duck who never wore any trousers and I do not believe that, that caused aberrant behaviour in me or any of my generation, similarly exposed to duck nakedness.
Val // May 31, 2007 at 5:44 pm
I did the same thing with the Peter shoving MJ scene, however, I thought it was great that they included that bit because I felt, more than any other act, it really demonstrated how warped Venom had made Spiderman.
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